Here’s the official announcement:

Scott R. Olson Appointed President
of Winona State University

Connie J. Gores to serve as interim president

               The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees today appointed Scott R. Olson as president of Winona State University.   Olson becomes the 15th president of the university and begins his duties July 16, 2012.

Olson has served as provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at Minnesota State University, Mankato since 2003. In addition, he served as interim vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities in 2010-11.

Previously, Olson was dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media at Ball State University in Indiana; and associate and assistant to the dean of Arts and Sciences, director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication, and professor at Central Connecticut State University.

Olson holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a Ph.D., all from Northwestern University in Illinois.

In recommending Olson’s appointment, Chancellor Steven Rosenstone said: “Scott Olson is a proven leader, an impressive scholar and someone who deeply values students and their success. He stands out as someone who will build strong alliances with faculty, staff and communities to raise Winona State University to even greater heights of excellence.”

Trustee Clarence Hightower, who chairs the board’s Human Resources Committee, said: “Winona State University is an outstanding university that makes immeasurable contributions to Winona and Minnesota. Under President Olson’s leadership, we can expect the university to continue its record of success in providing high-quality academic programs to students and enhancing its service to the greater Winona community and the state.”

“I am humbled and honored by this appointment and look forward to working with the faculty, staff and my Minnesota State Colleges and Universities colleagues in advancing the mission of this great institution,” said Olson.   “Working together, we will pursue excellence in every facet of the university and enthusiastically serve our communities.”

Effective immediately and until Olson begins his duties, Connie J. Gores, vice president for student life and development at Winona State University, will serve as interim president. She has held her current position since 2007.  Gores holds a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University, a master’s degree from Colorado State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Commenting on Gores’ appointment, Chancellor Steven Rosenstone said, “I am confident that Dr. Gores will work effectively with president-elect Olson over the weeks ahead to ensure a smooth transition in leadership.”

College Costs Weighing Down a Generation With Student Debt A new series from The Times examines the implications of rising college costs and the indebtedness of students and their families. (The New York Times)

Want To Study Pro-Wrestling In College? You Can! Ever dreamed studying professional wrestling? Well, now you can at a Florida college! Full Sail University, a for-profit college based in Winter Park, Fla., announced a partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment this week which includes the weekly tapings of a new program called WWE Superstar Smackdown at their multipurpose venue on campus. (The Huffington Post)

Gap Year: Congrats! You’re Accepted to College, Now Go Away In Britain and Europe the gap year has been de rigueur for decades, but a 2011 survey of American colleges estimated only about 18,000 of the 1.5 million freshmen had taken a year off after high school. But now, some of the nation’s most competitive colleges — Harvard, Middlebury and Princeton, among others — have adopted formal policies to allow students to defer their admission. (ABC News via NAICU)

More private colleges offering tuition discounts While public colleges and universities are hiking tuition to make up for dramatic reductions to state higher-education funding, private colleges – which usually receive no state funding – have greater latitude to cut costs. That’s one reason that average annual tuition increases at public colleges have been more than twice as large as those at private colleges over the last decade, according to the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center. (McClatchy Newspapers via NAICU)

Proposed Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Budget Aims to Maintain Affordability
Tuition Increase for Full-time Students Held to $171 at State Colleges and $285 at State Universities

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Board of Trustees will consider a proposed fiscal year 2013 budget at its Tuesday, May 15 meeting that holds tuition increases to $171 for full-time undergraduate students at the state colleges and $285 at the state universities.

Under the proposed budget, full-time students at the 24 state colleges would pay average tuition of $4,815 (+3.7 percent) annually and full-time students at the seven state universities average tuition of $6,782 (+4.4 percent).  The proposed average annual full-time tuition increase across all MnSCU colleges and universities is $193 (3.9 percent).

“The proposed budget advances the goals outlined in the Strategic Framework adopted by the Board of Trustees in January,” said MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone.

“Through our ongoing efforts to control costs, improve efficiency and increase productivity, we remain the state’s most affordable post-secondary option.  Our colleges and universities have worked hard to minimize tuition and fee increases, while maintaining an extraordinary educational experience for our students.”

MnSCU colleges and universities have reallocated more than $76 million in 2012-2013 to invest in high priority areas, add teaching and student services positions, start new programs in high-demand fields and balance budgets with only moderate tuition increases.

Need-based financial aid programs (grants and loans) help students pay for their education.  In FY2011 (the most recent data available), 61 percent of students enrolled in state colleges and 64 percent of students enrolled in state universities received some kind of financial aid.  For those students receiving state grants, half of the proposed tuition and fee increase in FY2013 will be offset by an increase in those grants.

State funding per MnSCU student has declined 45 percent (adjusted for inflation) since FY2000.  Over this same period, efficiencies have reduced the inflation-adjusted cost of educating a MnSCU student by 10 percent.

The proposed tuition adjustment for FY2013 maintains MnSCU’s position as the state’s highest value and most affordable higher education option.

Tuition Comparison

                                                            FY2012                        Est. Annual                 FY2013

                                                            Tuition                        Increase                      Tuition

MnSCU Colleges                                 $4,644                         $171                            $4,815

MnSCU State Universities                  $6,497                         $285                            $6,782

University of Minnesota                    $11,650                       $410                            $12,060

Private Four-Year Colleges                $32,349                       $1,466                         $33,815

¹ University of Minnesota tuition is for the Twin Cities, College of Liberal Arts, exclusive of fees charged by individual colleges.

² Private 4-year averages are based on information on tuition & fees reported by the MN Private College Council for member institutions for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.

The Board of Trustees will consider final action on the proposed FY2013 budget at its June meeting.

They’re reviewing the U’s policy on the subject, and how it compares to peer universities’. It comes after an uproar over news that former President Robert Bruininks’ paid out $2.8 million to 10 top administrators in leave and other compensation.

A lot of it was nuts-and-bolts stuff. Chairman Richard Beeson said the board hopes to wrap things up by the end of next session, which is May 25.

He sees three areas they’ll focus on:

• Eliminating the separate administrative leave policy. He said they’ll consider rolling it into the faculty-sabbatical policy to make things easier.
• Enforcing the requirement that administrators return to the U after their leave.
• More detail and transparency on the hiring of administrators.
• Initiation of an annual compensation report. The board would approve any significant changes.

Regents acknowledged the public outcry over the payouts. But they also said they didn’t want to get unnecessarily bogged down in administrative detail that should be delegated. Beeson said they shouldn’t be in the job interview business, but they need to find the right balance of accountability and delegation.

Regent John Frobenius told the committee:

“I don’t want to tie the president’s hands. But I also don’t want to answer media requests with, ‘I was not aware of that.’ “

President Eric Kaler’s chief of staff, Amy Phenix, said other public universities had common practices, but there didn’t appear to be any standard policy.

Beeson said toward the end:

“It’s ironic that in (in the area of executive compensation policy), we’ll end up with more structure and clarity than our peer groups. It’s a little concerning.”

Snow-plow parents: Those who clear every obstacle out of the way of their children.

Road-grader parents: Those who smooth out the bumps in life for their kids.

Yet two more terms I’ve heard, thanks to this morning’s discussion of helicopter parents on MPR’s The Daily Circuit.

Below is the program’s live-blog session, which focuses on listeners’ tweets and comments. I’ve got my own live-blog-style quickie transcript after that.

I’ll be posting the audio when I get it. The conversation is pretty pointed, as the transcript indicates.

Here’s the show’s Web page, which contains links to articles, one of which helped form the basis of this morning’s discussion.

Here’s my transcript, though it’s briefer and, of course, not verbatim:

Guests:

• Terry Castle: English literature professor at Stanford since 1983. She recently wrote “Don’t Pick Up: Why Kids Need to Separate From Their Parents”
• Marjorie Savage: Parent program director at the University of Minnesota, serving as the liaison between the University and the parents of its 29,000 undergraduates

Miller: Terry, so what’s the anecdote you mentioned in your article?

Castle: I had one student who said she spoke or texted or e-mailed her mother six or seven times a day. I asked, “What do you talk about?” She said, “I talk about the professor or the class or give her an update.” To me it’s like walking around with the umbilical chord attached. It’s so much different from what I was used to as a student 30 or 40 years ago. But my college class, whom I was telling this to, didn’t understand me.

Castle: So many of these kids have been overachievers since infancy – and managed by their parents to do so. Everything has been scheduled to the minute by their parents their entire lives. They’ve had very little free time they can spend creatively, and that free time is what they need. I contrast this with my own college experience – before the digitalization of life. I spoke to my mom once every two weeks, if that.

Caller: I can sympathize. I can understand the parental point of view. I just can’t help myself. My son just graduated Saturday. I was a helpful resource. He’d send me papers, have me proofread them, offer suggestions. I’m a college professor. I’m a resource.

Savage: It’s certainly not unusual for students today to be in touch on a regular basis. We often talk about the 1970s like it’s the norm. But today, colleges, digital communication, life itself is not like the 1970s. We can’t base life on the 1970s.

Caller: I’m a recent grad. It’s so ridiculous that people are dependent on their parents. I see a number who can’t get a job without the help of their parents. My mom and dad gave me advice, but didn’t do things for me. I think I’m better for it.

Miller: Part of the implication of this is that it goes far beyond college. Employers say parents are running interference for their kids and getting too involved.

Castle: Parents are in a bind. It takes so much effort to get kids into the best schools. But it all starts so early – in preschool. And we pile it all on the kids — all those tests, extracurricular activities and so on. I find it disturbing. Proofing your kids’ papers? That’s too much.

Caller: I’m probably a bit of a snow-plow parent. I hover. It really gets down to finances. I don’t want them to make the mistakes I did. My parents didn’t know about college. I want it all to be efficient and cost-effective.

Miller: But aren’t mistakes necessary to learn?

Caller: Yes, but it’s awfully costly.

Savage: Yes, students do learn from mistake. But some are indeed very costly. And some parents do intervene because of the consequences of a big mistake. And they’re afraid for their children’s physical safety or mental health. So you need to dig and ask what the underlying cause is. It may be a family problem or financial problem.

Savage: The dramatic stories are the ones most often being told. Most parents are appropriate in their children’s lives. Some parents don’t call when they should be helping don’t make that move because they don’t want to be seen as helicopter parents.

Castle: There are extreme cases. I’ve had calls from irate parents and one from a parent who was staggeringly intrusive and manipulative. But there’s a feedback loop that’s intense, and the student’s independence doesn’t develop. If your mother or father is reading your papers for you, that’s problematic. I believe fervently that we too often sentimentalize the parental relationship. We presume the parents are not neurotic, but open the newspaper and you’ll find that parenting across the country is a hit-or-miss affair. In some cases, if parents are exerting a negative influence – which often happens — students need to orphan him or herself, metaphorically seeking. It’s a harsh reality, I know. It impinges on a lot of issues – digital communication, for example. You’re always connected.

Caller: Parental interference also happens in real life. I was a superintendent in school where an employee was fired for misconduct. His mother called and said, “Aren’t you think you’re being a little hard on Douggie?” And this guy was in his mid-30s, married with children.

Miller: Aren’t you stealing some of the independence that college should provide, and thus depriving them of skills?

Savage: Yes, they shouldn’t be involved at the adult level. We at colleges need to help parents learn what’s appropriate. But we can’t control what goes on outside of college. Parents have been told for a long time to be involved in their children’s education.

Miller: Are the parents receptive?

Savage: They’re very excited about it. When we first said they should let go, they said their children aren’t ready. Now they’re asking us what else they should be doing.

Castle: I’m sure these parents are well-meaning, but some of these parents sound like idiots. This is in loco parentis gone mad. Since WWII we’ve had this idea that children need to be protected from every danger. The whole culture of risk-avoidance is so huge and combined with legal/litigious implications. I’m glad that university officials try to keep an eye on this. But the level of treating students as children – this is a new historical development.

Savage. I may have misspoke. In the ‘70s and ‘80s and ‘90s, universities did tell parents, “Back off, we have it.” Now we say, “You do have a role – with stuff we can’t deal with – physical health, mental health, financial education, alcohol.”

Castle: But I guess what I find startling is the babyishness of all this – college administrators part of this big risk-avoidance group.

Caller: One young woman is ready to move out of the house. She’s 23. But her parents are making her feel guilty for going. She has such a codependent relationship with them.

Castle: Part of growing up is being able to see your parents more or less objectively to the point that you could say, “Yes/No, my parents are/were very good parents, or aren’t good in this way or that way.” There’s so much sentimentality built into notions of these relationships. For all the brainwashing that the culture gives us, the overinvolved mother or father – sometimes the student is more grown up than the parents. And the student has to discover that. One must make his own destiny even if that means painful discoveries.

Caller: This is really a symptom of what’s going in society. You’re not treated as an adult if you’re a recent grad or under 30, whether you’re at the store or having cable installed. I don’t try using my parents as a shield. (For example) I have to tell people (on the phone), “No, this is my own account.”

Savage: There are a lot of cultural factors.

Miller: One listener calls this kind of parent a “road grader parent” who smooths out the bumps in their childrens’ lives. Another listener writes in, “To me, it depends on the kid. I have three. One is independent. One was independent into the mid-20s. One may need help for the rest of life.”

Thanks for joining us.

Friday Night Lights Author Calls For A Ban On College Football The Pulitzer-prize winning author’s argument comes as colleges and universities around the country see their non-core services scrutinized against the fees colleges charge for them. (The Huffington Post)

University of St. Thomas

Stepping down next year

University of St. Thomas officials said last year that they would consider a layman to be president.

Looks like it was a prelude to this announcement today in the university’s Bulletin:

Father Dennis Dease, president of the University of St. Thomas since 1991, announced today that he will retire on June 30, 2013, upon the completion of his 22^nd year in office.

Dease, who turns 69 this month, began the 14^th presidency of St. Thomas on July 1, 1991, and is the second-longest-tenured president in St. Thomas’ 127-year history. He succeeded Monsignor Terrence Murphy, who held the office for 25 years.

Dease informed the St. Thomas Board of Trustees about his retirement during its plenary session this morning and told the faculty at its spring semester meeting over the noon hour.

“The timing for my retirement next year will be right for a number of reasons,” Dease said. “We will complete our $500 million Opening Doors capital campaign this October, and our preparation for our decennial accreditation visit by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association will conclude next year. Also, I will turn 70 next May, and I have other interests I would like to pursue.”

In addition to post-presidential St. Thomas responsibilities that Dease and the board will determine over the next year, he plans to continue his work with health-care projects in Uganda, with projects  related to Armenian culture and education, and work with the University of Havana in Cuba. He will have an office in O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center on the university’s St. Paul campus.

Trustee John M. Morrison will chair the search committee for Dease’s successor. The committee of trustees, three faculty members and one staff member will be appointed by early June, but the initial steps in the search will occur with seven open forums Monday and Thursday for faculty, staff and students to express their opinions on qualities they want in a new president. Sara Gross Methner, general counsel and chief human resources officer at St. Thomas, will staff the search committee. (See separate story below for information on forums).

The university’s bylaws allow only a Roman Catholic – priest, religious or lay person – to serve as president. All 14 presidents of St. Thomas have been priests.

Read the full story here.

Finding people who want to work and not just collect a paycheck is next to impossible. The skill most lacking is a work ethic. Not to mention, it is nigh on impossible to find a creative mind in today’s work place.

-Mark Hayes, head of Research and Development for a small company

We just recently posted an opening. Our last opening was in February of 2011. We haven’t had many applicants applying. Today I received a resume through email. The applicant had used a form letter he found online and hadn’t “filled in” the blanks. If it wasn’t so funny it would be sad.

-Ann Iverson, works for a small manufacturing company

While reporting an MPR radio story on skills that Minnesota employers are looking for, colleague Molly Bloom and I queried some of the employers in our Public Insight Network to hear what they had to say.

Looks like some of the skills they want just can’t be taught in a classroom. Molly wrote it up in News Cut, which you can read here.