In the world of academia, we love to use big words. But sometimes, in the midst of all of the fancy titles, we can get confused. When I was a student, I had a hard time keeping these titles straight too and, to be completely honest, I didn't even bother to ask for clarification. But now that I work in higher education I have a new perspective.
Your chancellor, your provost, your dean – they care about you. And while they’re not necessarily in a position to get to know you personally, how you interact with them can make an impact.
A few weeks ago, I was able to sit down with Dr. Matt Lucas, Chancellor of IWU-National & Global, and asked him just a few questions so that students like you can feel a little more connected to the administration that’s so connected with you.
Q: First of all, can you just describe what being a Chancellor even means?
Dr. Lucas: Higher education uses the word chancellor in two different ways. But the way that IWU uses it is as a campus’ chief executive officer.
At Indiana Wesleyan University, Dr. Wright is the president of a multi-campus entity made up of IWU-National & Global, IWU-Marion, and Wesley Seminary. My role is to serve as CEO for IWU-National & Global. The biggest difference between being a president and a chancellor is that I don’t have to have a board of trustees that I would respond to. But everything else that a typical president would do is among the things that I would be responsible for doing as the chancellor.
Q: How do you incorporate your worldview into what you’re doing here, in attending meetings and making tough calls?
Dr. Lucas: When I look at my role, I think it falls into different categories.
One category is around thinking about the future of higher education and what our students are going to need when they enter the workforce. Some of these things are the same as they were a thousand years ago. Students still need to be able to read, write, reflect and think critically, but there are new things now with technology and other advancements. We call this category access.
Success is another category where we have to consider what it is that helps students to achieve their career and their personal aspirations. A lot of times we find our students are first-generation students or significant providers for their family and are looking to be able to meet their basic economic needs, to be able to pay the bills.
And then transformation. As a Christ-centered academic institution, that aspect of transformation is more than just being a different person or growing in character, but that you have encountered the person of Jesus Christ. Whether you make the decision to follow Him is up to the students, but at the end of their time here, we hope that they’ve at least been thinking about what that means to them.
Q: If there was one thing that you wanted every student to know about you, what would that be?
Dr. Lucas: I grew up the son of a military officer. We traveled the world and I watched my dad complete his master’s degree in order to continue his career advancement and he did that in the late 70's or early 80's while being stationed in Hawaii. So, when I think about our students and their families, I have an understanding of what parents are dealing with when they go back and pursue additional education and balance family life.
I also am the father of six kids, all girls, so I think about them a lot and what their challenges are going to be as they pay for higher education if they decide to get married, and their spouses, and what that would mean for their kids… I’m in a position right now where I haven’t had that experience. Professionally, I’m thinking about the cost of higher education and the student debt that places on students. I think higher education has the obligation to continue to lower that cost so people can pursue their dreams and not be burdened with unnecessary debt.