Feature: The McPherson Presidency: Six Guiding Principles

In a candid interview with editor Robert Bao, President M. Peter McPherson shares his vision and philosophy for Michigan State and explains what the six new guiding principles, revealed during the State of the University address February 15, will mean for the university.

Q: During the search process, many alumni were hoping that our next president would be a Spartan, and of course, their hopes were fulfilled. What do you bring to the presidency as an alumnus?

A: I think I bring a long appreciation for the university. A feel that ordinary people have a chance to get a really good education here. We have our disagreements but, frankly, we have diversity, not only of race and creed, but also of opinion and that's positive. And, of course, there is just something about Michigan State--the excitement and the beauty--that one gets as a student that never leaves.

Q: Many alumni also like the fact that you hail from the private sector, especially from the top echelon of a Fortune 500 corporation. In what ways can the leadership skills be transferred, or not transferred, from the one sector to the other?

A: Knowledge of finance and general management skills are applicable here. There was a time in the past when financial management skills weren't so important. Today it's a requirement. What really helps is my having worked in a variety of organizations. I also ran a big government agency (U.S. Agency for International Development) that was more akin to a university because there were lots of media attention, tense political problems, and diverse views within my own staff. Government and universities share many of the same characteristics. But, frankly, I've found benefit in both the demanding management accountability of the private sector as well as the media attendtion and the public policy management skills that come with government service.

Q: Have you found a difference in the need to build consensus in a university setting?

A: The need to build a broad consensus is far greater here. Your line of authority over people is very tenuous. Basically, you must lead a university with ideas--with 'vision,' if you will. There's no question, the president has some tools, but they must be combined with an inclusive decision-making style, along with ideas--ideas that can catch people's imagination.

Q: In your first six months, it seems you've done just that. I noticed that you've visited just about every nook and cranny of this university. Besides the selection of Lou Anna Simon as Provost, your first major focus as President, indeed, has been the development of ideas--the 'guiding principles.'

A: Absolutely.

Q: They have emerged from a broad consensus. First, why do you consider guiding principles so important?

A: They're important for two reasons. One, we had to decide where we wanted to go. These are central themes that should indeed guide us. As you said, we needed to generate some consensus behind within the university. Beyond that, frankly, we need a vision of what the university has produced. As I said, ideas are an important part of leadership here. If we don't decide where we're going to go, clearly if we get where we should, it's coincidental.

Q: After six months here, what are your impressions of Michigan State? Has it met your expectations, or would you say they have changed dramatically?

A: No, I would say they have become 'refined.' An important part of the 'guiding principles' process was that I did go all over this campus. I did get hundreds of letters and E-mails and so on. I have a much more refined view of what Michigan State should be doing.

Q: Let me zero in on some specifics. Your first principle, ACCESS TO QUALITY, reflects our land-grant roots in that our original mandate was to provide education to the working class as well as the elite.

A: In fact, we must continue to have access for the people of this state from the whole panorama of social and economic backgrounds. But the principle does not mean just access to a college education. Other universities in the state perform an adequate function, where 'if you want to go to college you can go to college.' Here we're expecting a higher level of potential.

Q: 'Access' is a nice word . . .

A: But it needs a reality check, and that means affordability. That's why we've been talking about inflation being a primary factor in tuition increases for next year. It also means, for example, that while we don't have an open admission policy, we do in fact have an open employment policy. Some 19,000 students got pay checks last year. You know, more students get paychecks here than most universities have students.

Q: That's quite a statistic. So really, access to MSU is even better than it seems when you consider student employment opportunities.

A: There's a certain amount of self selection in this student employment policy. I worked cleaning tables when I was a student in East Shaw Hall and it got me $1.10 an hour. A buck ten back in 1959 wasn't all bad. Well, last year, our employment checks were in excess of $28 million.

Q: $28 million? That's huge.

A: Between grants, loans and checks, we provide about as much money to students as students, as a group, pay us back in tuition. They are also a vital component because of all their support functions throughout this university.

Q: When you peg tuition increases to inflation, however, is there not a danger of boxing yourself into a corner? What if state support diminishes?

A: I've been careful to say I was talking about tuition increases for next year. The governor (John Engler) has proposed support increases for next year and there is broad expectation that they will be adopted. Prudence doesn't allow me to state a position for the future, but I do believe that affordability must be an important consideration.

Q: I sense you feel passionately about this principle.

A:We cannot allow ourselves to not be available to the traditional people we serve. We've talked about the loyalty and the spirit of graduates of Michigan State. Some of it is due to the beauty of the campus, the friendliness. But also, people come here during formative years. It is such a great environment and you make friends that last forever. Your college friends, you notice, you have for the rest of your life because you are in the process of becoming a full adult when you are here. For many people, when they look back at their lives, Michigan State was a determinative experience.

Q: That's especially true of people who are the first in their family to attend college.

A: You come here and you see a whole range of opportunities. I mean, this isn't just a solid education, you see horizons as well. Many people, when they look back at Michigan State 20 years later, they say, 'Gee, what if I hadn't gone to Michigan State?' (Former MSU president) Cliff Wharton, who has seen graduates from virtually every part of this country, recently told me that in his travels around the United States he finds that graduates from Michigan State as a group are more loyal and interested in their school than those from most other schools.

Q: That's tremendous.

A: I've met so many people from Toledo to Saranac who have said to me, 'I got to go to Michigan State and it was the determinative experience of my life.' We have to keep on reinforcing that. Our secretaries, for example, worry about students. Remember in the recent alumni ceremony (presentation of alumni awards last fall), how many alumni related that they considered the secretary who had been here 25 years their surrogate mother? That was fun, wasn't it? That leads to the principle that PEOPLE MATTER. We need to reinforce that whole concept.