St. Norbert Times

Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: News

President Kunkel [Click to enlarge]

Since President Kunkel's arrival to our community at the beginning of July, and even months prior to that, many have wondered what might some of the goals of the new president be and what will he do during the first 100 days in office.

In this issue, we are brining you an interview that might shine some light on the first steps, impressions and his vision for St. Norbert College.

President Kunkel, last year, many students complained that the administration failed to provide a vision behind changes on campus. What is your vision for SNC?

Mostly what I am trying to do for the first three or four months is just listen to people. I have been trying to connect with people and to hear what they think about St. Norbert and what else we could be doing. I want to get a sense of what people's expectations are so that I can shape and articulate my vision for the institution. I am pointing towards the inaugural speech on October 10 to be the first real effort to articulate that. Having said that, there is some things we know are going to be priorities. Everybody said from the first day I was on campus that building the endowment is important. The more financial flexibility we have to pursue our priorities, the better. We also have to make sure that St. Norbert remains affordable for students. I don't want anybody who is eligible to come to St. Norbert and who wants to come to St. Norbert not to be able to come because they can't afford it. So, access and affordability are huge and that's part of the fundraising. Then there is enrollment management; we have done a good job but I think continuing to improve the whole composition of the student body would be good. I would like to see it be a little more diverse.

More diverse and perhaps also competitive?

Yes, there is all sorts of diversity. There is geographic diversity, and there is also intellectual diversity. I'd like to see us get 15 or 20 more of the very top-tear students every year; the valedictorians, the 4.0-kids. We do get a fair number here but I think some of them don't see St. Norbert as their first choice - I want St. Norbert to be a first choice for them. And I think some more geographical diversity would be good. We get 95 to 98 % of our student population from a 250-300 mile radius of Green Bay. And that's fine, we will always be a home-grown school, I don't want to change that. But I do think it would be healthy if we had more students from further away because they bring an intellectual and a social perspective that is healthy.

Continued...

Page 1 of 5 next >

Article Tools