Fall 2010 | husson.edu Ledger alumni & friends magazine Husson University Inaugurates 6th President INSIDE Dear Alumni and Friends, As I write it is with deep appreciation However, we cannot achieve all of the experiences on our to the Husson community for the campus. We recognize that a holistic education is one that wonderful inaugural celebration that acknowledges that not all of the lessons our students learn are we have just completed. I am in 50 minute classroom blocks. To reach our 100 percent goal humbled and honored to serve you as we seek and appreciate the support of the broader community, Husson’s sixth president. hosting internships and practicum, serving as mentors and Looking ahead we know that educators in ways that support our traditional classroom education is the most powerful instruction. economic development tool in shaping Our second major opportunity is to empower our students our future. The Lumina Foundation through a greater understanding of globalization. Globalization recently reported that more than 37 million Americans, about is not just a geographical issue – but a state of the mind. Our 22 percent of the working adult population, have attended world is rapidly changing and the Husson of tomorrow that we college but not completed a degree – 200,000 in Maine. To envision will be adaptive and responsive to those challenges. this end Husson has worked hard at creating opportunities for Adaptive learners never lose their edge in a changing world. students – of all ages as they develop their skills. As we move forward with these two significant initiatives As we serve this diverse population of students we recognize we seek your support and counsel as together we make a that we seek to strengthen our experiential learning difference in our students’ lives. Thank you for your energies opportunities and enhance our students’ global understanding. on behalf of our students. I have challenged the faculty to think broadly about With Appreciation, experiential learning to ensure that every Husson graduate has an experiential learning experience by 2015. To this end the trustees have created an Experiential Learning Endowment that will enrich our students and enable them to broaden Robert A. Clark their perspectives. (Donations to grow this endowment are President always welcome!) I am so pleased to join Husson institution is to transform student lives by providing a quality University at such an exciting time of education leading to a professional career. Your support, growth and opportunity. Although I whether it is $10, $1,000, or even more will bring increased am one of the many new faces in the value and quality to the Husson experience for our students Husson community, it already feels and to the degrees that you and your friends received. like home. I have been fortunate to I look forward to being a partner with you in securing Husson’s meet many Husson alumni and future. Please stop by the Cyr Alumni Center any time – I’d friends in the past few months and all love to meet you. have welcomed me with warmth and Sincerely, kindness. Your enthusiasm for Husson is infectious and it’s truly a pleasure to be a part of it. More than ever, there is an opportunity for alumni and friends Thomas A. Martz to be involved in all aspects of the University. Whether you Vice President for Advancement volunteer to help students move into the dorms, greet fellow alumni and friends at Homecoming events, or serve on one of our volunteer committees, you are making a lasting difference in the lives of our students. Husson is growing strategically by leaps and bounds, and your support is needed now more than ever. Our mission as an 2 Ledger | Fall 2010 INAUGURATION Looking to the Future Husson University: Looking to the Future with President Clark grow in the years after World War II, Management, and received a grant with returning soldiers using the G.I. from the Lilly Endowment to found Bill’s education benefits to learn the the Institute for Global Enterprise skills that would help them become in Indiana. Along with running the successful in business. After a change Institute, Dr. Clark also served as of name to Husson College, the school University of Evansville’s Schroeder transformed an old dairy farm to a Family Dean of Business and Vice campus in the 1960s, and changed the President for Strategic Initiatives pastoral setting into a quickly growing before taking on his new role at educational institution where students Husson University. could learn an essential mix of liberal “This is my first move back to Maine arts and professional skills. since 1985,” says Dr. Clark. “All of my Two years ago, Husson changed family still lives here, so it really felt names yet again, transitioning from like coming home.” a college to a university to showcase the school’s growth. Now, with five Husson today schools and a new leader, Dr. Robert Dr. Clark believes that Husson’s new A. Clark, Husson University is on the status as a university is a landmark brink of a bold new era in education. for the school. “I think it provides a By Kathryn Hawkins broadening recognition of the role that The new president Husson plays in higher education in Over the past 102 years, Husson Dr. Clark replaced former president the State of Maine, and recognizes that University has transformed itself from William Beardsley in January 2010, the institution has grown in terms of a small college to a university. In the but while he may be a new face at the its offerings,” he says. following pages, the new university school, he has longstanding roots in president, Dr. Robert A. Clark, In addition to its longstanding Maine. Dr. Clark grew up in Albion, shares his remarkable vision for the business program, Husson University and attended the University of Maine school’s future. now has a wide variety of programs in Orono for both undergraduate and in health, education, legal studies, Husson University is no stranger graduate school, eventually earning pharmacy, and science and to change: When the school was his Ph.D. from Purdue University. humanities. And the school has moved founded 102 years ago as Shaw His sister graduated from Husson in beyond its Bangor base: Husson offers School of Business, there were only 1987. Since leaving Maine, Dr. Clark’s extended learning opportunities to enough students to fill a single floor professional path has scaled to great students in Calais, Presque Isle, South of a building in downtown Bangor. heights: He’s served as a Fulbright Portland, and New Brunswick. The The school's enrollment began to Scholar at the Norwegian School of ■ Inauguration continued page 4. HUSSON UNIVERSITY 3 ■ Inauguration continued from page 3. Boat School, in Eastport, is an affiliated program that provides students with education in boatbuilding at a working boatyard. The New England School of Communications, located on the Husson University Bangor campus, is a separate by trying to add new programs that sets. The diversity we see in student wholly owned subsidiary institution, will help students gain the real-world backgrounds is one of the strengths of but all Husson students are permitted professional skills that employers are the institution.” seeking, Husson is already ahead of the to enroll in NESCom classes for school Husson tomorrow credit. For a school that started out game. small, Husson has seen a great deal of “Because Husson is predominantly As Husson University moves forward, Dr. expansion—and it’s not done yet. targeted at professional programs and Clark envisions a learning environment that reaches far beyond the classroom While Husson offers many academic training, the economic climate reinforced and into every facet of students’ lives. programs, they all share a common link our traditional operations,” says Dr. of providing students with professional Clark. “We didn’t have to change our “We won’t see the boundaries as skills that will help students immediately modus operandi. In fact, our enrollment distinctly as ‘being in a classroom’ find employment—a strategy that is is higher than ever.” versus ‘being in the community,’” says benefiting both the school and its alumni Even better, Husson is attracting Dr. Clark. “We will have curriculum that in the current recession. Although students from all walks of life, from challenges students, and the students the U.S. economy is facing its largest recent high school graduates to mid- will have the chance to engage in that slump in decades, Husson University is career professionals. “As the economy knowledge through experiential learning, thriving. transitioned, we attracted a lot of older as well as academic learning.” While other schools are struggling to students, who were coming back to Husson already focuses on helping adapt to the changing economic climate finish degrees and enhance their skill its students gain learning experiences 4 Ledger | Fall 2010 ■ Inauguration continued from page 4. outside of the classroom. In the School of Health and Education, for instance, students have the opportunity to take part in clinical practice, where they work directly with patients in the community and in hospitals. But it’s Dr. Clark’s goal to establish experiential learning programs across all divisions of the school by 2015, whether through internships, clinical work, or community want to hire employees that think can continue to excel throughout their service programs. entrepreneurially.” careers and their lives.” Creating an atmosphere where students Dr. Clark’s teaching philosophies seek “When we look at the institution overall, are aware of their relation to the world to promote a broader worldview in what stands out most is the importance at large is also important to Dr.