"During my freshman year in college, I had many contacts with the dean of students — for all the wrong reasons. But I did learn a lot about that role. So I decided to pursue a career in higher education during my senior year, and the rest is history."
"I thoroughly enjoy working with students. They keep me young. I especially enjoy creating policies and programs that make life easier and more fun for students. I get a real kick out of seeing the results of these efforts."
"Improving the fee payment/registration process and actually seeing students maneuver through this activity with greater ease has been a highlight for me at Wichita State."
"One of the great challenges for me is working on enrollment. As an urban institution, our enrollment is influenced by so many factors, e.g., economy, international enrollment, competition from all types of institutions, etc. Trying to figure out how to stabilize WSU's enrollment has definitely been a challenge."
"At first, before I'd even seen him, I thought WuShock was an electrician! In my mind's eye, I saw a person with electric bolts beaming from his body. A colleague of mine at Cal State Northridge knew about Wu and set me straight on what he looked like and what he represented."
"I like to be scared, and I love Stephen King novels."
"Although I never seem to have enough time to play, I enjoy golf, and I enjoy the Heskett Center. I work out two or three times a week in that facility. I can work off the tensions of the week, kibitz with students, faculty and staff, and sometimes think through issues and problems while I'm working out — especially when I'm on the treadmill."
"I'm an avid movie buff. I collect old movies, especially the movies of the 1930s and 1940s. I am constantly looking for rare movies on DVDs or VHS tapes. I am currently building a collection of Andy Hardy films and I have an extensive collection of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne and Hopalong Cassidy films. I have many rare TV shows as well. I also have an extensive print library of the history of cinema and TV."
"There have been so many great movies produced over the years. Some that come to mind include The Grapes of Wrath, Sergeant York, Casablanca, High Noon, Schindler's List and, more recently, Ray. The common thread through all of these films is the human struggle and complicated human interaction."
"I have many favorite philosophers, but in modern times, I especially like John Dewey. His philosophy of "pragmatism" emphasized that experience was an important part of education. His beliefs eventually influenced modern-day educational practices."
"I have worked in higher education since 1967, so I have seen just about everything — student protests over the Vietnam War, the "free love" movement, women's liberation activities, the "X" generation and just about anything else you could identify. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of these periods in higher education's history. I could not see myself in any other environment. The one area of disappointment to me is the decline of higher education's influence on society and the world. At one time in our history society and the government turned to universities for help to solve problems. Higher education led the way in developing means for early space exploration. Our scientists developed vaccines against many dreaded diseases such as polio. Higher education worked on important public policies. Higher education is now much less involved in all of these areas — and that is sad."
"Public universities across the country are receiving less financial support from their states and I see this trend continuing. Wichita State University has also experienced loss of state aid. This is especially problematic when colleges and universities are expected to keep pace with changing workforce needs and will be replacing many faculty positions as "baby boomers" begin to retire in mass."
"The WSU student tradition or activity that most boggles my mind is Hippodrome."
"We have an extremely large international student enrollment here at Wichita State — almost 10 percent of our overall student enrollment. I don't believe that most educational observers would expect a Midwestern university of our size to have such a large international student enrollment."
"If I could no longer work in higher ed? That's easy. I have always fantasized about being an actor/standup comedian/lounge singer. Any or all of those three occupations would be great. I have acted before, so I will probably pursue community theater after I retire."
