If I were college president

As college president, my principal goals would be to:
1. infuse a passion for student success into the culture of the college. I would assign every new full-time student to a faculty mentor, a counselor, and a small peer cohort. I would challenge all faculty and staff to learn the names of as many students as possible, and to spend time talking with students each day. I would reinforce this culture by recognizing customer service orientation in hiring, evaluation, and career advancement criteria;
1. add a service learning requirement for all graduates. I would encourage students to earn service learning credit by tutoring younger students. In this way, we could provide extra help to struggling students, and reinforce the obligation of all citizens to serve their communities;
2. add a capstone project requirement for all graduates, to evidence their mastery of the skills required for their discipline;
3. commit the college to environmental stewardship, and find concrete ways to encourage energy efficiency and sustainable practices;
4. commit the college to civility, and host frequent debates and guest lectures reinforcing this value;
5. commit the college to fiscal stewardship, and continuously find concrete ways to eliminate waste , conserve resources, live frugally, and keep a lean management structure;
6. continuously seek ways to recognize and reward excellent employee performance, identify improvement goals for struggling employees, and terminate those who will not strive for excellence;
7. model a passion for education by encouraging all qualified managers and non-instructional employees to teach a class, hosting regular forums devoted to pedagogy, and support the professional development of all employees to the fullest extent possible;
8. model good citizenship by regularly hosting intellectual and cultural events for the community, encouraging all faculty and staff to find volunteer service opportunities within the community, and maintain a vigorous dialogue with community leaders to identify potential partnerships for the common good;
9. promote wellness by offering healthy meals and snacks for students and employees, and by finding ways to encourage and reward physical and emotional fitness; and
10. promote continual innovation by encouraging and supporting new initiatives at all levels, and by discouraging blame and fear of failure.
I realize, of course, that some of these goals are abstract, and that turning them into reality requires the consent and cooperation of many constituencies, but these would, nevertheless, constitute my guiding principles for a college presidency.