Boschini’s arrival to bring transition and expectation
Chancellor-designate making name with ‘pen, not sword’
By Jacque Nguyen
Staff Reporter

With change comes transition and with transition comes expectations, especially in the case of a university’s new leader.

As Chancellor-designate Victor Boschini Jr. prepares for his arrival June 1, questions arise of what his first step will be.

The beginning of the transition process of a leader is a highly personal period of time, Chancellor Michael Ferrari said.

“You want to get fully immersed in the institution on a personal basis,” he said.

Establishing a style at the university is a chancellor’s main goal from the beginning, Ferrari said.

“You try to not be like the last chancellor and make your style apparent,” he said. “The quicker that is done, the better.”

Boschini said his style will include management by walking around campus and understanding the people of TCU.

“I will be coming in with a pen and paper, not with a sword,” Boschini said.

Ferrari said the process begins with researching and reading about the institution and learning as much as possible about the people and the community.

“It’s a period of education,” Ferrari said.

Ferrari said he only had general ideas for TCU because his primary responsibility was with Drake University, where he was completing his 13-year tenure as president.

He said this process is an energizing, highly demanding time and can make one feel under pressure.

“There is potential for overload so you must create time for yourself to reflect on everything,” Ferrari said. “Sometimes you need to just close the door.”

Boschini said he has no plans to bring any other administrators with him when he assumes the chancellor position.

“I have no plans to reorganize any positions (at TCU); it’s not my style,” he said. “I’m willing to spend time with TCU until any changes will be made.”

Ferrari said he decided not to bring people with him nor did he recruit anyone to come to TCU.

“In a majority of cases, most chancellors (or presidents) do not bring anyone with them, and I don’t have any reason to believe Dr. Boschini will do any differently,” Ferrari said.

Susan Kern, Illinois State University’s vice president of university advancement, said no immediate changes were made in Boschini’s administrative team.

Kern said when Boschini assumed position as president in 1999, the assistant position was not filled. She said Boschini worked without an assistant at first but then conducted a search and selected Richard Dammers, who is now his chief staff person.

Dammers said the university expected its new president to be comfortable with fund raising, knowledgeable of all areas of the university and willing to work with constituencies.

College of Communication Dean William Slater said as a newcomer, an administrator must learn quickly about the university and the people.

“You start to learn who’s who and how they work,” Slater said.

Slater said no immediate decisions or changes are made until the new leader gets to know the university and the issues within the university. He said Boschini will spend a substantial amount of time learning about the university.

“Nothing is broken (at TCU), so Dr. Boschini has the luxury of time to learn about things here,” Slater said.

Jacque Nguyen