Missouri Southern State University - Crossroads Yearbook (Joplin, MO)

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A day with Southern ' s Special President Serving as the top administrator to Southerns Special faculty, students, and staff is a Special per¬ son: Dr. Julio S. Leon, College President. Leon was appointed interim President of Missouri Southern in June 1982 and permanent Presi¬ dent in December 1982. Coming to the College in 1969, he was a fac¬ ulty member in the School of Business Administration and then dean of that school. Jean Campbell of the Crossroads staff spent a Tuesday in February with Leon to report on the typical happenings of a day with the Presi¬ dent. This is her story. 7:40 a.m.—Dr. Julio Leon arrives on campus. ' lie passed me on the way in, said Dorothy Kolkmeyer, secretary to the President. He usually arrives earlier on the mor¬ nings he has Administrative Coun¬ cil. Leon does not claim to be an ear¬ ly riser. He said he gets up when Nathan, his 4-year-old son, wakes up, about 6 or 6:30 a.m. With Nathan, I have not needed an alarm clock, said Leon. However, as Nathan grows older he seems to sleep later. I have had to depend on the clock more. I do not feel it necessary to be at the office by 8 a.m. every day, he said. Many times I spend even¬ ings and weekends in meetings and speaking on behalf of the College. Sometimes I think the hardest pat of this job is shaving two or three times a day, he said. Leon shaves this frequently in order to be ready to represent the College at all times, many times on camera. Administrative Council meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. The meetings, which Leon presides over, involve 48 administrators (vice presidents, deans, depart¬ ment heads, directors). 7:45 —Leon spends a few minutes preparing himself for the upcom¬ ing meeting. He describes Ad¬ ministrative Council meetings as a time to review or exchange infor¬ mation pertinent to the College. 7:50—The President leaves his of¬ fice for the meeting in the Billing- sly Student Center. He stops to speak with his secretary. I ' m ex¬ pecting an important call today, he says. If I am with someone when that call comes, just inter¬ rupt. 8:05—The Administrative Coun¬ cil meeting begins. Leon tells of his plans to meet with Shaila Aery, Commissioner for Higher Educa¬ tion, concerning a proposal that will be submitted by Missouri Southern in September. You are the key, he says to the ad¬ ministrators. If I send information to you, I have read it and feel it is pertinent to your area. I would like for you to do the same for your faculty. (Top right) College President Julio Leon listens to a guest speaker at the Kiwanis Club luncheon. (Above right) Dr. Leon gives instructions to his secretary from the doorway of his office. (Right) Dr. Leon meets with Dr. Paul Shipman. — Photos by Ed Mill Leon □ :W : ■

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One of Southern s Special employees Helping to keep Southern alive in 85 are many persons working behind the scenes. One such exam¬ ple is Gary Evans, supervisor of mechanical maintenance. If it weren ' t for us, there would be a lot of problems which wouldn ' t be prevented, ' ' said Evans, who started working for the College in 1977 after spending 20 years as an auto mechanic. We get about 50 or 60 preventative maintenance work orders each month in all areas, including electrical, plumb¬ ing, air conditioning, and heating work. ' ' As mechanical maintenance supervisor, Evans checks out work orders and then schedules the work to be completed. But I still have to get out there and do the work with the other men, ' ' he said. He cites his work at Southern as a continuous challenge, and he takes pride in doing his work pro¬ perly and efficiently. One reason I came to Missouri Southern was because I always en¬ joyed working with electricity, ' ' said Evans. It ' s always a challenge to do things right the first time because if you don ' t, you ' ll have to go back and do them again. ' He has seen the College ex¬ perience growth since his arrival eight years ago. This growth has af¬ fected his own work load. Since we ' ve acquired the new dorms and other new buildings on campus, our work load has become heavier, ' said Evans. However, a few years ago the College installed computers to regulate heating and air conditioning. They make things a lot easier for us since we used to use timers to regulate the heating and air conditioning. ' ' He has also faced some new challenges as a result of Southern ' s growth. One example is the in¬ stallation of a lighting system at Missouri Southern Television. We had to install about 15,000 feet of wire when the College added the TV station, ' said Evans. I had never done anything like that before. I never get bored because there ' s something new every day. ' ' Evans enjoys meeting Southern students and considers his ac¬ quaintances with students as im¬ portant to him personally. You kind of miss them when they graduate, but there ' s always more coming in ' he said. Gary Evans □

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Leon continues the meeting by talking about the mission of the College. ' Primarily, we are a teaching institution, he says. That ' s where our success is going to be. We have already been a suc¬ cess in our graduates...We have not distinguished ourselves in research, and we cannot afford to go in the direction of research. F In marketing, if the product is good enough, it will sell. If the pro¬ duct is not good enough, it doesn ' t take people long to find out you are not telling the truth. The product is the most important thing and that depends on the kind of teaching we have within the four walls. More non-profit institutions are becoming involved in marketing and strategy planning. We are in the people business. We need to be alert, to give good service to our students and parents. It is tremen¬ dously important. People will remember our service and the way we deliver. We need to get away from the notion that all the teaching needs to take place on this campus. We must continue our public relations efforts. We cannot rely on word-of-mouth. Things are begin¬ ning to happen...We have a battle on our hands. As department heads, you need to concentrate on what you can do to help the Col¬ lege. 8:45 —Leon concludes his presentation to the Council with: I feel it is important to express to faculty the direction we need to go. Richard Humphrey, director of ad¬ missions, and Robert Nickolaisen, assistant dean of technology, then addressed the administrators. 9:17—The meeting is dismissed. As Leon leaves, he speaks briefly with Dr. Vonnie Prentice, head of the biology department. Vonnie, have you checked with Dave Throop (purchasing agent) about that equipment? 9:25—Leon arrives at his office and begins to read his mail. 9:27 —Leon meets with Marilyn Jacobs, president of the Faculty Senate, to discuss the Senate agen¬ da for the remainder of the year. 9:45—The meeting with Jacobs ends. Dr. Paul Shipman, vice presi¬ dent for business affairs, then meets with Leon. 10:01—Shipman departs, and Leon returns two telephone calls. (Top) Dr. Leon asks his secretary, Dorothy Kolkmeyer, to copy materials. (Above) Dr. Leon makes one of many phone calls during the day. — Photos by Ed Mill Leon □