Pacific Index

Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Guthrie Straw Lesley Hallick was officialy instated as Pacific University's 17th president on March 4 after already serving in the position for seven months.

Thursday, March 4 marked a new era in Pacific history with the inauguration of our 17th president, Dr. Lesley Hallick. Respects were paid and congratulatory wishes were made. Now comes the next step; getting to the dirty work.

During her first year as Pacific's president, Hallick has tried to establish a list of university priorities through her series of open forums. These talks with the students, faculty and administration, were known as the "Listening Tour." Hallick conducted the Listening in order to familiarize herself with Pacific's culture and it's most pressing needs.

The president said that her main goal for the future of the institution is to prepare students to greet global communities in a way that's meaningful. She said that she would like to see students explore questions that may require interdisciplinary answers.

"It's very important for students to be tackling real problems," said Hallick, and that those "students should be going into the global community prepared to contribute positively."

Hallick expressed concern at the possibility for a need of "safe havens" on campus for students. While she wanted to make sure that students physically feel safe, she's also trying to establish whether or not Pacific is a university that struggles with "intellectual bullies."

With regard to the financial needs of the university, Hallick said that she is trying to get Pacific moving in a new direction. "I'm keen on business plans," she said, adding that it's important to consider costs and efficiency of existing programs as well as new ones.

One of the priorities as Hallick looks toward the next couple of years involves "redirecting" people and "rearranging" funds to get rid of programs that are no longer relevant while continuing to contribute to successful ones. Hallick did not comment on which particular programs that she believes need to be rethought.

Making use of the programs and facilities the university already has, Hallick is pushing for the implementation of majors such as graphic design, which would combine existing media and graphic arts curriculums.

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