Never Daunted
The nearly 100,000 students who call Indiana University home every day - and Hoosiers everywhere - deserve to be proud of the state’s flagship university.
As Trustee, I would bring 40 years of communications and marketing experience - including nearly 15 years of higher education leadership - to the table.
I offer the background and skills needed to help IU’s administration do an even better job supporting students, working with faculty and staff in pursuit of excellence.
My Pledge to IU
As someone with extensive experience working with university trustees, I know a good trustee when I see one. I pledge to do the following:
Stay in my lane: A trustee’s job is to approve major financial transactions and provide insight and oversight to senior administration - not meddle in the day-to-day management of the university’s operations.
Know when to jump in and ask hard questions: The environment around higher ed today is extremely challenging. A good trustee needs to be able to understand the issues well enough to ask informed, and sometimes difficult, questions and be secure enough to listen openly and have their assumptions challenged.
Ensure that all university voices are heard: Faculty and staff are in the trenches every day working to improve the experience of IU students. Too often, however, their voices are dismissed or even ignored. That won’t happen with me.
Demand that student success - not politics - drive our actions and decisions: Higher ed has become increasingly politicized in recent years. As a trustee, my ONLY job is to support the success of IU and its students, not promote someone else’s agenda of what an IU education should be.
Represent IU in a positive manner at all times: IU changed my life for the better in myriad ways. I want to be a trustee to help future generations of students have access to the same type of transformative experience.
I pledge to ask tough questions and listen openly to the answers. I aspire to seek common ground with all those who act in good faith and call out those who don’t.
And I pledge to never, ever forget that I’m working for the 90,000 students trusting Indiana University each year to provide a path to the futures they deserve.
The Big Issues
Student success: If we don’t get this right, there’s no point being in the game. IU’s teaching, scholarship and research must continue to be world-class.
Out-of-classroom excellence: A former boss of mine once told me, “if we’re going to play the game, we might as well win.” Our student-athletes in all sports, our experiential learning experiences, our commitment to internships, our community service opportunities and all the other things that round out the classroom experience must be supported.
Freedom from politics: Being a state-supported university shouldn’t make IU an arm of the state government and subject to its political whims. Education should be left to the educators. Too often, faculty are seen as the enemy by politicians. That must stop.
Diversity of thought: The ‘marketplace of ideas’ only works if we allow divergent views to be heard and challenged. Sadly, that isn’t always happening on our campuses right now.
Board performance: The Trustees must be held to the highest standards of transparency, must be accountable for their decisions and can never lose sight of their role as a public face for IU.
About Me
Hometown: Greensburg, Indiana
Current residence: Charlton, NY
Education: BA-Journalism, IU-Bloomington (1985); MBA, Columbia University (1989)
Career highlights:
40-year career as a journalist, communications and marketing leader
Current role: Vice president - communications and marketing, Union College, Schenectady, NY.
14 years in higher education leadership, including five (2011-2016) as Associate Vice President – Public Affairs and university spokesman at IU.
16 years as an adjunct journalism and communications faculty member, 13 at IU.
Personal: Married to Karen (Smith) Land, IU-Bloomington ‘86 (Journalism and Art); one grown daughter, two large and adorable dogs
My very own IU pennant signed by members of the 38th infantry division of the Indiana National Guard during a goodwill visit while they were stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2016.
IU News and Events
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Trustee Voting
June 1-30
June is election month! You can vote directly from the IU trustee website or by requesting a paper ballot. The voting link will go live on June 1.
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Little 500
April 25-26
The ‘World’s Greatest College Weekend’ and the country’s most prestigious college bike races are a highlight of spring in Bloomington.
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News
Stay current on all the news from around IU, delivered by the university’s outstanding team of communicators and storytellers.
Contact Me
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I can’t wait to hear from you!