April 4, 2008
Dear MSU Family:
Three days ago I became interim president of this great university that I have
loved and served for more than 40 years, and I could not be more grateful or
more honored by the opportunity. Some of you have been my friends and colleagues
for decades. All of you, collectively, have my utmost appreciation for what you
do and my highest confidence in your abilities and commitment to the institution
and state. To cap a long MSU career as your advocate, coach, and leader is the
culmination of a dream for Jo Ann and me. We promise to work hard, shoulder to
shoulder with you, to move The People's University forward.
Mississippi State has been a profoundly important and positive force in the life
of Mississippi for 130 years. To a greater extent than most institutions can
claim, MSU understands and fulfills its purpose as a comprehensive land-grant
university in a state with unique challenges and opportunities. Despite periodic
changes in emphasis and terminology, our primary goals and priorities have been
predictably consistent through several presidential administrations, and we will
continue to focus on high quality learning, research, and service tailored to
the needs of our students and our state. Like other institutions, we have
experienced ups and downs, including periods of rapid growth and times of
constraints and contraction. But I encourage all of us to look at our past, and
our future, with a long-term perspective, and to see that our direction has and
will continue to trend upward.
My immediate predecessors, like talented and dedicated leaders before them, have
helped build a strong foundation and generate momentum in important areas that
we will maintain as we map the future of MSU in keeping with its historic
strengths, campus culture, and vision for excellence. As we look ahead
together, you should know what you can expect from me and what I expect from you.
My first priority is to listen. As one of the longest-tenured members of the MSU
community, and having been a graduate student, faculty member and administrator
here, I think I have a good understanding of who we are and who we want to be as
a university. But I realize that I have much to learn in my new role about many
aspects of the institution, and I look forward to hearing from as many of you as
possible in a variety of formal and informal settings. Your opinions matter.
I will make mistakes. When I do, I expect you will let me know about it, and my
goal will be to acknowledge it, learn from it, and fix it.
I plan to be patient, as I hope you will be with me. Patience, in my opinion,
is an under-appreciated virtue in our fast-paced society, and one that should
not be confused with lethargy or indecisiveness. Our emphasis will be on making
good decisions, rather than quick ones. We will take time to listen, learn, and
collaborate on issues important to us all.
I will work to keep the university engaged with our students and alumni, with
the community and state, and with the many constituencies that look to MSU for
expertise, leadership, and service.
I will depend on you--our faculty, staff, and administrators--to know your jobs
and do them well, offering support where I can and guidance or course changes
where required. My philosophy is that if you cannot trust the folks you hire,
you didn't need them in the first place.
Let's work hard, cooperatively and collegially, and have fun doing it. I look
forward to visiting with as many of you as possible in the weeks ahead. In the
meantime, you can tell me what's on your mind by writing to [email protected] .
Sincerely,
Vance Watson
Interim President
Dear MSU Family:
Three days ago I became interim president of this great university that I have
loved and served for more than 40 years, and I could not be more grateful or
more honored by the opportunity. Some of you have been my friends and colleagues
for decades. All of you, collectively, have my utmost appreciation for what you
do and my highest confidence in your abilities and commitment to the institution
and state. To cap a long MSU career as your advocate, coach, and leader is the
culmination of a dream for Jo Ann and me. We promise to work hard, shoulder to
shoulder with you, to move The People's University forward.
Mississippi State has been a profoundly important and positive force in the life
of Mississippi for 130 years. To a greater extent than most institutions can
claim, MSU understands and fulfills its purpose as a comprehensive land-grant
university in a state with unique challenges and opportunities. Despite periodic
changes in emphasis and terminology, our primary goals and priorities have been
predictably consistent through several presidential administrations, and we will
continue to focus on high quality learning, research, and service tailored to
the needs of our students and our state. Like other institutions, we have
experienced ups and downs, including periods of rapid growth and times of
constraints and contraction. But I encourage all of us to look at our past, and
our future, with a long-term perspective, and to see that our direction has and
will continue to trend upward.
My immediate predecessors, like talented and dedicated leaders before them, have
helped build a strong foundation and generate momentum in important areas that
we will maintain as we map the future of MSU in keeping with its historic
strengths, campus culture, and vision for excellence. As we look ahead
together, you should know what you can expect from me and what I expect from you.
My first priority is to listen. As one of the longest-tenured members of the MSU
community, and having been a graduate student, faculty member and administrator
here, I think I have a good understanding of who we are and who we want to be as
a university. But I realize that I have much to learn in my new role about many
aspects of the institution, and I look forward to hearing from as many of you as
possible in a variety of formal and informal settings. Your opinions matter.
I will make mistakes. When I do, I expect you will let me know about it, and my
goal will be to acknowledge it, learn from it, and fix it.
I plan to be patient, as I hope you will be with me. Patience, in my opinion,
is an under-appreciated virtue in our fast-paced society, and one that should
not be confused with lethargy or indecisiveness. Our emphasis will be on making
good decisions, rather than quick ones. We will take time to listen, learn, and
collaborate on issues important to us all.
I will work to keep the university engaged with our students and alumni, with
the community and state, and with the many constituencies that look to MSU for
expertise, leadership, and service.
I will depend on you--our faculty, staff, and administrators--to know your jobs
and do them well, offering support where I can and guidance or course changes
where required. My philosophy is that if you cannot trust the folks you hire,
you didn't need them in the first place.
Let's work hard, cooperatively and collegially, and have fun doing it. I look
forward to visiting with as many of you as possible in the weeks ahead. In the
meantime, you can tell me what's on your mind by writing to [email protected] .
Sincerely,
Vance Watson
Interim President
