It is now 6 minutes past 11. This is midday on Minnesota Public Radio. Gary. Aiken is away this week enjoying some vacation time. I am. Fanelli. Thanks for joining us on this Monday, July 13th, 1990 University of Minnesota president, Mark yudof has completed his first year in office. And by all accounts. He is exceeding expectations. In fact that use Board of Regents gave him a new three-year contract and a $50,000 raise. The deal will pay him $275,000 the first year the salary will be reviewed annually for the following two years deferred compensation package will give him an additional $50,000 if he stays for the life of the contract regions chair Bill Hogan says the contract is a clear statement that you toss work is appreciated and the university wants him to stay this for you. Office in our Studios today to look back in his first year at the helm and look ahead of the next year and Beyond and we invite you to call him with your questions and comments for you to off. The Twin Cities number is 227-6000 and the Twin Cities. The number is 227.6000 outside the metro area the toll free number is one 802-422-8281 800-242-2828 the shoot-off walking to mid-day, but thank you for inviting me delighted to be here great. And I briefly review the report of the presidential performance review committee. It says it noted either overwhelming success or tremendous progress and virtually every element of the president's work plan. What do you do for an encore? Well, I'm not sure. I I've told people if I had it to do all over again, I don't think I'd have done nearly as well and I was pleased I didn't ask for a raise. I really like it here. I think we have wonderful students and the faculty reception and in general people of Minnesota's I've traveled out to the 60 Towns over the last year receptions been great. So I was happy but they're my bosses and my 12 boss is on the Board of Regents said that I would like to have a mold of your contract that were concerned about retention andI said well, that's great. That makes me feel good. I'll certainly accept this this kind offer. Did you think that you would be able to accomplish so much and in the first year? I don't know. I I'm a day-by-day person I wake up in the morning and I ask myself. What can you do to make this a better place to make a little more comfortable for our students to make it a little easier to recruit good faculty. So I come to work not as a revolutionary but incrementally to put a few benches out on the campus to paint the classrooms to throw some old equipment out to get the Graffiti Off the Washington Avenue Bridge, but then I thought there are some big things. I don't know. I think probably it was a better year than I was hoping for. I had some wonderful things to help me. I had a new team in place that was terrific Governor Carlson and the speaker and the majority leader were extremely helpful in the legislature. The state was in good economic health, and I think everyone was ready for a. Of pulling together last couple of years or some contentious issues on campus 10-year and so forth. So exceedingly well and I And the other a lot of people, I think that the one can think and not just me talk about that specifically some of the highlights of the year. If you could mention some of the things that stood out in your mind what you able to accomplish and we can talk about maybe some things that didn't go quite as well. Well, I have three rules that were three words to describe what I think a university or Derby Public University that the taxpayers foot the bills and it's their University. They're the owners and that the three principles are service service service and I start with service to students. So I would say the things that I'm proud of our making the place more Humane for them. We're going to have a freshman convocation in the fall to bring all the freshmen to give the other to give them a sense of place and a sense that they're at a great University the fixing up of the classrooms. I've mentioned the plans to fix up but coughing Union a couple of hundred million dollars in Building projects that Walter library at to make these places more comfortable for the students adding 40 faculty members trying to get more senior faculty members to teach in the freshman and sophomore years. I say the things that you don't understand Mark yudof in the concept of service and what I'm most proud of it is delivering. I think Superior Services to the students and when I went around Minnesota, my conclusion was the taxpayers they believed in our research they believed in our Outreach but by God we had to do something right by undergraduates get give them a decent chance of getting in and then treat them fairly. So that's one thing second. I'm very proud of I think a Renaissance in the architecture of the campus and preserving and the buildings and 70% of the money will go into renovation. Where is in the past seventy percent is going in the new building. So we're really going to take this almost a hundred and fifty year-old University and take some genuine pride in in in in I bet it was sticking with that historical past and an opening up better to the to the Mississippi River. The third thing is faculty morale and but we were able to strike a blow for more adequate and competitive faculty and staff compensation, but it's a difficult thing to get your arms around, you know this when you root for your favorite baseball or football team, but there really is something called momentum and there really is something about feeling good about the place and feeling you blowing an end and I think that's been a good part of the year and I'm very proud of these new initiatives. We tried to ask what what what's the 21st century hold for us at where can we make a difference? We can't afford to support everything. So we're supporting molecular biology, which means these fancy Gene therapies to try to find a cure for leukemia to be able to grow crops that are resistant to disease to rust and so forth putting a lot of money in computers and Telecommunications a lot of money into media frankly with all the new Get out there. So I'm proud that we got those programs funded in The Faculty has gotten their arms around them taking a hold of those programs and I was genuinely think these will serve our students well to be well trained and we'll be ready for the jobs of of The Next Century with all the things that have gone so well and you know, there's been so much focus on the accomplishments that let's talk about what I mean. Is there anything that that you'd hope to happen this first year that just hasn't you haven't been able to get it off the ground or you just wanted a lot of problems or one of the things in terms of student services. I think you have to reward your really outstanding teachers and inevitably have other schools go after your great researchers, but they're sort of a unusual Market nationally for the great teacher. So I wanted to establish an Academy of distinguished professors. We didn't get that off the ground this year, but I think we will next year. So put your money where your mouth is pay the people who are the mentors to the undergraduate sand. You are really genuinely bloves that that's one area. I think we did as bad as well in the area of new buildings and and Renovations as I'd hoped but I'm really concerned. We really need to complete the process and Preserve of the whole old campus at particular in the Knoll area and and on the Minneapolis part, so that's an area where I am concerned. I don't really have too many examples of things that happened to him. Right? I'm a very pragmatic man. I try not to set expectations so high that we can't realize them. So I feel like we're chugging along. Okay, but the staff would probably say that I'm putting in too many hours and they're they're tired of those late-night emails and I should get some self-discipline control and I'll try to work on that too. We're talking today University of Minnesota president Mark yudof. If you have some questions or comments for mr. You. Give us a call in the Twin Cities. The number is 227-6002 276 thousand side the metro area. The toll-free number is 1 800-242-2828. 1 800-242-2828. Let's go to a Glen in Fridley. Good morning morning. Express in a few. Thank you for taking my call. I am a leader in the Filipino community of the Twin Cities and I have two children of the university and I am an alumni the university also and I have a two-part question one is you have a reception for the Asian Community this Wednesday evening. I would like to know the general objectives of that and the other one is how would you tailor many of your objectives to the Asian Community students of the University of Minnesota question. I've been trying to to meet with the various communities of color. I think it's real important example. I'm real proud of the diversity on my my own team. I have 12 people to report to me 6 or women 7 or women are poor people of color. I think that's real good and adds a dimension to it. I would say the purpose of each one of these receptions is that the community can get to know me that you can express your concerns to me and I can listen attentively and see what directions University needs to take what we're doing. Well what we're doing poor. In the like so that's I would say that's the the main Direction and in which were headed. I don't know. I don't think I forgot in the second half of your question. What was the other half of it? I think she's want to see how do you still want to come in earlier? Would you tailor that so it would cater more to the Asian American students in the University now and attract more in the future. So I do apologize to you. I think a lot of these objectives will work well with all students. So if you have a class at a freshman seminar or 12 or 14 students with a real Professor, we're trying to get that for every student anywhere in the system. I think for that student who perhaps is culturally or otherwise a little different than the others that they have the opportunity to have a good Mentor and relate well, so there is I think the sort of Vince Lombardi strategy that if you're doing your job educating you were late weldall student, but beyond that, I think you raised a good point. How to do is to support the cultural organizations, they're really the safety Network for Asian students Asian American students Hispanic students and so forth support that Network and and make sure that they're viable and I were defending a lawsuit right now to make sure that we can continue to charge fees to support those organizations. I tried to attend a lot of their events so that symbolically I'm there any specific case of Asians, but not Asian Americans, we really had an extensive program with a downturn in the Economy Inn in Asia where we provided additional scholarship assistance to our Korean students are Chinese students those from Thailand and so forth. So those are the sorts of things were doing some it's it's across the board, but you need to pick you a student subgroups. I asked you about long-term projects, you know, you said you kind of a day today person but it certainly have to look ahead to be on even the three years that you know, you're under contract what kinds of things are you looking at? The big picture things that the books 1010 20 years out to be as comfortable and UMaine for its students is Carleton College and McAllister are for their students. In other words. I really don't like this sort of post World War II syndrome that that you just to have a machine that Jen's out students and they pass through the place without a sort of human touch sometime. So I would like in the year 2050 two people to say my goodness. You can get the same type of education. Did you get in a small liberal arts college in the midwest at the University of Minnesota. That's one point second. I would like to involve the students more in research and say that it's not just a research University for the graduates. Didn't spread it to every student has the seminars and has the opportunity to do some research and Engineering or to do it in social work or whatever. The subject has to be there. And I'd like people to say boy, we played it smart that University of Minnesota has 4.7 million people it really by any stretch should not be competitive with States like Illinois and Texas and California in Virginia, but my goodness, they thought it through and they they decided that these Gene therapies that if they put the money in that they could we can make a real difference to the health of the people of the state or to Agriculture and we're out of head route ahead of of similar institutions in the same thing in the in the digital Sciences in terms of the computer Technologies in the same thing in terms of design and and agriculture. So I guess what I'd like people says you were strategic you didn't bite off more than you can chew your pick five areas where you knew there'd be tons of jobs and you went out and you trained your students and they're getting those jobs and son. Call taneously to say you didn't do that by creating some sort of graduate environment and which undergraduate to not treated with full respect and dignity and and services are not made available to them that certify vision for the future. Lots of people waiting to talk to University of Minnesota. President Mark yudof. I back to the phone and Usher from St.Paul. Good morning in Urdu language are about 6 years ago. This matter was lost like that. And also in that connection if you'd like and Bengali at a later date appropriately we would be grateful and the some attention is to be paid to Ames library to improve on the existing facilities is there grants aren't they have been considerably reduced? Alright, thank you. Thank God I don't have much comment. But I think you're anything we can do to strengthen language teaching at the University's to is to be applauded. I think I don't know about then golly. And I'm delighted that were doing a good job in Urdu. We are the one of the last of the world's monolingual people want anything we can do to prepare people better for that International environment. I applaud I talked about to your success that you've had Inn in Swain State lawmakers. You get the bonding Bill the money we're looking for the supplemental budget you expect that to continue and maybe you could come in on the hiring of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Gardner bring to head up the lobbying effort of the capital. I always tell people I'm going to try I'm a child of the Enlightenment. I think I can reason with people and maybe it's cuz I'm a lawyer. I hate to admit that so publicly but I do hope for the same success. I'm not sure you should hold a job like mine unless you're you're optimistic and think that if you tell the legislature about the knees and the new directions and it you explain very carefully to them, but my goodness if we could strengthen our humanities programs and social science programs with new professors that the world is almost unlimited in terms of increasing or and enhancing our our reputation. So I do approach it that way. I try to be strategic I listen to a lot of people and we put together a presentation which is truthful yet. GameStop package it in terms of people can understand and and then go on our way, so we will have to see their many elections between now and then and that's all the winners. I say, I do support you. The Justice card to bring is is really a wonderful addition to the team should be coming on after Labor Day. She's in charge of institutional relations, which is reporting to hers everything from a development activities to public relations to a governmental relations. And so on. I was pleased that she was willing to be considered. I think she has just a wonderful reputation for intelligence and integrity of people may forget a little bit though. She's a great Supreme Court Justice. She actually run some Ransom very large state agencies in the perfect Administration. She's articulate and and logical and then I think has the personality to work with people in a non-threatening way. Do I think Justice card to bring just brings all the skills and I'm hoping if we keep hiring like this my job will be a lot easier hunt take longer vacations and who knows what you mentioned in in another response to a question that the strength of the economy certainly benefited you and how much do you think that that is played in your success? Do you think or I would say their number of jharkhand would be necessary but not sufficient conditions. We didn't have that Surplus. We didn't have a prayer of doing the composting the sorts of things that were accomplished. No doubt about that when the other hand there were many applicants for this money and and including returning money the taxpayers which is extremely important including children services, including health care and and buildings in for rent Minneapolis. And st. Paul and so forth. So I would say that it was a good chunk of it. But by no means all the fact that the money is there doesn't mean you'll get it and I've said We had some legislative leaders out to the campus and the faculty was out. I should look into the eyes of these legislators. The one thing they have done is they said I trust the University of Minnesota. I trust Mark yudof. I trust the faculty and if we blow it, they're not going to trust us soon again. And therefore we're moving to get the buildings built on time within budget. The program's established the student serve and that's the thing that frankly I'm working on the hardest at this time, but he's not there's no sense arguing about what's not there. But if the money is there that's still part of a long political process to get your share of it can from St.Paul your question to come in for mark yudof. Thank you for taking my call for the university is trying to be everything for all people which is obviously impossible Metro State University near graduates over a thousand people a year. It seems like recently the University of Minnesota extension programs through University College. I've been growing I have you thought much about either trying to combine metrostate into the university college or moving your night programs / Metro State they seem to overlap a lot now, but thank you that this idea of combining with Metro State. I have to tell you I was sort of hoping to survive the first two weeks of my Grande new contract. So I don't know how deeply I want to get into this. I guess what I would say is this access mission is extremely important to me and to the taxpayers of the state to the bosses if you will and what I think is that metro state has a fabulous job with a with a non-traditional part-time student and they're doing great and I think a general College we're done a really superb job under Dave Taylor's leadership of reaching the another type of non-traditional student student who comes under prepared to comes from a poor family in the light. Can I went to all that to continue? What I think is missing is a certain sort of synergy and I think this is what the caller saying that and we have begun discussions with him. Excited state college and university system disabled. What can we do jointly to come up with a higher education plan for the metropolitan area that deals with that youngster in K through 12 who had no opportunities who dropped out maybe of high school and wants to come back or that police officer who's 35 years old in and she really wants to improve herself in the world or that a senior citizen who says I had my degrees, but I'd really like to take art history. That's a passion of mine and frankly. I do not think we have figured that out yet. And we need to get our best brain power behind it and come up not with emerging of Institutions. But what's the relationship of General College to Metro State to University College, which is our continuing education. How can we draw on the resources of private colleges in this vicinity? What do we do with the other four-year institutions? I just think we can do better than we can and when I think of the way we serve poor kids and children of color in this country. I really think that we need a Manhattan Project. We just need to You better be doing well for lots of kids, but we're not doing the right thing by those kids and we need to address those problems head-on and I think University of Minnesota has a unique responsibilities. We can't just shrug our shoulders and say that's somebody else's job not true. It's part of our job. Also, if you'd like to talk to University of Minnesota president Mark yudof. The number in the Twin Cities is 2 to 76,000. The toll free number is one 800-242-2828 Richard in do hope your next morning. Thank you, sir. Are you seem to read in the papers that you like to dig into little corners of the university on occasion and I'll give you one the quite frankly turns me off as a parent and number of years ago. One of my sons attended. The university is a good student. I appreciate and I T R. We got all alone and my company had her alone sponsor program and he did quite well, I got about a B+ in his first year. We submitted the papers for us alone in his second year and about two weeks before all the money was do we got back from the loan agency that he was not making proper progress towards degree. I sit there and cut kids cut B+ average. So I call the loan agency blah blah blah comes to find out at least at that time that the University of Minnesota was one of the few days. I was told 5, it would not give a person Advance status unless they had one more credit than was required. So he took a full load 30 minutes to take a 31st in papers I had for my first son while you went down the drain and quite honestly, it was a bunch of pets points. They said never again. University of Minnesota, I don't know what the policy is now for satisfactory progress to reward agree, but boy it sure a mess him up then and I think that's maybe something might want to take a look. Well, I certainly would that I mean that's just crazy. I mean, I mean they're two levels to it. What is the rule and then when do you learn about it? And I will look into it and I do think you're an apology is in order if you really want to know my biggest challenge. It's it's it's bureaucracy and making it more service-oriented. I don't know what the right rule here is but someone should have said to that young man in the first day. You need 31 credit hours rather than 30 or 28 or whatever. The rule is someone oughta be able to waive it. If it's not that essential and the young man is getting B+ grades. It's it's hard. There's no bottom line in the traditional sense and to what I say is that we need to make people people should be promoted and a performance evaluated by how well they serve people like your student and not how well they fit in with a higher key above them. Another way of putting it is we have fabulous employees. I can Regale you with stories of all the good things. They have done employees are great. And if we're not getting a maximum mileage out of them if we're not empowering them, then we go to get a new president a new Board of Regents new vice-presidents. It's a management problem. It's not a people problem. That's the thing. We're going to have a retreat. We're going to decide that discuss. How do you make something service-oriented? So that people are kind that when someone calls in and it's not in your area instead of putting them off. You make the phone call every time you plan on student two or three different buildings. You lose that student they're angry about it and they should be we just need a service mentality and that's true by the way in a relationship with each other if we want to put in a phone it should only take a day or two or change the light bulb or get the room painted. We are all service Friday services to each other but fundamentally important is the students in your story is exactly the type of story that I genuinely hope does not recur although you realize when you do thousands of transactions, you're never going to get them. All right, but we do the best we can. I guess today at midday is University of Minnesota president Mark yudof, and we will continue our discussion in just a moment. When does a single voice become a global Menace? You're invited to an evening with award-winning National Public Radio diplomatic correspondent Tom Sheldon as he discusses current threats to World Peace. The event is Thursday, July 16th at 7 at the Macalester College Chapel in st. Paul tickets are free and available at Lakewinds Natural Foods in Minnetonka and the wedge co-op in Minneapolis. And we should mention the Tom gjelten will be in our Studios this Thursday for calling. So you want to join his stuff for that on Thursday and coming up at noon today bestselling author Bill Bryson discusses. His book A Walk in the woods Trucking the Appalachian Trail a recent speech at the Commonwealth Club of California that's coming up at noon today on midday the dew point temperature in the Twin Cities the last report 75° 81° the temperature mostly sunny skies and looks like a for most of the state today should be sunny humid and hot high temperatures 80s on the North Shore Middle 90s in Marshall some widely scattered thunderstorms still possible in the South tonight should be fair to partly cloudy chance of late night thunderstorms in the far Southwest Louis from the upper 50s near Duluth and The Lure 70s in the south for the Twin Cities today. Sunny hot and humid too high of 92. South by Southwest winds tonight clear aloe of 70 tomorrow again Sunny very warm and humid and a high again right around 92 in the Twin Cities is a mention 81° mostly sunny skies and dew point 75 elsewhere. I mostly sunny skies 80 in Rochester 81 in St. Cloud ATM Duluth 81 in Sioux Falls 82° in Fargo-Moorhead. It is 27 minutes before 12 noon. This is midday on Minnesota Public Radio. I can is a way I'm. Fanelli. Thanks for joining us and our guest today is University of Minnesota president Mark yudof. And if you have a question or comment for mr. You. Feel free to give us a call in the Twin Cities to 276 thousands of the telephone number to 276 thousand Elsewhere One 802-422-8281 800-242-2828. I asked you about this switch over from quarters to semesters starting next year. Maybe give us some indication of how that's been going and what kind of reaction Does the University getting to this change over but it's it's very interesting it one of the things that it's difficult universities does change of any sort. Do you know we're the longest-lived institutions in the world to go back to the 13 14 and we survive by being assertive place of calm and stability admits the a world of change I would say it's going pretty well. I would say there's a lot of professors are not happy. You need to redo your courses essentially cuz you're meeting for a different number of hours. The students are apprehensive because they have not seen anything like it were expecting students to graduate earlier than usual lot of their saying well if we have to do quarters, we just as soon get out of here a little early and never never never faced those two met those semesters we will stick with what we know it's involved in enormous amount of work and but basically I think in terms of identifying the classrooms in terms of the professors really who really the turbo Problem of reconfiguring that history course that they taught 20 times and and now doing it in a different format. I think we're we're basically there. I'm sure they'll be some glitches along the way then there's the ever-present computer and how it's programmed it schools with semesters. I'm one of those people who just tell me what the rule is and I'll follow I can't eat semesters or or or quarters, but it is any change of this magnitude has some sort of adverse impact and turn from just upsetting people's expectations and causing a lot of hard work ahead. You're on the air. Yes. I am a graduate of the College of liberal arts and history graduate about a year-and-a-half ago and one of the things that really frustrated me both vanished shortly after graduation was the career services available to Liberal Arts students. It seems that the business school and The Institute of Technology. Able to attract a lot of recruiters and offer a lot of services to their students but liberal arts is a back actually for a number of years and wondering if you have any plans in regard to that. But let me say that I'm very sympathetic to what you're saying and between education process here that you can be a liberal arts major and major in philosophy or anthropology and you will be a good employee and you will know a lot and you will be able to solve problems and you will be intelligent and can write and so forth. Some of the reason their differences of the people sometimes assume that automatically if you're from The Institute of Technology of the business school that you're should have much better employee material and I think we need to make the Counterpoint second. I don't think we're doing well enough and career services and liberal arts. I don't know all the details in the way of really good people there. But what I'm looking forward to and I'll just try to show a little bit of my hand for next year. I went to freshman seminars for every student small groups of 12 with all the sorts of intensive reading and writing that you get in an honors course to do that. We would need to hire a hundred professors. I think we need to put them in Humanities and social sciences more than any other are you not a great universe? Without a great College of liberal arts. And then the third thing is we need to look at all this advising Services all this career counseling services and make them more service oriented and to do a better job for young people like you so I'm 100% on board. We need to find the cash. We need to find a talent but we'll get it done with the support of of our alumni and with the support of legislative leaders. So I'm pretty optimistic and I agree with your criticism ask you about a couple of Stadium issues that have emerged at the UIL one is the women's soccer stadium has been to go ahead now to go ahead with it with that site if there aren't any alternative. Is that correct? Where does that sit right now? Well, this is a difficult problem that these are people who live in that Grove area there and in 1666 Kaufman, there are people are friends are part of our community and tell you want to serve them in every conceive. The way but we have had a hard time coming up with a site that is in close proximity to the university and where we can build the facility for the $2000000 which what we had 1.2 million from the state and bonding Authority 800,000 from a donor. That's one of our problem. I think we probably could have done a better job giving the members of that Community early warning and right now he said we're going to look for other sites. Mayor Coleman and I are going to go down to the state fair board or any other board that will listen to us and we'll look for alternative sites and and it has to meet those criteria. Then I told the neighborhood please sit down with our dean of architecture and try to work out a assertive sympathetic plan for the neighborhood if we need to go forward with that and it will also sign some guarantees that you know, we're not going to expand it at 30000 they were not going to put in bright bites to keep people awake at night, but it it's been an interesting lesson to me. The university has to be your main and all these dealings, but we're between a rock and a hard. We need to do right by our women athletes and historically American universities. If not, we've got a Title Nine consent to creep and more importantly. We have a moral obligation or women athletes to give them opportunities that are very similar to an equal to those of the men athletes and they need to have a soccer stadium. They deserve it the coach deserves it all this land by the way longs to the university including the land that the people in in in the Grove and the people in 1666 live and I guess in some ways you could describe this as a family fight in some ways. It's a classic neighborhood concern with it with a new facility. So I'm determined that one thing I believe in very strongly as equity for women athletes. So we're going to figure out a way to do this, but I also believe that you don't punish the people who who brought you to the dance and I have given zero satisfaction in inflicting any sort of concern or damage when those community so we're good. We're going to search for another alternative. The other Stadium issue is the governor's proposal and maybe you can help us clarify where it's at right now, but he's been talking about building a stadium for the football team on the campus and then leasing it to the Vikings that the doctor will document of the problems with the Metrodome and and the football team I guess we spoke briefly last week. Is there any is anything more that you know about that? Are you so reluctant to support it. Where do you where do you sit and you don't have to fear that the Minnesota nice Will Sutton send anyway obliterate his real message. He says what he thinks and so forth what I've said, and I genuinely think this is true is we are building 392 million dollars of construction now for everything from dormitories to academic buildings. We're probably going to ask for another two hundred million dollars during the next a capital session. The legislature so it is not a high priority at this time of the University of Minnesota. Would we like the facility on campus will sure that would be nicer? I don't like going off campus police games, but you know liking and making it a high priority and other things I think we need to get the academic Mission Inn, in order first opinion of of it being a high-priority. I mean it would seem to a lot of people that it is important to get this this football stadium thing squared away. And there's a lot of lot of people that are upset with the current situation. I mean, did you think that you don't you know that in the majority there thinks that that that's probably true. I don't know about the majority of our alumni and and and our faculty and students. Obviously we need to look very carefully at the negotiations for the Metrodome, you know, where the third player and if the other to sneeze and it will catch cold as the saying goes so I don't say it's not a concern and I don't say that. Couldn't reach a point where we would have to look at it the other options, but I do know sitting at my desk today and given the magnitude of the investment given our other needs. I just don't see it in the near future. What does takes more calls Keith and Andover. Go ahead. Are you there? Are you speaking reading your phone? I'm having a hard time hearing you. Use expectations are for the quality of students entering based upon the new high school equivalency test that kids have to pass and assuming you do you expect to see a result from that. How are you going to alter your curriculum to take action for a better student? Well, if that's those are absolutely essential questions and what can I say? I'm the I'm the president and other people are looking into this people actually know more about these things. We have a Provost the Bob Brunner to come from the College of Education which helped devise many of those standards and get them implemented. So he is working with our faculty to determine what changes in curriculum would need to be made and what adjustments we may need to make sure I don't really have the specifics for you on that. The profile of our students has been improving know 85% of them now meet the should have standard profile in terms of the courses. I've taken in terms of their of their scores on standardized tests and and so forth. So I think the student population will be say about where it is roughly 39 40 thousand maybe creep up a little bit. I think there will be some adaptation to those new State High School stand. But we're in the process of figuring those out as we sit here today, and that's why I'm glad I have such a good team. This would take me a good deal time to figure out on my own. Mick from Maseca go ahead. Hi guys. Thanks for taking my call. I'll present you. It's really hit the kind of hard for me to even open the vault on this one because this wasn't during your watch but I was one of the kind of revolutionary one of many revolutionary citizens who attempted to find a slightly more edifying options to the closing of the umw of end the federal prison, which now a kind of sad Leaf. It stands in its stead based on that history now, I'm kind of looking toward the future. I was curious as to the use plans concerning a possible agricultural Renaissance in South Central Minnesota. Just curious as to what your plans were and I'll just take your ass off the phone. Well, thank you. This is a difficult question into it. It happens. I think I'm I'm trying to make an effort as I think it was he could Community is to get to University and and that Community back together again, and I just traveled to Waseca and former Congressman Penny was there and and a Henry Calas and others. I went out to the southern experiment station and I really think they're a lot of constructive things we can do and I'm planning on returning to that Community sort of symbolically to say we still care. I I can't reverse the decision of many years ago. I'm genuinely sorry that it occurred and but it's just not going to do any good to be a Monday Morning Quarterback what we're talking about a number of things. We are strengthening the experiment stations around the state that the ad people were one hundred percent behind us in the legislature. We batted faculty positions to all the experiment stations. My recollection. The recollection is the southern experiment station is adding for new. People two of them are faculty and they'll be dealing with the agricultural concerns of that area and I are doing really very high quality research. I noticed they have one that has heard of genetic a program where they're trying to increase the productivity of dairy cows and it had an unbelievably successful program. So I think we'll probably do is try to station will try to work the issues through to see if there are ways that we can offer more continuing education in Waseca or more access to some of our programs at the University of Minnesota were trying to create access from all the 4-year campuses. So you can go say to Southwest 8th and Marshall take all your classes their professors there and also from the experiment station professors my distance learning and get a University of Minnesota agricultural degree without ever setting foot on the Saint Paul campus. So I think we're trying to move on a rifle shot faces out into the larger. Unity in Waseca is a part of that the plan primarily because not only deserve it. But because you have this wonderful experiment station, which is done such brilliant work over the years. So that's sort of where we are at the moment. And I think we're making a little bit of progress and terms frankly of a Reconciliation process. You should happy Central Administration allowed when you first came aboard last year or do you expect to continue that or you satisfied with the changes that have been made at that level? How it would make quite a few changes the shake-up. It's interesting that refers to be cut six million dollars from the central administrative budget. And why did we do that? Because I felt to give the compensation package that we needed in the package for new academic initiatives, which infant simply did not have the money in the bank to do with the budget would not balance if we did those things. So we took the six million dollars out of administration and put it into faculty and staff directly delivering services to students. So that's what we did a second. I have her place to where people have resigned 9 of the 12 people who reported to me and I feel like it's my team and they they have that service orientation. I keep talkin about it being so important. It's a flatter organizational structure. I I'm one of those people would rather have 15 or 20 people reporting to me only by exception only coming in when there's a problem then have them for five to eight layers down and I can't figure out how to get my message to the person who's actually doing the work so we'll probably be make Some more changes along that particular out in the future as well. So I think we've made progress finally. I guess I need to reach deeper into the organization. I wanted organizations not only service-oriented but where we don't process things to death where we at least keep an eye on the outcomes. I don't want to know how long you search for people. But how much diversity did you achieve how confident are the people that you hired is the dropout rate lower than it was last year a student satisfaction for advising going up and what did we accomplish and just say we had 12 committee meetings doesn't do a whole lot for me. Okay time for just a couple more questions to see Kevin the Minneapolis your next go ahead a superior education at the University just quality teachers there. I know this is kind of minutiae but it's just so abominable got to be sure but they kept keep records of her interactions and instead of of noting what it was told to her what she said and what she's done. It was a detailed record of her emotional state over various visits financial aid. Well, thank you for bringing that to my attention. That is potentially serious problem and I will when I get back to campus look into that record-keeping is something that has an enormous impact on people's privacy and lives. I don't know the full circumstances about this record or what we do in general, but I will we will take a hard look at this and thank you for bringing it to my attention Okay. Yeah Robert in New Hope your next thank you for taking my call. I'm a graduate student at the College of Music right now. And I also got my undergraduate there and recently they redid the carpets and they painted and everything looks great. What I'm calling about is I'm wondering with respect to this upgrade in in in equipment in molecular biology and computers that you're talking about. I'm wondering what you can do for the School of Music because the pianos for the piano Majors there. Are in complete disrepair this broken strings broken keys. They just completely out of regular maintenance. The library hours just aren't really you know as accessible as they need to be in the chairs in the lounge are completely dilapidated and gone to the trash, you know around around in that from the houses around the campus to find junk chairs to sit on, briefly. It's easier obviously the cell technology in the pianos in the legislature, but you're 110% right? And I think what we're trying to do is that I did this this year. I put more budgetary discretion in the colleges and so that they can put money into these areas of improvement and we just have to make sure we deliver the message that's conditions and music are as important as they are in civil engineering and we're civilized society and that's what it takes and I'm sorry conditions are not that you would and will try to work it through an extensive building renovation program and I hope we'll get you as soon fella speaking of all that to the building renovation at the are the main campus lot of it going on in a people see me leave very satisfied. But how do you how do you keep the accessibility factor in in good Stead? People can say things will be accessible. And the first thing I have to do the Rover under but you don't we have a great at home pages. When will tell the one that Jack hammers are beginning or trying to do it in stages but it really will be a better place for them and for their children and all I can say is that please set just just be a little tolerant and we'll throw a lot of ice cream parties and big on that why plenty of plain cake cook-off? I think you you know, people don't think Asian Revolution when you're happily eating pancakes together, so that's my philosophy of this. All right and Michael from Fisher go ahead for the next caller near University of Minnesota Morris, which I would argue is probably the best campus in the University. I may be a little biased but I was just curious this springstm Schumann was appointed as interim Chancellor. Instead of any of the finalists in pick. Would you like to see him take on this job in a more permanent? Gum capacities cuz I think he'd be an excellent person. I was just curious what you thought. Well, that is a great campus. I mean it is a juul it is liberal arts college in the public sector and dr. Shuman is fabulous is no doubt about that, but I can't speak for him the last time he did not put his name in for consideration. And if you would put it in on the next search, he would certainly get a lot of attention on my part. But I think it'd be unfair to say that he definitely get the job. And and when we do have an open search for these positions unless you get off an unfortunate we are out of time today, but we sure appreciate your stuff by and taking questions and comments. Well, it's been a great pleasure and congratulations on the new contract. Thank U University of Minnesota president Mark yudof. He is just finished his first year in office and he has a new contract for the Board of Regents and you think of again for coming in today and thanks for all the colors today here on midday. The time now is 5 and 1/2 minutes before 12 noon. I'm Ray Suarez Democratic pollster Peter Hart asked Americans about managed healthcare and discovered a disgruntled and deeply concerned public they see the hmos as more of a plug is sort of stopping the flow of good health care coverage and that bothers people a lot on the next Talk of the Nation from NPR news and you can hear Talk of the Nation this afternoon at 1 right after midday right here on Minnesota Public Radio for Garrison Keillor and The Writer's Almanac.