The president of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania said he is eagerly awaiting the possibility of joining the University’s “strong family.”
William Ruud, the first of three candidates for the University’s next president, answered questions from students, faculty and staff at a forum in the Union theater Thursday afternoon.
Questions included how Ruud would manage budget reductions, collective bargaining and presidential visibility. Ruud also addressed what made him a good candidate for the job.
“Many of the things I’ve seen now on the Bowling Green campus are things that we’re either going to do or have done [at Shippensburg],” he said. “This is a next step to a bigger university with more challenges, but I bring a unique career that has touched all parts and pieces of the University — academic, financial, administrative and fundraising.”
Ruud has been a leader at several universities nationwide, including Boise State University and California State University. He has been president of Shippensburg University since 2007.
Although Ruud outlined an extensive plan to “lead Bowling Green into the next century,” he emphasized the importance of two goals: producing strong undergraduate programs with selected centers of excellence and making the University a premier undergraduate living and learning experience in Ohio, the Midwest and the nation.
“General education is a changing world,” he said. “As the world turns, we need to keep up and well prepare [students] for the major they pick in college and the 50 years they have once they leave college.”
Senior Jill Hagerman plans to attend all of the candidate forums to learn about the University’s prospective leaders and give feedback with evaluation sheets provided by the presidential search committee.
“It was a great opportunity that students could ask questions,” she said. “A lot of people are voicing their opinions and those are things a candidate needs to address.”
Ruud’s presentation was business-oriented, but didn’t seem to “fit the stereotype,” she said.
“I like the way he presented it because he seemed a lot more willing to say things that other business people might not, like his support of the arts,” Hagerman said. “He seemed really down to earth, like a person who could have possibly went to BG. He would fit in well here.”
William Primrose, presidential search committee chair, said the forums are one of the final steps for the committee, which is on schedule to announce its ultimate decision in May.
“We had a very good turnout,” he said. “I was very impressed and I thought he answered questions very well.”
The next forums are planned for March 14 and March 16 at 3:30 p.m. in the Union theater. The forums will feature candidates Mary Ellen Mazey, provost at Auburn University in Alabama, and Gary Miller, provost at Wichita State University in Kansas, respectively.
The presentations will also be streamed live online and archived on the presidential search page of the University’s website.
