CMU’s fourteenth president launched the College of Medicine, expanded the school’s online learning programs and broke ground on the largest capital building project in university history.

While maintaining a nearly half a billion-dollar budget, Ross and his administration have been tasked with combating dwindling high school enrollment, a lack of state funding and ballooning pressure to make CMU’s campus a more inclusive and diverse place.

As Ross approaches his seventh year leading the university through a $10 million budget deficit amongst a changing climate surrounding higher education, he gave Central Michigan Life insight on some of the issues facing the university and its community this year.

CM Life: Explain what exactly your job entails for students who might not know. How has that changed over the last several years?

Ross: It’s a leadership role. I’m the face of the university. Defining the vision of the university. You don’t lead an organization like this by yourself. Always keeping our eye on our No. 1 responsibility — and that’s the success our students. It hasn’t changed as much as it has become more complicated.

CM Life: If I’m a first year student at CMU this fall, what is something the administration is working on this academic year specifically that I should get excited about?

Ross: I want new students to be excited about the fact that we are raising the bar academically. The rigor of our course work continues to increase. It will prepare you for your career and your life.

CM Life: Recently students living north of campus have had some complaints about their experiences with local law enforcement and city residents. This year, city police issued four times as many citations for nuisance parties than the year before. City commissioners, meanwhile, have voiced some concern about student behavior in the area.

Do you receive feedback from city residents about student behavior? Do you feel like you should play a role at all in city-student relations? What advice would you give to students about being a good neighbor and resolving conflict with the people in town?

Ross: I do. There have been instances, particularly around opening weekend, where residents have had problems. I’ve spoken with student leaders. It’s not all the students of CMU. There are some students who have gone and acted not only outside the law, but outside of what I want students to act like in presenting our values. It only takes a few. Then all of a sudden, it’s all of CMU. That’s not us as a university. It’s a learning opportunity as we all mature. These communities deserve respect. Again, it’s a minority of knuckleheads. It’s not representative of the student body at CMU. Respect your neighborhoods as you would respect your neighborhoods at home.

CM Life: A few weeks ago, the university unveiled its $95 million dollar Biosciences Building. What is the impact of a facility like that and how will it affect us? Are there any other major building projects on the horizon?

Ross: It’s been 14 years in the making. It is the opportunity to do cutting edge research in the biological sciences. It will also affect not only the state but the country. That facility raises that level of research. The State of Michigan approved a 26-million-dollar project for an integrated Health Services Building. We’ll start planning on that facility this fall and it’ll be under construction in another 18 months.

CM Life: CMU recently earned full accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. Can you explain to students what the importance of being accredited is?

Ross: They visit every 10 years. Our quality is what they are assessing. There is something called a federal compliance document which has to be met in order for us to keep receiving dollars for student federal financial aid. On our campus, that’s $300 million a year.

CM Life: Turning briefly to Intercollegiate Athletics, our CMU football team has had an impressive attendance figure so far this season, especially in the student section. Low attendance at football game has been an issue here and nationally for years. How does it make you feel when you sit in the President’s box and see the stadium full on game day? How important is it to you that we maintain our subsidy to athletics as we compete with other universities as budgets could become tighter in the future?

Ross: It makes me feel great. It’s a great sight to see. It gives inspiration to our student athletes. We subsidize a number of operations on this campus. It’s not like business where if it does not have a black bottom line, you don’t do it. I think about those students who happen to play intercollegiate athletics. I think about the brand of our university. It’s all combined in what happens in intercollegiate athletics.

CM Life: Last year, CMU hosted a series of public forums on diversity and inclusion on campus, beginning with your “Walking Together” event. What was your goal with that first conversation? What’s next?

Ross: It was a start. I talk to student leaders on this campus on this campus to try and get a pulse for what is happening. I ask frankly, what are you hearing? I got mixed messages. They said they weren’t necessarily hearing a lot, but they might be hearing something.

I said, I think I want to hear. We are continuing a conversation and that conversation will lead to action. I don’t believe we have high levels of tension on our campus, but we are not perfect. Even when I hear that occasional story, it is still too much.

CM Life: In the midst of this year’s presidential election, Central Michigan Life is stressing the importance of voting and the political engagement of young people. What, if any, responsibility does a university have to encourage political debate and citizenship? What would you say to students who are considering not voting this year?

Ross: Part of your development is being engaged in the elections not only at the presidential level but local and gubernatorial level. I want you all to be involved in that. Younger populations vote at a low rate. I would hope that we as Chippewas would be opposite to that trend and not just every four years. Not voting is a missed opportunity and irresponsible. By not voting you are voting. You have a civic responsibility to vote. I can speak to family members who have been involved in the voting rights movement in the 1960s. It’s a right that we fought for and we need to exercise.

CM Life: We’ve previously reported on the university’s enrollment challenges, reductions in state funding and other CMU-specific areas of concern. With that in mind, why would anyone want to be a university president in 2016?

Ross: At the end of the day I really believe that education transforms lives. It’s something I speak to colleagues about. When you came here you were one person, you are different now than when you came. I’m the production of a farmer. The reason I got to do what I am doing now is because of education. I’m one of 12 kids. Nobody else got out of high school in my family. If it wasn’t for the opportunity that education gave me I would not be president of anything.

CM Life: In our cover story for the Homecoming edition, football coach John Bonamego said this is his first and last job head coaching job. He plans to retire a Chippewa. What’s your plan?

Ross: It depends on what Elizabeth says. That’s my wife. There are some things I want to do. I hope to see grandchildren in my future one of these days. I want to do the best possible job I can for our students. We’ve got some big things going on right now. I don’t have a timeline.

You can listen to Central Michigan Life's exclusive interview with University President George Ross in its entirety here: http://bit.ly/2eHsBGP

About Ben Solis

Ben Solis is the Managing Editor of Central Michigan Life. He has served as a city and university news reporter, in three lower desk editor positions, and two semesters as Editor-in-Chief. Solis ...

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Ben Solis is the Managing Editor of Central Michigan Life. He has served as a city and university ...

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