Oberhelmans, Caterpillar Pledge $11.5 Million to Transform MU
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Millikin QuarterlySPRING 2011 Oberhelmans, Caterpillar pledge $11.5 million to Transform MU Also inside this issue: Meet the Jeffcoats cover.indd 1 4/21/2011 12:07:58 PM each of the first, second, third and fourth quarters by ON THIS PAGE: Millikin Quarterly Millikin University, 1184 West Main Street, Decatur, From left: Gorin Hall, Pilling Chapel and Leighty- Vol. XXVII, No. 1 Spring 2011 Illinois 62522-2084. Periodicals postage paid Tabor Science Center as viewed from the Dr. and Produced by the Millikin University at Decatur, Illinois. Mrs. J. Roger Miller Centennial Quad. Office of Alumni and Development. E-mail comments to: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Millikin COVER: Doug Oberhelman ’75, CEO of Caterpillar [email protected] Quarterly, Millikin University, 1184 West Main Street, Inc., stands in front of Richards Treat University Cen- Decatur, IL 62522-2084. ter and Aston Hall. See story beginning on page 11. Millikin Quarterly (ISSN 8750-7706) (USPS 0735- Telephone: 217-424-6383 or call 570) is published four times yearly; once during toll-free to 1-877-JMU-ALUM. cover.indd 2 4/21/2011 12:08:12 PM pgs 1-15.indd 1 5/13/2011 10:40:19 AM Above: Leighty-Tabor Science Center 2 Spring 2011 Millikin Quarterly pgs 1-15.indd 2 5/13/2011 10:40:30 AM CAMPUS NEWS It’s a brand new day at MU You may have noticed a new Millikin al brand-development agency cofounded by Sarah Shupenus logo on the cover of this issue and also at by Jon Tiede ’92, we engaged in a three- right. The familiar sketching of Shilling year effort involving focus groups of MU’s Marketing Director YTowers, used since 1994, is replaced by Millikin constituents in every category the Millikin seal. The words “Millikin and a thorough analysis of the results. In University” are in a sleek, modern type- the end, it was affirming to see that the face. It’s all part of a new visual pack- results confirmed the gut feelings we’d age for the university, but it goes much had all along. deeper than that. It relates to the brand. Just like a soft drink or a car com- So what is Millikin’s brand? pany, Millikin is a brand. People make There are a couple of ways to define it. decisions based upon their impressions To use one word, it’s THRIVE. of and experiences with a brand each Thriving is what Millikin students time they are “loyal” to a favorite coffee typically do, both during and after or sports team. For Millikin, the collec- their Millikin experience. It’s a result tive perceptions of prospective students, of Millikin’s approach to offer aspir- alumni, trustees, community members ing students of all majors the chance to and employees define the Millikin build their confidence through a unique brand. In other words, if Millikin was a concept we call “performance learning.” person, the brand would be the unique Time and time again, students are given attributes, values and personality char- the chance to actually gain practical, acteristics that set it apart from every hands-on experience in their fields other person in the room. of study that goes beyond simulation and embraces reality – such as letting Why does a university business students successfully manage need to “define its brand”? a $100,000 university investment fund Life is noisy and complicated. It can be (they are beating the current rate of very difficult to make the right choice return, by the way). THE essence OF in the cluttered field of marketing and Performance learning is a concept advertising surrounding you 24/7. that takes Millikin’s mission and its 1901 THE MILLIKIN BRAND Searching for a college forces students origin – to be a place where the theoreti- to rely on their brand experiences to cal and practical exist side by side – one IS THRIVE. IT’S WHat inform their choices. step further. Because practice is not OUR STUDents DO, We know that not every student is a enough to be prepared for today’s work “Millikin student.” Defining our brand world, we’ve raised the bar to perfor- TIME AND TIME AGAIN, is how we help students determine if the mance level. Specifically, it’s a promise Millikin fit is the right fit for their college to our students to “ignite a life of mean- DURING AND AFTER experience. Defining what MU is and ing and success through the power of THEIR MILLIKIN what it is not is absolutely necessary for preparation by performance.” this process. This is a promise that our students EXPERIENCE. have lived every day for generations, How did Millikin define its brand? and now we have the tools to help future Working with Jump Company, a nation- students better understand it. ● Above: Leighty-Tabor Science Center Spring 2011 Millikin Quarterly 3 pgs 1-15.indd 3 5/18/2011 3:18:25 PM Ready to lead a thriving Millikin As of April 1, Millikin’s new president is work breathing new life into a once-tired Jeffcoat and his wife, Marie, con- on the job and ready to take the wheel as campus.” firmed their observations with an a man who has a reputation for getting “During those 10 years, we completed unannounced visit to campus while en things done. 22 total building projects along with the route to Chicago for an interview with As president for 10 years at his previ- day-to-day running of the university,” Millikin’s search committee. ous institution, Texas Wesleyan, Dr. Jeffcoat says. “It was a tough 10 years. I “We were taking the temperature Harold G. “Hal” Jeffcoat successfully was fatigued and ready to relax a bit. No of the campus and community,” Marie overcame the challenge of inheriting a one at Wesleyan believed I would really Jeffcoat says. “We sort of milled around, university in financial crisis and on pro- retire.” talked to waitresses in restaurants about bation from the Southern Association In fact, it was one of those unbe- Millikin, that sort of thing. Everyone was of Colleges and Schools, its accrediting lieving Wesleyan vice presidents who very positive, and that warmed us to the body. At the end of the first two years contacted him about the presidential institution and the area right away.” under his leadership, the budget was position at Millikin. In April, Barry Pearson, the univer- balanced, the school was off probation In Millikin, Jeffcoat saw a university sity’s vice president for academic affairs, and significant strides had been made in that had none of the issues he’d faced at told the Decatur Herald & Review that the areas of technology, business prac- Texas Wesleyan, and instead was mov- Jeffcoat brings infectious energy to the tices and athletics. Progress continued ing forward from a position of strength. job and prizes collaboration. for the next eight years and when Jeff- “I had other opportunities, but Mil- “One of the things that you want in a coat stepped down as president in spring likin attracted me,” Jeffcoat says. “One president is someone you can be very di- 2010, he anticipated taking a sabbatical of its great strengths is the university’s rect and honest with, and he’s very much and then teaching some classes at his track record of preparing students that way,” Pearson told the newspaper. former university. for careers or graduate school. That’s Honesty is also what Jeffcoat sees as “Without question, he made truly sig- a tremendous advantage over other a key element in the development of a nificant contributions during his decade schools who can’t make that claim. The new strategic plan for the university, one at Wesleyan,” Dan Boulware, Wesleyan credentials of the faculty are very strong, of the first items on his agenda following trustee, said in the fall 2010 Wesleyan and the leadership of the institution was the upcoming completion of the current magazine. “He brought vision and focus extraordinary, from the board of trust- strategic plan. to Wesleyan when we needed it most. ees to previous president Doug Zemke. “We need to evaluate how the previ- He stabilized the financials, ensured All those key indicators to me were very ous plan has done,” he says. “We need to proper accreditation and then went to positive.” be completely honest with ourselves on 4 Spring 2011 Millikin Quarterly pgs 1-15.indd 4 5/13/2011 10:40:54 AM how we measure up to competition and of Millikin today,” he says. “He went out what we need to move forward.” of his way to help a student along his Jeffcoat also would like to see an life path.” Jeffcoat went on to complete increased focus on accessibility for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees students as a major component of the in American history at USF, followed plan, specifically through building the by his doctorate at the University of scholarship endowment to help qualified Kentucky and a law degree from the students achieve their dreams of a University of Leicester School of Law. Millikin education. He has worked at eight institutions of “I want every student who can per- higher learning, including Purdue and form academically to be able to come the University of Missouri, Columbia. to Millikin,” Jeffcoat says. “I am very “Every single faculty member at student focused toward ensuring acces- Millikin has Jim Swanson in them,” he sibility to higher education and provid- says. “It’s the part of them that conveys ing the elements that students need to to the students that they have value, succeed.” they have worth.