Q&A / Betty Siegel: woman of vision

When Betty L. Siegel steps down as president of Kennesaw State University this semester, she'll be among a small group of University System of Georgia retired presidents with more than 20 years tenure. Siegel became president of what was then Kennesaw College in 1981 and has led the Cobb County school through a period of spectacular growth.

But she's not riding off into the sunset just yet. Siegel, 75, will stay at KSU in an endowed chair in ethical leadership, a subject she is passionate about. Drawing diagrams and sprinkling her words with quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson and management experts, Siegel sat down with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a Q&A, to reflect on her tenure and ponder the school's future.

Q: Describe what the president's office you had for years looked like.

A: It was a little building. The former president [Horace W. Sturgis] was a very big man. He had a big desk, a small office and a small conference room. His desk was quite big for the room and it didn't have any bookshelves, so we redesigned the office, I guess after about two or three years, and rearranged it so that the conference room was made smaller. But I had to have bookshelves.

Q: It was cramped?

A: It wasn't as much cramped. It didn't reflect me; it reflected him. He was very organized and very Spartan. I remember that he did not allow coffee at the conference table, [he had a note that said] no food or beverage. And, of course, the first thing I [did] when I met with my new staff, I said, "I'd like my cup of coffee," and they almost fell over. They went, "Wow!" [Siegel laughs.]

Q: What's your favorite place on campus?

A: I think the campus green. There used to be highways. I'm in my office late in the evening and the sun goes down across the campus and I absolutely love to stand in the balcony and watch the sun go down. And the lights come on around the green and students are leaving or coming to classes and some of them wave to me, they'll see me up there.

Q: What was your best year at KSU?

A: Every year has been for me a joy. Emerson said, I think, "Every year is a good year if we but know what to do with it." I think we've been blessed with really good long-range planning, so every year has been very special. See, we do themes every year.

Q: What's the theme for this year?

A: Growing into greatness. Jim Collins [best-selling author of "Good to Great"] speaks of good to great. So each year the theme is an important one. We had the year of the arts in 1996. Then we did the year of service. The next year was the year of collaboration. The next year was the year of engagement. [Then] we did from success to significance. And then the next one the courage to lead. Then the next year I think it was dream and do.

Q: Which accomplishments are you most proud of?

A: Of course we've grown dramatically in programs and degrees and buildings. I'm most proud of what we've done for student success, what we've done in diversity, what we're doing in ethical leadership, what we've done in engagement with the communities we serve. All of that, of course, is predicated on building a great faculty, wonderful responsive programs, very timely and relevant. That's a given; those have to be a part of the underpinnings of the university. Those are the things that go beyond what is the regular aspects of the university.

Q: Which one thing would you have done if you'd had several million dollars at your disposal?

A: I would have built our performing arts building sooner. Right now we're breaking ground for it. But the arts have figured so prominently in my appreciation of what Kennesaw State can be. The arts are so important, I think, to the communities that we serve so I've always wanted a great place, like a Spivey Hall [the 400-seat music venue on the campus of Clayton State University in Morrow], to be on our campus and I early, early wanted that, but we had other demands. We've always been short on buildings. But now we're finally getting there. We had other priorities. We have a nice little theater, but it's basically an acting theater.

Q: Do you think KSU grew too fast at the expense of quality?

A: Never. Never. Now, that's a very flat answer. Quality has always been uppermost in our minds, academic credibility. So what it prompted us to do was to be innovative in ways that other universities might not have had to do.

Q: For example?

A: If you know that you got a heavy influx of students and you're teaching classes from 8 to 1, then what do you do? We were one of the first universities, I think, to go to Saturday classes, Sunday classes, all-evening classes, all afternoon. So we became absolutely skillful at knowing how to schedule.

Q: Why is now the right time for you to leave?

A: Well, one of the things I'm aware of is that I am psychologically 39. But I'm not chronologically 39. It's an unusual presidency that goes on to my age, so I never think of my age until it's in the paper. It doesn't mean anything to me, really. I like to think that each age is a dream that is dying or coming to birth, so all my life I've been, as a psychologist, talking about seizing the moment and that there're periods of growth in your life. I do speeches on the third act of life and the third act has two scenes. I love to talk about this.

What I would like to do would be to use this third act of my life in very creative ways, doing exactly the kind of things that I now do partly. I love to work with groups. I want to spend my time lecturing, talking, writing, consulting about the passions that I have in my professional life.

Q: And for fun?

A: True creativity is work that goes someplace joyfully. If your work goes someplace joyfully then you're not just doing work. I love the fact that I can walk across the campus and in five minutes, I can be in a classroom that is having the most exciting [discussion]. In 10 more minutes I can be in a conference that's going on that's just as exciting. In 10 more minutes I can watch the athletics. See, it's the fullness of the university experience. To me, all of those relate to a full life, something to learn, some way to play.

Q: Where do you see KSU 10 years from now?

A: We'll be 25,000 students, maybe 30,000. We'll have some off-campus sites. We'll have football. We'll have several doctorates. The professional schools will continue to just be outstanding. We'll be doing a lot of exciting work in business, nursing, health-related sciences.

Q: What new majors or programs do you see?

A: When you look at what's happening in the country today, a real emphasis on baby boomers, we're going to see growing programs in gerontology. We're going to be looking at social services. The university's got to be a player in bringing together community leaders for sustainable communities. We're going to be looking at ways in which the quality of life can be [improved].

I was at Yale three years ago, and I was there with a group of invited presidents [who came to talk] about Islam. You know what? I didn't know a thing about it, nothing. I think today we've got to be looking at world religions. And that's why our institutes are right on target. Our international programs are outstanding. And it's not that we're sending people over abroad to study. We're talking about ways to interact. In the last year and a half I've been to Cuba, twice, I've been to Morocco. I've been to China. We're wanting to know what it's like to be in Morocco where it's the threshold to Africa, it's the threshold to Islam, it's a portal. Those are the things that we've got to be concerned about.

Q: What would you like to be remembered for at KSU?

A: Not for the buildings. Not for just the programs but [for] what does it mean to students. We have to have student success as a part of our legacy. But we want the impact of the education to be not a collection of courses or not a ticket to a trade. You understand the difference, don't you?

Q: What piece of advice would you give to your successor?

A: I would not dream of doing that [laughs].

Q: What was your most difficult decision as president?

A: We have a shortage of buildings. There was a time in which we could have one building on the campus, we could make one request. We didn't have enough classroom space. [But] I made the case, we have a little gym where we'd have as many as three commencements a day [at graduation time]. It's too little. It was built for a campus of 1,000 students. And we were told, "You cannot have a building where there's not a classroom."

We had made the case for a new convocation center. I remember I was driving in my car and the phone rang and it was Dr. [Stephen] Portch [the chancellor from 1994 to 2001] on the cellphone. "Betty, I'm telling you, you can only get one building. What [is it] going to be? You need a classroom building." I said, "I really need the convocation center. We'll put some classrooms in it, but give me a break." And he said --- and this is when this TV show was going on --- "Is that your final answer?" I said, "Chancellor, it is." [And he said] "OK" and he did it.

Look at that [she points at it]. What would we do without it? These are fabulous additions to the campus. To me that was a very difficult decision.

Q: There was a time in your tenure when you faced complaints of discrimination from faculty members and complaints that you were not hiring enough African-Americans, [that there's] anti-Semitism. Do you feel today that KSU has enough minority faculty?

A: Oh, my goodness. I have an African-American advisory committee. They have helped me dramatically, oh my. And they've helped me shape this university. Our vice president for diversity has helped us shape this university. I would [give] our programs for diversity very high marks. Did you know I won the award [the NAACP Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Living the Dream Award] . . . representing our progress with minorities?

Q: Do you think KSU provides a good environment for minority faculty?

A: You've got to ask them. I think so. In our view there has not been any justification for the charges. But again, if you want to get into all that, you'd have to interview a lot of people on the campus. You do know that my husband's Jewish? I'm a minority. I was the first woman president in the state University System.

Q: Do you leave with regrets?

A: I've tried to be a steward of the place. I like that term. I've learned from any obstacles that we've had. A number of people here have been an inspiration to me. [I hope] I've done a good job. All I can hope is that what I've done was perceived as a positive experience. I don't have any regrets. ON AJC.COM

> More on Betty Siegel at ajc.com/metro/cobb

Copyright 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution