IUB’s Chancellor Brehm among the newcomers to campus

As the steward of IU’s Bloomington campus, Brehm plans to start a ‘broad conversation about academic priorities’

By Susan Williams

On June 30, Sharon Brehm joined the ranks of newcomers when she stepped into the position of chancellor of the Bloomington campus, replacing Ken Gros Louis who retired this summer after 21 years. Like other freshmen, Brehm has a lot to learn about IU during this first year. In fact, she’s taking a class—a Web-based course about the traditions and history of IU. And she’s practicing her own advice for adjusting to transition, which she also offered to fellow rookies at the Bloomington campus freshman induction ceremony last month.

Here, the new chancellor shares some of her initial thoughts, plans and goals with IU Home Pages.

Q. What strategies do you find most helpful in adjusting to a new living and working environment?

A. As I said at the freshman induction, transitions are wonderful and exciting, but they also are stressful. You have to remember that this stress is normal. You have to give yourself space and time. Personally, I’m fine on the big ticket items. Give me three hours to learn almost anything and go to a major meeting. No problem. As a newcomer, it’s the endless, little things, the minutia of life, stuff that is more taxing than the big things. I have to get an Indiana driver’s license, open a bank account, learn the phone system in the office. When will I buy groceries and where is the grocery store? Once you get all that down, life becomes a lot easier.

Q. What were your initial expectations of the campus and Bloomington? Have those expectations been met?

A: I’ve lived in a lot of college towns, and I have to say that Bloomington is very special. I did not know the campus or city before last spring, but I knew people who had been here, so I’d heard good things and had positive expectations. March was my first time here and early May was just my second before arriving for good on June 30. But I have to say, the campus has exceeded my expectations, even those I had after reading the book on the most beautiful campuses in America. And I must mention how warm and welcoming people here have been. Individuals have sent E-mails or have given me a phone call, just to say ‘hello, welcome to Bloomington.’ The Bloomington Economic Development Commission gave a dinner for me in mid-July and the IU Alumni Association had a reception in August, and I was bowled over by the good turnout. I felt very welcome.

Q. What are you looking forward to the most during your first year here?

A. Getting through it! Transitions like this tend to hold both the best and the worst. It’s exciting. I’m never bored. I never have to think, ‘Oh, I have to hear this again,’ because I’m new. I’ve never heard it. I’m used to working hard, and I’m working at full speed now. I can’t do that forever, but I can do it for a year. And at the end of that year, I expect to have a good, conceptual map of a few specific issues in great detail. I hope by the end of a year to have a good foundation for understanding the concerns of people on campus and in Bloomington. I have every confidence that I will.

Q. What are your personal goals for your first year?

A. I want to get started on a conversation, a broad conversation including as many people as possible, about the academic priorities of the campus—the challenges, the opportunities and the ways to enhance what is already here, how we can have an even better university. I need to understand and listen, then contribute the leadership necessary to achieve our goals. The most important aspect is that the conversation be inclusive, so that together, by the end of a year, we have a better understanding of our specific goals and how we can best move forward.

Q. As a newcomer, what do you see as the strengths of IU Bloomington?

A. We have quality programs, quality faculty and a quality learning experience. These are three things that are the very core of a strong university. Our faculty really care about our students. And most of our very best faculty are invested not only in their research, but they are also highly committed to undergraduate education.

Q. Is there a weakness?

A. I don’t believe we have a “weakness,” but we do have a major challenge. How do we get the revenue to improve and enhance our programs further? This is not an unusual challenge to face in higher education today, but we want to be even better in the years to come than we are today. And, when you’re operating at such a very high level, sustaining that quality and enhancing it take considerable resources. There are no easy answers. We are the stewards of the resources we do have, including the revenue we have coming in, so we must make sure we spend the money we have wisely, be efficient and make good choices. At the state level, we must convey to the legislature the importance of higher education in today’s knowledge economy. We must continue to pursue funding at the federal level and through grants and foundations. Also, of course, private giving is essential—the IU Foundation does such a wonderful job and is so crucial.

Q. What else would you like to say to your colleagues — the faculty and staff at IU Bloomington?

A. I would like them to know that I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to be with them on the Bloomington campus, and that I look forward to meeting most of them in the not-too-distant future. I feel a great responsibility to the campus, to Bloomington and to the state. The challenges and tasks are large. I’m up to it, but I’ll need a lot of help. No single individual can possibly do it alone, so working together is crucial. My responsibility is to create an environment in which partnership and collaboration can flourish. IU Bloomington is a real treasure in every way. I feel so strongly committed to doing whatever is necessary to preserve the university’s history and wonderful tradition, and to lead it into the future, healthy and thriving. This place is precious, a treasure. There is a true love among many people for this campus. I understand that love and feel it more fully every day.

Editor’s note: The installation ceremony for Sharon Stephens Brehm as chancellor of the IU Bloomington campus is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the IU Auditorium in Bloomington. A reception in the lobby of the auditorium will follow.

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