Chancellor candidate Susan Sciame-Giesecke visited IU Southeast on Thursday, Jan. 30, to share her plans for campus expansion and growth and respond to questions from the IUS community.
Sciame-Giesecke is the current interim chancellor and professor of communication arts at IU Kokomo.
During her visit at IU Southeast, she held several sessions to meet with the faculty, staff and students. At the open community forum, Sciame-Giesecke said she sees great potential for the campus, explaining that a regional campus can be an important component of a community.
“This campus has been static, and it needs to grow,” she said.
Sciame-Giesecke said that since the state is supplying universities with less funding, the schools have to find a way to make up the difference. She said she believes that some of this difference can be made up by meeting the demands of the market.
“If the region is calling for programs, they need to see you as the resource,” she said.
As part of meeting these regional demands Sciame-Giesecke said, the university needs to evaluate major programs and add consider the possibility of adding a school for hospitality and tourism. One crucial part of meeting growing demands, she said, would be to offer more online and hybrid classes.
“If you’re not in the game, you’re going to lose some of the revenue,” Sciame-Giesecke said.
Within her first 100 days as chancellor, Sciame-Giesecke said she would focus on networking and learning about the strengths and challenges of the campus.
Another thing she plans on focusing on would be extended campus promotion and marketing. Sciame-Giesecke said she would assemble a strong marketing department. Currently, she said the IU Kokomo marketing department publishes at least one story per day, covering events, alumni and campus news.
In order to connect with the campus, Sciame-Giesecke said she enjoys going to campus functions like plays and athletic events. She also said that she believes community marketing is a vital role for a regional campus.
“I love it,” she said about networking. “What a great job to get to meet interesting people.”
With her experience as an interim chancellor, Sciame-Giesecke said she is familiar with the IU system and understands how a regional campus works.
“We are stewards of our region,” she said.
Sciame-Giesecke said there are many opportunities to help the campus grow and thrive, and she plans to help IU Southeast compete with other institutions.
Ray Wallace, provost senior vice chancellor and professor of English at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, will visit campus on Tuesday, Feb. 3. He will hold the same forums as the previous two candidates, including a free lunch open to all students (noon-12:45 p.m. in Hoosier Room West) and an open community forum/reception (5-6:15 p.m. in Hoosier Room West).
To learn more about Sciame-Giesecke, visit
http://www.iuk.edu/chancellor/bio.shtml
resume:http://www.iuk.edu/chancellor/assets/pdf/ssg-cv.pdf
