By THOMAS KEON

Purdue Calumet’s spring Class of 2013 is earning some 943 degrees. We rejoice in that achievement and congratulate our graduates. Yet, the celebration of graduation at college and university campuses across our nation may be a bit more reserved this spring that usual.

As we have read and heard, the news media has been quick to report that there is a disconnect between future jobs and college degrees, that degrees are not paying off for millions of college grads, and that an investment in higher education is far from a guarantee of future success and aspiration.

Reason to be encouraged

Among many, frustrated college and university graduates who are doing far less with the baccalaureate degree they worked so hard and paid so much to earn, the term “underemployment” has come to define their lives during current times.

Yet, while our still stagnant economy continues to keep a lid over many exciting job and career opportunities for college graduates, there is plenty of reason to be encouraged about prospects for the Class of 2013.

Bigger picture

The first and most obvious reason is what we already know and what continues to be revealed to us through data. Regardless of the state of our economy, the unemployment rate among college grads remains substantially lower than for those without higher education.

But for the remainder of this message, I prefer to expand the parameters of return on investment beyond jobs and paychecks. In an article published in the April 22 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, headlined, “How to Assess the Real Payoff of a College Degree,” senior writer Scott Carlson and his sources remind us that lest we focus exclusively on the so-called “golden ticket” to employment, we lose sight of the bigger picture of personal growth benefits that higher education affords.

Beyond jobs & $$$

Borrowing and summarizing from Carlson’s piece, here are some of the notable takeaways for college/university graduates from their degree-earning experience:

• Opened doors of opportunity not otherwise available;
• Intellectual and social growth;
• Acquisition of knowledge while forming personal views of our world;
• Skill development within a challenging, supportive environment;
• Learning derived within a diverse environment that enables contributions of national and international purposes;
• Rich societal benefits;
• Dress rehearsal for life beyond campus; and
• Pushing the envelope of one’s passion, fueled by a strong work ethic of follow-through.

Finally, quoting Carlson, “. . . a single-minded focus on money pays little heed to one of the best aspects of the American higher-education system: its skill at developing curious, critical-thinking, culturally aware people. Those qualities may have greater financial rewards than critics realize.”

My congratulations and best wishes to the Class of 2013.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Keon,

Chancellor

Depending on how “change” is defined, career development experts tell us that American workers can expect to change jobs, employers or careers between three and 12 times during their life.

Reasons for such change can and do include new or increased responsibilities; new, restructured or evolving jobs and employers; cutting edge technology-driven initiatives; entrepreneurial decisions; and newly acquired and developed interests.

Passively accept it or proactively drive it

With another academic year underway, I am reminded that regardless of how we define “change” or the manner in which our employment changes, we either can passively accept change, or we can proactively drive it. And for the latter to occur, unquestionably, education and lifelong learning come into play.

Students from various backgrounds enroll at Purdue Calumet for various reasons. Though many come with pre-determined interests, the education they receive here also tends to open doors that prompt other interests—interests that frequently lead them in new, exciting, passionate and inspiring directions.

One of the beauties of lifelong learning is that it is perpetually beneficial. Whether we learn to better understand the present from a study of history or new technologies poised to fuel emerging jobs and careers of tomorrow, those who commit to lifelong learning position themselves to drive their own bus down the road of job and career change.

Learning to think critically

The intent of higher education has never been that of providing a reservoir of knowledge, but, rather, how to access that reservoir. Higher education’s primary value lies with its success in teaching students to think critically, thereby equipping them to learn how to learn.

For graduates who leave Purdue Calumet with critical thinking skills that enable them to learn how to learn throughout their lives, their ability to gain endless knowledge is, well, endless. So is their ability to get where they want to go throughout our fast-changing work world.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Keon,

Chancellor

Dear Friends,

I have given a great deal of thought, of late, to the concept of excellence and how it most beneficially relates to higher education.

One could make a case, I suppose, that from a perspective of sheer academic performance, excellence translates to an “A.” If we embrace that logic, then likely we can argue that pretty good equals a “B.” (I can almost hear some parents lecturing their B-student sons and daughters, “You know, there are a lot of pretty good graduates walking around unemployed.”)

But that is not where I want to go with this. Nor do I want to journey down the path of the late educator, orator and leader Booker T. Washington and, more recently, former Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl championship coach Tony Dungy, both of whom approached excellence from the standpoint of doing common things uncommonly well.

In my ponderings, I have become ever more convinced that excellence manifests itself more richly in the commitment to its pursuit than the fruits of its outcome.

If you look up the word, “excellence,” in a dictionary, amidst its multiplicity of definitions you will find this two-word summary: “valuable quality.” I like that, and particularly as I see it relating to higher education.

If we can agree that the pursuit of excellence is the effort and dedication of continually focusing on and advancing toward those qualities that are valuable, consider what that means. Students would settle for nothing less than the best they could be. Faculty would partner with students in that noble quest. Administrators and staff would unite in maximizing the effectiveness of the university as a vital resource of support and enlightenment for students, faculty, community, and society.

The pursuit of excellence within higher education is truly a partnership. It calls for a recipe of such value-driven qualities as vision, effort, decision-making, follow-through, collaboration, accountability, and commitment.

Indeed, that is the recipe many students, faculty, administrators and staff use to pursue excellence—many, but not all. Please join me in the pursuit of excellence at Purdue Calumet.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Keon,

Chancellor

Dear Friends,

As a comprehensive, full service university, Purdue Calumet takes great pride in offering a vast array of support services designed to help students overcome challenges in their quest to earn a Purdue degree.

While we are proud of the services we offer and remain ever open to new ones we can introduce to promote student success, there is one valuable service we do not provide. Actually, it is not that we do not provide it—it is there, all right. It is just that to get the most from it, students need to find it on their own.

I am referring to the support of a mentor—someone who can identify with the difficulties our students experience; someone who has been there, done that; someone who can offer an encouraging word, some valuable advice, an idea to pursue, career contacts to explore or perhaps some tough love. Mentors can be faculty or staff members, alumni or community partners.

One of the qualities of this university I have come to admire and appreciate since arriving here last summer is that our faculty members are deeply committed to their students. Their office doors are open. They willingly work with our students, frequently through the complexities of busy, complicated lives. They understand that pursuing a university education, as important as that is, is not the only significant priority of our students.

Most of us who have journeyed down a success track can identify someone who was there for us, someone we could turn to with difficult questions, someone who could help us focus more clearly on goals and aspirations, someone eager and willing to share their insider perspective with us, complete with what it takes to get there.

An effective education produces valuable learning—from classes, labs and experiences. But relationships also can fuel valuable learning, and, from my perspective, there’s no more valuable learning relationship than that between a student and mentor.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Keon,

Chancellor

Dear Friends,

During this 2011-12 academic year, we want to focus on the distinctive academic excellence a Purdue education affords Purdue Calumet students.

Our faculty, staff and community partners work hard contributing to a Purdue education that prompts student success, which raises such questions as: What is student success? and How should it be measured?

Being the best they can be

During these challenging economic times, a case can be made that a Purdue education drives the success of students who graduate and go on to gain a desirable job that pays a decent income and enables them to use their education in a fulfilling way that contributes positively to society.

I believe we would all agree that that’s an appealing introductory path of success.

But through my ultimate success vision, I see our students focusing farther down that path. I also see them paying close attention to the steps they must take before reaching that path. In short, taking advantage of Purdue academic excellence that leads to success is all about our students committing to being the best they can be throughout their lives.

Career, personal & professional growth

While that certainly includes investing significantly in course work and related preparation, it also demands taking advantage of numerous other learning opportunities and experiences. Experiencing academic excellence goes well beyond focusing on the credit hours one must complete to graduate. Opportunities to become engaged in student organizations, campus employment, service learning and volunteerism complement and enrich a Purdue education.

So does expanding one’s perception of success beyond that first job or promotion after graduation. Purdue academic excellence is not just a path to one’s future; nor should it be viewed as an exercise in gaining the necessary intellect and skills for getting a job. Rather, we want Purdue Calumet students to approach Purdue academic excellence as that which helps fuel their career aspirations, personal growth and ongoing professional development.

Building a strategic road map

For the Purdue education we offer to be truly academically excellent and successful, it must equip and motivate our students to build a strategic “road map” of where they want to be five, 10, 25 years from now, help them get there and enable them to make the most of their journey.

It’s that foundation of academic excellence on which Purdue Calumet strives to build student success—immediate and long term.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Keon,

Chancellor

It is a joy to begin my first academic year as chancellor of Purdue Calumet. In my short time on the job, I have become impressed with so much about this university and its value to Northwest Indiana.

Some of you have heard me refer to Purdue Calumet as a hometown university; you’ll hear and read more about my thoughts regarding that reference. But for purposes of this, my first web message to Purdue Calumet constituents, I want to focus briefly on four goals for driving our university’s future.

I presented these at our recent 2011-12 academic year-opening Convocation to faculty and staff. I believe these goals complement nicely the impressive progress Purdue Calumet has made under my predecessor, Howard Cohen.

Goal 1: Academic Excellence

While academic excellence is the foundation of all we do, a quality Purdue education on our campus is multi-faceted. It includes faculty development and scholarship that produce cutting edge instruction. It also relates to our student recruitment and retention efforts, our monitoring of student matriculation to degree completion and the placement of our graduates in viable careers or advanced education.

Additionally, academic excellence relates to the manner in which we assess and monitor student success, as well as our ability to help students achieve their goals. It also embraces our campus facilities and how they support our students in their efforts to become the best they can be.

Goal 2: Learning through Engagement and Discovery

Experiential learning, student research and internships are examples of engaged or applied learning in which Purdue Calumet has distinguished itself. We want to continuing building on that impressive progress.

One way we can do so, I believe, is by encouraging our students to become more engaged in this campus through student organizations and other university activities.

Goal 3:  Inclusivity

In my recent remarks to faculty and staff, I defined inclusivity as an environment in which all individuals feel part of the university community. Helping nurture inclusivity is the exercise of individual equality, the sharing of ideas openly and freely, and taking advantage of our university governance system to provide wide ranging representation of all university community members and their ideas. Of course, cultural development and internationalization also fuel inclusivity.

While it is apparent our campus has attempted to be inclusive, we can make improvements.

Goal 4: Community and Business Partnerships

In short, relationships that advance our university as well as our community and world provide wonderful, two-way opportunities to enrich our society. Whether through economic development; student, faculty and staff engagement; athletic prowess and pride; and most certainly our ability to fund and friend raise, there are virtually limitless prospective partners with which Purdue Calumet can share a vested interest in making a positive difference.

The entire text of my Aug. 17 Convocation remarks can be read at: http://webs.purduecal.edu/chancellor/fall-2011-convocation/. It’s an exciting time to be the chancellor of Purdue Calumet!

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Keon,

Chancellor

I am convinced that putting ideas into practice drives successful learning, and that, subsequently, successful learning translates into persistence and degree attainment.

Three years ago, when we committed to integrating traditional learning with the learning that takes place in an applied, real world environment, we recognized that for this concept to be successful, faculty, students and community partners would be expected to share proven standards of good practice.

Our students have to be willing and able to bridge classroom learning with a new learning environment of the world around them.  Our faculty members have been challenged to develop or revamp courses to refocus on applied learning. Our community partners provide the environment and adopt academic objectives established by our faculty to maximize the quality of learning our students derive.

Adherence to the National Society for Experiential Education’s eight standards — intention, preparedness and planning, authenticity, reflection, orientation and training, monitoring and continuous improvement, assessment and evaluation, and acknowledgment — packages this entire concept.

Our students are bringing fresh perspectives and ideas to their community partners. Construction management & engineering technology student teams do actual condition inspections of Hammond dwelling unit exteriors. Communication students perform a detailed communication audit for employers. Our management students have competed against peers across the world in an on-line start-up, business competition. An industrial engineering technology student applied Lean Six Sigma principles at St. Margaret Mercy Hospital’s Alverno Clinical Laboratories to redesign the labs’ inventory system.

Within the evolution of effective, 21^st century higher education, experiential education will go a long way in defining Purdue Calumet and preparing our students to be successful alumni.

Sincerely,

Howard Cohen
Chancellor

Keon’s appointment must be ratified by Purdue’s Board of Trustees, which will meet Friday (April 8) on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.

Keon will succeed Howard Cohen, who will be stepping down June 30.

“Thomas Keon has the abilities, experience and vision to continue Purdue Calumet on its path of excellence,” said Purdue President France A. Córdova. “An exhaustive national search produced an outstanding pool of candidates, and Thomas has superlative credentials. I am enthusiastic about the leadership he will provide.”

John Rowan, interim dean of Purdue Calumet’s School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and co-chair of the selection committee with Purdue Provost Timothy J. Sands, praised Keon’s selection.

“The search committee is very excited about Dr. Keon becoming the next chancellor,” Rowan said. “He is a strong leader who will continue the positive stewardship of Howard Cohen. He has significant experience with community engagement and external fundraising. It was clear to all of us that his background as the chief academic officer of a large school at a large university has prepared him well for this position.”

Keon, who is scheduled to start as chancellor July 1, has served as dean of the College of Business Administration at Central Florida since 1997. He has been responsible for all personnel, including 150 full-time faculty members, budgets up to $31 million, 9,100 students and academic programs at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels at a university of more than 55,000 students.

“I am excited about the opportunities at Purdue University Calumet,” Keon said. “The university plays a key role in providing the educational and economic development foundation in northwest Indiana. I am committed to the aspirations spelled out in Purdue Calumet’s strategic plan and look forward to challenging myself and our campus to meet those goals.”

Prior to coming to Central Florida, Keon served as dean of the College of Business and Administration at Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 1995-1997. From 1990-1994 he was associate dean of the College of Business at Florida Atlantic University. He was associate dean of the College of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri in Columbia from 1989-1990. He also served as director of graduate studies in the School of Business at Missouri from 1988-1990 and as chair of the Department of Management at Missouri from 1988-1989.

Keon earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Bentley University, a master’s degree in education from Suffolk University and his MBA from Babson College. He received his doctoral degree in management from Michigan State University.

Keon’s salary as chancellor will be $280,000.

Purdue University Calumet is a comprehensive regional university of nearly 10,000 students located in Hammond. Its 167-acre, 18-building neighborhood campus is less than 25 miles southeast of downtown Chicago. Purdue Calumet also offers classes 20 miles southeast of campus at its Academic Learning Center in Merrillville.

Purdue Calumet offers associate, baccalaureate and master’s degrees, plus professional certificates in more than 80 fields of study, including engineering; technologies; liberal arts; natural, behavioral and social sciences; and professional programs of nursing, management/business and education.

During his 10 years at Purdue Calumet, Cohen, 66, presided over record enrollment, the introduction of campus student housing, strategies to advance student success and degree attainment, construction of the learning center in south Lake County, and the establishment of nine centers and institutes of applied research.

Cohen previously served administratively at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Writers:
Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu
Wes Lukoshus, 219-989-2217, lukoshus@purduecal.edu

Sources:
France A. Córdova, president@purdue.edu
Thomas L. Keon, 407-823-2183, tlkeon@gmail.com
Howard Cohen, 219-989-2204, Hcohen@purduecal.edu
John Rowan, 219-989-2401, jrowan@purduecal.edu

Related website:
Purdue University Calumet: http://www.purduecal.edu

PHOTO
Thomas L. Keon – http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/2011/keon-t11.jpg

I made that comment during our Jan. 31^st Spring Term Faculty/Staff Convocation, and I did so within the context of discussing campus strategic efforts to continue to grow, strengthen and reposition Purdue Calumet as a full-service, regional university. Key to our repositioning is the success we experience raising the bar of what our graduates can learn and do.

We take great pride in presenting our graduates a Purdue degree. The problem we face, however, is that too many of our students take too long to complete their degrees, or do not complete them at all.

We acknowledge that there are noteworthy reasons why so many of our students do not graduate on time—personal, family, work-related, among others. But we also know that preparation and motivation drive the bus to degree completion.

With our state and nation setting goals for increasing the number of graduates we produce, and with plans in the works to tie those goals to our university’s state budget appropriation in the form of performance-based funding, it is clear that degree completion should be a top priority.

In the online Winter issue of Purdue Calumet INSIGHT magazine, the feature story, headlined Raising the Bar, reveals some of our strategic efforts for attracting more prepared and motivated students to our campus to earn a Purdue degree. You can read that story at the following link:    http://webs.purduecal.edu/insight/2011/01/07/raising-the-bar/

Our efforts to raise the bar of accomplishment are repositioning us to attract a new pool of students who are a good fit for the challenging, high quality Purdue education we offer.

Additionally, as I expressed Jan. 31, Purdue Calumet is well-positioned to make a difference expanding the college educated population, as more than two-thirds of our enrollees represent the first generation in their families to attend college. Universities like Purdue Calumet provide opportunities that may not otherwise be available for such students.

The ability to increase our number of graduates not only enables our region to prosper, it also equips more of our citizens to participate in that prosperity.

Sincerely,

Howard Cohen
Chancellor

In various areas, Purdue Calumet performs very well in comparison to other urban universities, other regional master’s level universities and all universities that participate in the survey.

These are our best ratings by seniors:

• 85% say Purdue Calumet emphasizes studying and academic work,
• 84% rate their relationships with faculty members positively,
• 71% indicate that we provide substantial support for academic success.

First-year students rate us best regarding the following:

• 82% give us high marks for their relationships with other students,
• 71% rate their experience with administrative personnel positively
• 70% contributed to class discussion

Purdue Calumet, however, rates less well on freshman participation in community-based projects (7%), participation in learning communities (6%) and participation in co-curricular activities (9%), all below our comparison groups. The message is that we still have a way to go to overcome the expectations of first-year students that education is just a matter of going to class.

Our participation in NSSE is very valuable as we continue to work hard establishing a high level of academic expectation while providing students with a well-rounded learning experience. We use this data to build on our strengths and address our weaknesses.

Knowing how our students perceive their education at Purdue Calumet is very important to us. Our students mostly believe that we are committed to their success, and we accept that responsibility with enthusiasm.

Sincerely,

Howard Cohen
Chancellor