BENJAMIN BEGINS TO
MAKE HIS MARK AT ISU 

By MARIA GRENINGER

A new academic year is officially underway, and Lloyd Benjamin III — Indiana State University’s 10th president — is quickly becoming familiar with the people and traditions that make Indiana State University unique.

His schedule is typical of most university presidents new to the job — not much time to rest or eat a square meal, but plenty of time scheduled to meet faculty, students and staff and become acquainted with key issues on campus.

Benjamin met with members of the state budget committee before he was officially on board as president and has, since July 1, met with a variety of  legislators, members of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, various alumni groups, ISU Foundation Board members, trustees and community leaders affiliated with the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance for Growth and Progress.

"I’m beginning to pull together information that will help to refine my vision for the university and ensure that it’s properly grounded," he said.

Benjamin’s top priorities are to get to know the campus, the people who make it what it is and the broader community upon which the university is dependent.

"I also want to establish clear channels of communication with the Student Government Association, the Faculty Senate and the Support Staff Council about their hopes and dreams for ISU," he said.

Benjamin also wants to find ways to enhance ISU’s interactivity with the community and to encourage what he refers to as an outwardly orientation.

"It’s really important to be an interactive university," he said. "We have a real reservoir of expertise in a variety of disciplines. The application of research to address the problems of the community is a real way of being of service."

A desire to cultivate students’ interest in the community by offering service-learning internships is also at the top of his “To Do” list.

"Our community is a real-life lab experience for students, and we need to explore ways in which we can make it a part of the curriculum."

Benjamin and Robert Elsey, interim vice president for Student Affairs, are beginning to arrange focus groups with various student groups every one or two months to get their input and feedback on various initiatives. In fact, Benjamin sees accessibility as a hallmark of his presidency.

"I’d like for people — students and staff alike — to know I’m accessible," he said. "I’ll go anywhere, any time to meet with people when I believe I can be of assistance to them or when they think they’ve got some good ideas they want to share."

The student-centered nature of the institution is what most attracted Benjamin to ISU, and it’s something he wants to see continued and strengthened during his administration.

"My highest goal is an ambition or desire to describe this entire campus first and foremost as a learning community that has at the very center the success of its students," he said. "We need to continue to provide access and opportunity to as many students as possible and enable their success."

Benjamin previously served as vice president for academic affairs at Valdosta State University in Georgia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in the history of art from Emory University and a Ph.D. in the history of art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973.

His 30-year career in higher education includes teaching and administrative positions at Valdosta, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and East Carolina University.

Benjamin said that his career path on the way to becoming a university president "has evolved during my growth in academic life."

"I felt, or people believed, that I could make a difference, that I was a good servant to the unit. I enjoyed change and the perspective that each change brought with it. It gave me the opportunity to see a broader level of significance to higher education and the impact it has.

September 13, 2000