New WestConn President Hails University As Up-And-Coming School

By Larissa Lytwyn

Western Connecticut State University in Danbury is both physically and in enrollment the smallest of the Connecticut State University system’s four schools.

That fits, according to the university’s recently hired eighth president, James W Schmotter, given WestConn’s longtime intimacy with the cultural and vocational opportunities in the community.

“We are only an hour and a half from Manhattan,” he said. Because of the school’s proximity, he said, the university is able “to bring in the best people from the community.”

WestConn has particularly strong programs in the arts, he said, as well as business and education. Further, said Dr Schmotter, the university strives to sustain a staff that is “passionate about teaching.”

Many of WestConn’s faculty members, he said, hold doctorates from Cornell and Yale.

Dr Schmotter, previously dean of the Haworth College of Business and professor of management at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, said he has sustained his own passion for teaching through his dedication to giving students the tools to succeed.

Dr Schmotter holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, and received his PhD in history from Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill.

He studied higher education administration at Columbia University in New York, later combining his love of teaching with his growing interest in business.

A former dean of the College of Business and Economics at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., as well as a former administrator and teacher at Cornell and SUNY Binghamton, Dr Schmotter also has consulted for a variety of business corporations including IBM, the Institute of International Education, and the Educational Testing Service.

Dr Schmotter said WestConn was a “good fit” largely because of its emphasis on preparing students both academically and professionally.

In contrast, at Western Michigan, Dr Schmotter often taught classes with more than 300 students.

“At WestConn, we have an approximate 20:1 student to teacher ratio,” said Dr Schmotter. “We work hard to attract the best qualified faculty members we can. We have strong people.”

Conversely, he noted, one of the university’s ongoing challenges is to hire enough faculty to maintain such a ratio. Connecticut has cut higher education funding in recent years.

Dr Schmotter said that WestConn, along with its sister schools in the CSU system have suffered from budget constraints. Even more profile schools such as the University of Connecticut have been affected, he said.

Studentwise, Dr Schmotter noted, “We are becoming more selective in whom we accept.”

This fall’s first-year class, for example, was the first in the university’s history to average a combined SAT score of more than 1,000.

“Much of our school’s student population is still first generation college students,” said Dr Schmotter.

The school makes ongoing efforts to help the families of such students, as well as students from Danbury’s considerable immigrant population, understand the college application and educational process.

“It can be intimidating,” he said. “My goal is really to make this school, and the [education] process, as accessible as possible.”

One recent innovation has been the establishment of WestConn’s Parent Association. Joan Boughton, the university’s associate director of the Student Center, founded the group.

“These kinds of parent organizations are very common in private university systems,” said Dr Schmotter. “We are pleased to see how successful it’s been so far here at WestConn. There has been a lot of interest and families are continuing to join.”

The purpose of the group is to connect families to each other, as well as WestConn’s administration and faculty, with the goal of better understanding WestConn student and campus policies.

The group was particularly helpful, Dr Schmotter said, during the recent sexual assault and stabbing of two female university students.

“Those incidents were indeed a shock to the community,” Dr Schmotter said, who said that it was the first time WestConn had dealt with crimes of that magnitude on campus. “It was a real wake-up call,” he said.

The night of the stabbing, Dr Schmotter spent the evening discussing the incident with students in their dorms.

The perpetrator has since been caught and is behind bars. Security has since been increased.

Academic buildings are now locked after the last classes are held, around 10 pm. They are locked on Fridays and Saturdays at 5 pm. Any students or staff who needs to get into the building can use their ID card.

Police patrol has also intensified in both the parking garages and residence hall areas.

A 24-hour police escort is available to students by contacting the police department through using campus phones, located campuswide.

WestConn’s police department also manages several crime prevention programs with residence hall’s RAs and courses including its Rape, Aggression and Defense (RAD) self-defense class.

The RAD course, free of charge, is open to any female student or faculty member.

“We are taking every precaution we can to keep our students and staff safe,” said Dr Schmotter.

His late-night visit to students on the evening of the stabbing incident is characteristic of his self-described “open” leadership style.

“I am not a bureaucrat,” he said emphatically.

He said he views the student/teacher/administration relationship as a collaborative.

Further, Dr Schmotter said he continually welcomes feedback for improvement, as well as the opportunity to make lasting connections with various businesses and enterprises in the greater Danbury community.

“This is a rich community and there is a lot of opportunities here,” he said.

In the years ahead, WestConn will construct a new residence hall, housing about 350 students, on its Westside campus, as well as a new Midtown academic science building.

A new parking garage and Westside Student Center will complete construction in 2006.

“We are also in the architectural planning stages of a new fine arts building, likely to be at the Westside campus, that will be built in the years ahead,” he said.

WestConn is the only school in the CSU system, and one of the few in New England, to offer a Master of Fine Arts degree.

“We offer a lot,” Dr Schmotter said. He recounted meeting a student who had recently transferred from Merrimack College, a private liberal arts school, and was spending a semester at WestConn while waiting to transfer to Fairfield University this spring.

“Well, he told me how really loved WestConn,” said Dr Schmotter. “He said he loves the area and the people here. He plans to stay [at WestConn].”

Stories such as these, he said, continue to propel his vision of WestConn as a vivid, up-and-coming university.

For more information on WestConn, visit www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu.