By Calvin Pynn, contributor
New James Madison University President James Schmidt has a growing list of goals as he settles into the role he started on July 1. But, as he told reporters during a round table meeting with Harrisonburg media outlets on Wednesday, his “true north” in leading JMU is the student experience
“Frankly, all of the decisions that I’ll be making as president start with: ‘what’s best for students?'” Schmidt said.
Schmidt, JMU’s seventh president, has had a 30-year career in higher education. He previously served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 2013. Schmidt replaces Jonathan Alger, who left last year after 12 years to become president of American University.
Schmidt was announced as JMU’s new president in March. He told The Citizen that, prior to that announcement, he visited the university on a ‘secret shopper’ trip in January to get a feel for the campus culture and reputed hospitality, symbolized in the phrase: “Dukes hold the door.”
“It sounds cute, but part of my trip here was to watch it, witness it, and experience it,” he said. “And I found it was very authentic.”
As such, Schmidt hopes to enhance the areas of distinction that lead students to choose JMU over other universities.
Schmidt’s first couple of weeks as JMU’s president have mostly consisted of meetings with campus leadership as well as Harrisonburg city council members. He said those conversations have focused on how the university and local government can work together to enhance the student experience at JMU as well as best serve the Friendly City and its residents.
From those meetings, Schmidt gleaned that the city has a positive relationship with JMU’s students. However, he acknowledged that the city experiences growing pains tied to the university’s growth, particularly in rising cost of living and housing shortages. In response, he plans to explore ways to encourage students to live on campus.
“For 30 years, I’ve held the belief that universities should try to house about half of their students, if they want it,” Schmidt said. “So, one of the things that I’m looking at as we think about the next phase of campus development is: ‘do we create greater density?'”
That will be part of a strategic planning effort for JMU’s growth that Schmidt hopes to start in the coming months. According to Schmidt, that plan will include input from all of the university’s major stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students and alumni.
He estimates the plan will take about a year, and will explore aspects of JMU that distinguish it from other universities.
“I want to have a front door mat that says ‘welcome, we want to hear your ideas,'” Schmidt said. “I want to be known as nimble and responsive. I want to be known as innovative. I want to take a different look at old problems and figure out how we can do things in a cost-effective way that can actually elevate the student experience.”
Those aspects of the student experience, which Schmidt said he’s most passionate about, include undergraduate research, study abroad, and work-based experiences such as internships. He also hopes to bring more talent into the university and, in turn, share talent from within JMU to the surrounding communities and the state as a whole.
“My guess is we’ll try to find some area that we can really excel at that will be based on our academic strengths,” Schmidt said. “The other things we’ll be taking a look at are qualities about our culture – that we can say our Dukes, when they graduate, are bringing forward that are most in demand by employers.”
Schmidt said that he has also spoken with employers who have hired JMU alumni to get an idea of which talents are in demand in Virginia, and how the university is meeting those needs.
“What I’m hearing is the students from JMU who are graduating, not only are they well-prepared in their major field of study, but they bring to the table a sense of civility, a little bit of scrappiness and a can-do attitude,” Schmidt said. “And frankly, I would argue they add more value to the sense of community at the workplace because of those qualities.”
Schmidt has also spoken with local state legislators over the past couple of weeks. He said those conversations have focused on how JMU can be of service to the Commonwealth, but he also plans to push for more advocacy for JMU at the state level.
That would include allocating resources to complete planned construction projects on campus, but also push for funds to JMU’s academic programs. Expanding the university’s nursing program is a high priority for Schmidt.
“Nursing shortages across the country and certainly here in rural Virginia are enormous,” Schmidt said. “We have students who are interested in studying nursing. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the reputation, but we need to do more of it because that’s what society wants, and that’s what our students want.”
Schmidt hopes to have a voice in Richmond to push for more equity and increase per-student funding for JMU, which he said could raise faculty and staff pay and encourage retention.
“Someone needs to be there explaining why that’s important and I’m not looking for the resources just because we want it.,” Schmidt said. “I’m doing it because it’s in service to the students.”
Although he’s still in the early days, and still weighing the best paths to move the university forward, Schmidt said that he remains optimistic.
“I can say very clearly that JMU’s future is bright because of the talented faculty and staff, the work that’s been done by people that came before me and the areas of excellence that they not only have, but are growing regardless of my arrival on campus,” Schmidt said. “My challenge will be to say: ‘what can we do, together, that’s even greater?'”
Thanks for reading The Citizen, which won the Virginia Press Association’s 2022 News Sweepstakes award as the top online news site in Virginia. We’re independent. We’re local. We pay our contributors, and the money you give goes directly to the reporting. No overhead. No printing costs. Just facts, stories and context. We value your support.
