www.cordweekly.com/archives/1930 -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 10/6/2008
Last Visited: 7/19/2007
After serving 10 years as the president of Wilfrid Laurier University, Dr. Robert Rosehart is stepping down and moving on.
...
Laurier was a very different university 10 years ago when Dr. Robert Rosehart first became president.In 1997, enrollment was in decline and there were under 6,000 students attending the single campus; today, there are over 13,500 across three separate campuses.
In comparison, during his former presidency at Lakehead, he saw a campus with over 6,100 students and a wider range of programs than Laurier had.
At the helm of this university, Rosehart has had many storms to navigate in transforming WLU from the small institution of yesteryear to the growing network of blossoming campuses it is today.
"When you ask the university president what the biggest challenges are, far too quickly they'll talk about money so I think I'll try and avoid that," he says with a laugh.
Rosehart describes Laurier's situation in 1997 as bleak, but hopeful.
...
For Rosehart, the fundamental solution to overcome Laurier's problems was growth.
...
Proudly displaying his "Bob the Builder" lunch box, Rosehart spoke of why he would deserve such a nickname, but also how he never expected he would be given it in the first place.
"[Prior to coming to Laurier] I never had any great vision that I was going to be so entangled with building projects," he says.
His immediate concerns were boosting the research agenda and bolstering the degree programming.But growth in student numbers quickly led to the need for more real estate.
"My first few years here, I was buying everything that wasn't bolted down."Rosehart's first "acquisition" was a condo now known as University Place, followed by the residence Laurier Place."I bought that," he adds again.When asked what he considered his crowning achievement, Rosehart expressed a satisfaction in King Street Residence's design: "a striking building."
Laurier Brantford was another project for Rosehart that has focused on expansion and has been centered on "building, buying and re-doing."
...
Despite its speedy growth, Rosehart assures that Laurier has remained squared on its core values."We're still student-centred and we're still focusing on our undergraduates," he says."In the future there will be a little more emphasis put on graduate studies and research."
He also adds that the other striking transformation to this institution is the campus itself.
...
Rosehart will miss having regular interactions with students, but doesn't plan on getting too far away from Laurier.
"I'm going to try and stay involved," he says."There's an overarching committee council that is running the Century campaign called the Patron's Council and I've been asked to be a volunteer member, so I'll still continue to do things there."
Besides remaining involved with Laurier after leaving office, the president will be busy with his new post as Northwestern Ontario Economic Facilitator, a posting announced last Thursday.
Why the sudden career change?"I've always been what I would call a ‘closet politician'," says Rosehart.
...
Spending 10 years as the university president has earned Rosehart more than a fair bit of wisdom to offer to those involved in academia.
His advice for prospective students is to try and experience everything Laurier has to offer, but not just academically."If you're just going to come here and go to class, it's not the Laurier experience - you might as well go somewhere else."
He feels that students are getting more and more serious every year, and that they should wind down by getting involved in the Laurier community and finding a balance between academia and fun.
"If you don't do that Laurier community part, there's a lot about this experience that you wouldn't benefit from.It's a great place if you get involved.If you've got problems, you've got a lot of people that can help you but you've got to ask them."
If high-schoolers want more guidance, Rosehart personally recommends the Globe and Mail "report card" to prospective students because of its focus on student opinion rather than "input parametres" like Maclean's university guide is.
...
Full name: Robert George Rosehart
225 online sources [ view sources ]
Profile is not claimed [ this is me ]
