Spotlight

Listening to a new song

15th president brings a discerning ear to ESU

Singing is one of Michael Lane’s favorite diversions. The new Emporia State University president learns his part in most music by listening and memorizing. With classical music, however, his mind jumps ahead, anticipating what’s next.“You sing enough Handel, you know where Handel is going,” said Dr. Lane.

Listening and anticipation should serve Lane well in the presidency. He has already shown himself to be an engaged listener, and one suspects he’ll soon be anticipating the nuances of leadership as if Handel himself wrote the script.

“One thing I sensed is that he is open to listen,” said Dr. Diane Miller, president of the Faculty Senate and a professor in psychology and special education. “I think that was a very strong characteristic. He was very personable, very willing to listen, very easy to
communicate with.”

The student body president, senior Jess Price of Marysville, took note during the interview process of how well Lane had prepared for the visit, and how his questions sought to fill the gaps he couldn’t discover through research.

“The amount of research that he had done (was substantial),” Price said, “and the fact that he remembered people even though he had briefly met them. He was very open, very willing to learn about the campus. Right from the start he was very involved.”

Lane, 54, is in his first position as president. He started Nov. 1, and in mid-October he was on campus for discussions with campus leaders. His focus was “the learning process,” Lane said. “Me learning the campus and the campus learning me, and us working forward together.” Lane gathered information by meeting with community members, faculty, staff, students, and alumni and foundation members – to see what they
value, what they’d like to change.

Lane’s path toward the presidency began in academia. He first decided to enter the academic world while working on his master’s degree in accounting at Northeastern University, already holding a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Lowell Technological
Institute (now University of Massachusetts at Lowell). A faculty member visiting Northeastern from Texas A&M’s doctoral program caught Lane’s ear, and by 1980 Lane had finished his doctorate at Texas A&M. By 1981, he was an assistant professor at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.

At the dean’s request, he took over as accounting department chair in 1986, and the administrative progression began. “I simply discovered an ability to do administrative duties reasonably well,” Lane said. He found a knack for evaluating and developing faculty members, providing opportunities for growth and stepping aside. And the accountant was a natural for the budgeting side of administration.

Lane soon began to exercise another trait of leaders: vision. In 1994, he became dean of the business school at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne, where he was tasked with anticipating the school’s future. His perspective was broadening, and it would continue as dean of the business school at Berry College in Rome, Ga. He landed there in 1998, learning the power of empowerment. Lane was meeting one day with a local businessman to recruit him to the school’s executive advisory council. By the end of the lunch meeting, Lane realized the man had a university perspective that went beyond one school. Instead of coveting the promising volunteer for the business council, Lane drove directly to the Berry College president’s office and said he’d found someone
who belonged on the college’s board of trustees.

Lane’s perspective broadened even more in 2000 when he became provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, and then as vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at University of Arkansas – Fort Smith from February 2005 until moving to Emporia. Overseeing a university’s entire academic mission, Lane began to see how smaller decisions can impact an entire institution’s reputation
and success. He had his first opportunity to be a caretaker for general education requirements, asking,“Is our English program producing students who can write? Are the math classes teaching students to solve algebra equations?”

At ESU, Lane’s perspective is broader still. For instance, it’s the first time his oversight includes collegiate athletics. He’s learned plenty of lessons, but there are always more. “I get to start learning them at an entirely new level now,” Lane said.

Lane won’t be going at it a cappella. One reason he was attracted to ESU is the strong management team, which fits into his administrative style. He knows a president isn’t an expert in any one area. “I like to hirepeople who are smarter than me – particularly people who know more about their areas than I do,” Lane said.

President Lane is quick to credit the wisdom of his wife, Dr. Peggy Lane. As an expert in information systems who joined the department of accounting and information systems as a lecturer this spring, Peggy Lane understands higher education just like her husband. She knows what he’s going through. She sees him as “always being able to see the big picture and thinking about the future – and sharing that vision whatever that may be.”
Lane delegates and manages, she said, and has a finger on the pulse of everything without micromanaging.

Having the big picture in sight was Lane’s strongest selling point, said Janice DeBauge, a member of the Kansas Board of Regents and chair of the presidential search committee. “Dr. Lane has an impressive grasp of the numerous aspects of higher education, both from a national perspective and from a state system perspective,” DeBauge said by e-mail while overseas. “He has experience in practical solutions that address the challenges of a regional university, and he thoroughly understands university development and advancement. His business background will be helpful in forging those partnerships that are essential in the future. Most importantly, Dr. Lane is a straight talker whose vision, energy, and self-image create confidence in those with whom he interacts.”

Lane will face unique challenges in his tenure at ESU, where he plans to stay for 10 or 11
years until retirement. DeBauge listed three: finding additional revenue from the private and corporate sectors and the federal government; increased agility in forging partnerships with educators and businesses; and aggressive attention to the changing demographics of potential students, from minorities to lifelong learners to students from
outside Kansas.

Dr. Miller, the Faculty Senate president, sees two primary challenges from the faculty viewpoint. One is recruiting and retaining the best faculty members through strong benefits packages, along the lines of higher education funding in general. A second challenge is defining what ESU will look like as technology broadens access to education and changes the face of the traditional student body.

“It is important to faculty for the university to remain student-centered as we address the changes that are taking place in higher education and the way information is delivered to students,” Miller said.

Price, the student body president, honed in on funding issues. The bill for deferred maintenance projects at ESU is at $44.7 million, while it’s $727 million at all Kansas state universities. “We’re becoming more or less a ‘state-located’ institution,” Price said. “We used to be state-funded. Now we’re state-assisted. If it goes any further, we’ll be state-located.”

President Lane is well aware, already touching on each issue in his public comments. Just a few of his top priorities include finishing the scholarship campaign for students, Building Blocks for Success, in 2007; continuing ESU’s involvement in the regional
community; recruiting and retaining faculty; working directly with students; and launching a new strategic planning process.

Strategic planning may sound dry, but Lane says he knows it’s the key to progress. It’s an opportunity to map out the university’s next three to four years. The process evaluates strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and it sets goals. Most importantly, it creates objectives and assigns responsibility for achieving them. “It needs to yield a living document,” Lane said, “something that people are working on every day. Having a common direction accepted is important to make it work.”

Back at the president’s residence during that short break from meetings in October, the Lanes sat close together in their new living room. The walls were bare ahead of remodeling and redecorating. The Lanes obviously enjoy each other. They share a love
for singing, golf, traveling, and their pets, a 12-year-old beagle named Lucy and an adopted cat, Brandy, about 14 years old. President Lane calls his golfing handicap “my swing,” and says he’s a slightly better golfer than Peggy but not for long. “She’s getting
better, and I’m not.”

Her soprano voice compliments his baritone bass. Just as in life, they know it takes two to tango. “I’m quite sure I would not be here if she was not by my side,” President Lane said. “She keeps me real. We work very well together as a team. We’re committed to helping each other achieve.”

That’s a harmony well-wishers of ESU can appreciate. Taking a page from Handel, the Lanes are ready to make ESU’s music.

See the story in the electronic magazine, page 12.

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Last Updated April 17, 2008