President-designate wants state scholarships, focus on academics

Dec 1, 2009 — Dover Post

Doug Denison

Dover, Del. -

Delaware State University’s president-designate has a lot of catching up to do.

Dr. Harry Lee Williams was chosen to take the reins Nov. 20, after the Dover institution spent more than a year without a permanent leader, and there’s much to be done in the wake of what many felt was a period of instability for the school.

Chief among Williams’ priorities is securing whatever funding he can for his school even as the state’s budget situation grows more and more grim.

Williams joined DSU Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Claiborne D. Smith, who served as acting president since August 2008, in Legislative Hall last week to plead the institution’s case before the state’s Office of Management and Budget.

Though the university, like all state agencies so far, submitted a zero-growth budget for the next fiscal year, Williams wants the state to do more to provide DSU students and prospective students with more money.

Specifically, he wants DSU included in the state’s SEED scholarship program, which pays up to three years of tuition for eligible Delaware high school graduates who enroll in associate degree programs at the University of Delaware or Delaware Technical & Community College.

Since DSU does not offer an associate degree, its students are not eligible for SEED money, but Williams said students should have the option to use their SEED money for DSU’s four-year bachelor’s degree program.

“We just want the students to have a choice, and if you’re a Delawarean, a family that has paid taxes, just have the option,” he said. “We’re not saying we don’t want kids to go to UD or Del Tech, we’re saying we want to be in the mix, we want to be one of those choices.”

To Williams, it’s the state that needs to change its program, not his university.

“It doesn’t make sense. Half a mile down the road is Del Tech, that’s what they do. Why would we want to compete with them by offering an associate degree?”

The fight to extend the SEED program to his students is part of a larger problem for the new president: student retention.

Williams, who was promoted from the provost’s chair, holds the issue close to his heart.

“We want to save our kids. We have a population of students that are very, very needy financially and over 80% of our kids are first-generation college students, and the family income is less that $40,000 a year,” he said. “What we want to be able to do is raise scholarship dollars to support kids so they can stay. The more you retain the better, it helps the institution; the profile, the reputation.”

Delaware State spends the bulk of its scholarship money on new first- and second-year students, Williams said, which means many have to leave when the aid dries up.

If DSU gets into the SEED program, it could direct more of its money to students in their third and fourth years.

“If you frontload all your money for the first years, and you’ve got year two and year three, and you’ve already capped out in terms of what you can do with loans, you’ve got people taking second mortgages and it puts them in really tight spot,” he said.

‘Academics first’

In addition to squeezing more funds from the state, Williams also wants his staff and faculty to know the university’s singular focus, especially when money is tight.

“When difficult times occur, you have to do a gut-check, you have to look at your priorities and say, ‘OK, why are we here?’ At the end of the day, we’re here to educate students,” he said. “If there are resources going to other areas that could be liberated to support that mission, we want to look at that. We want to protect the academic mission of the institution.”

But Williams also knows that for academics to come first, there are other things that have to come in second and third, namely athletics and building projects.

“I support athletics, I believe in athletics, I think it’s important, but I also recognize that, just like anything else, it supports the mission of the institution. We’ve got to be careful that we keep that as the focal point,” he said.

As for capital projects, DSU has asked the state for just $11 million to fund what are for the most part ongoing maintenance projects.

The university does have a few new projects nearing completion, but for the foreseeable future at least, building is stalled.

“I’m inheriting a new student union that’s being completed, also a new wellness center that was part of the last administration,” Williams said. “The state budget in terms of capital [spending] is limited, we have a lot of deferred maintenance here that we need support and we need to focus on that, make sure we have the resources to keep the facilities up and running.”

A new leader

There are many who are happy to see Williams, or anyone, in the president’s chair since former DSU President Dr. Allen L. Sessoms resigned in August 2008 to take a post at the University of the District of Columbia.

“There’s the comfort of knowing we have a president in place finally, but we know Harry Williams, we know him well and we know his work over the last year and a half,” said DSU spokesman Carlos Holmes. “We know his diligence, we see his car here late at night. We know he’s about serious business.”

Before Williams has even had a chance to move out of his provost’s office and down the hall to his new one, he’s heard plenty of feedback from the university community about his appointment.

“Since I’ve accepted this position it’s been amazing, I’ve received about 200 emails from faculty and staff congratulating me, Sen. [Tom] Carper called me, Sen. [Ted] Kaufamn called,” Williams said. “The mood has been very, very positive and that energizes you.”

A day after his appointment was announced, Williams and his wife and son went to the Hornets home football game and stopped by the alumni tent. When the family walked in, the crowd greeted Williams with a standing ovation and demanded he make a speech.

It’s that kind of reaction that shows just how long the DSU community has waited for a new leader, but Williams took it in stride.

“They were happy that we are just going to settle down, get focused on what we need to do and move forward,” he said.

Email Doug Denison at doug.denison@doverpost.com