When Penn State President Graham Spanier's 23-year-old daughter called from New York, he glanced at his Blackberry and shrugged.
"I've spoken with her twice today," he said, storing the device away for when he can call her back.
As the Penn State president, Spanier works hard to balance a family with which he keeps in constant contact and the tens of thousands of people he has adopted as his university family.
For more than 12 years, he has been the face and voice of the university. During a sit-down interview in Spanier's Old Main office Wednesday, he discussed some of the many issues he has to face as president of what he called at last weekend's Board of Trustees meeting the "most sought-after university in the country."
Q:Have there been any moments in the past 12 years that made you really certain this was the right place for you?
A:I've always felt that this was the best place for me. When I was on the faculty from 1973 to 1982 and also in my first administrative positions ... I was very sad when I left because I had grown very attached to Penn State and all the friends we had made here. ... I do feel that I have the best job in American higher education.
Q:Why is it the best job?
A:For one thing, we are not a university system. Most states have flagship campuses -- like University Park is -- and then they have systems ... Here at Penn State, it is all integrated into one. The fact that we are one university geographically dispersed is tremendously appealing to me as president.
Q:Take me through your typical day.
A:There is no typical day. About half of the days of the year, I am on the road at least part of the day if not the entire day. I'm not away overnight most of the days of the year. Because on days like today, I go to Carlisle and back or Washington D.C. and back ... The places I would be most frequently are our other campuses ... The campus I visit most frequently is the Milton H. Hershey Medical Center. Because of so many national involvements that I have, I'm in Washington D.C. very often -- sometimes as often as one day a week.
And then I'm on the road quite a bit for fundraising. I have to raise -- and when I say I, I don't mean me personally -- but ... me as president and my colleagues have to raise about a million dollars a day in private funding. That's what our goal is, and that's very close to the pace we need to be on to reach our goals in our capital campaign. The single largest item we raise money for is scholarships for students. The more money I can raise privately, the better it is for our students and for keeping the cost of education down.
... Now, on the other half of the days when I'm here, my most typical day begins at 9 a.m. Some days I have to start at 7 or 8, but I prefer to start at 9 because I'm a late-night person, and I usually don't go to bed until 1 or 2 a.m. So the idea of a 7 a.m. breakfast is not highly appealing to me, although one day a week I may have to do that. But I'll always work until at least midnight every day. I, generally, every day would have a lunch and dinner meeting.
Some nights, I have two or three events each evening. I might go to a reception at one event, speak before dinner at another event and speak after dinner at another event just because in a given week, I may have 100 requests for appointments or lunches or dinners or attending students' events ... I give 10 or 15 speeches a week, so there's a lot of public appearances.
Q:Tuition is the big word among students. Besides going and talking to the state every year, is there anything beyond the traditional method in dealing with tuition?
A:There are three main variables. One is, of course, to maximize our state appropriations by lobbying in Harrisburg as hard as I can to get our appropriation increased. The second thing I do is to raise money from donors, so for those students who can't afford our tuition, we can put together a financial aid package for them. The third thing I do, which also takes up a lot of my time, is to try to get the university to work more efficiently to save money through internal budgeting and recycling.
We have a whole cost-saving task force that meets regularly and comes up with ideas. We do budget hearings every year. We've cut -- I'm gonna give you round numbers -- since I've been president about $150 million out of the budget. We have avoided every year another 1 or 2 percent of tuition increases that we would have had to have if we hadn't decreased the budget.
There are two main sources of income for our instructional programs: tuition and legislative appropriations. If we can't get enough of the appropriation, then we have to rely more on tuition. Pennsylvania is near the bottom nationally of how much money it puts into higher education. That puts more burden on us than at other universities.
Q:Is there less urgency when it comes to lowering tuition because we are a popular university?
A:The demand to come here is off the charts. We are the preferred 'public institution' in the northeastern United States. On the University Park campus, the demand is phenomenal. Even saying that, the majority of students on this campus receive some kind of financial aid. They really want to be here, but it's a stretch for them financially. We still have a lot of poor students coming to this campus. But the problem is even greater at our other campuses ... We are sensitive to raising tuition too high because we know for some people, it is the decision of whether to go to college or not.
Q:What can the university do to increase the number of lower- and middle-income students coming here?
A:For every in-state student, we can still create a financial aid package for every student coming here no matter their circumstance ... For out-of-state students, that's getting harder and harder. Because by the time you take tuition, room, board, books, fees, transportation back home occasionally, you're up to $30,000. It's hard to create a financial aid package. That's why we're working hard to raise money.
The geographical diversity of Penn State is very important. Having people from all over the nation and all over the world is important. ... We have some students, when they come to State College, they think they are coming to a rural area. But we have a huge number of students who think they are coming to the big scary city because ... we have students who have never been outside Pennsylvania.
Q:Do you have any other comment on the status of Joe Paterno's contract?
A:There is nothing new from earlier this week.
Q:What is your relationship with Joe Paterno?
A:I would say it's a closer relationship than most university presidents have with their football coach because Joe Paterno is so involved in the rest of Penn State. Only occasionally when we're together are we actually talking about football. He's one of the honorary chairman of our fundraising committee, so we're often talking about fundraising ... I think we've developed a wonderful working relationship over the years. He's Penn State's No. 1 ambassador to the world.
... I think it's important that any person in a position of responsibility always take the big picture. My job as president, whether it's sports or academics or budget or some political issue, is to always ask the question -- I'm always asking myself this question -- What is in the best interest of the university?
Q:How does the administration balance students' actions when they step off-campus?
A:It's a great embarrassment to the university when a student commits a crime or, let's just say, misbehaves out in the community. They're here in State College because they are going to Penn State, and then they go out and throw trash around or engage in some vandalism or punch someone in the nose. It's not good. That is why we changed the policy about seven or eight years ago to say that if a student commits a crime in the community, our Judicial Affairs Office will still look at the situation ... I don't think there's a difference if you assault somebody on one side of College Avenue versus another. I think people need to be held accountable on both sides of the street.
Q:Is there a different level of scrutiny for student athletes, particularly football players?
A:Absolutely, there is a higher degree of scrutiny. We emphasize that to them. I meet with all the incoming athletes and talk about this. They hear it, but they don't realize it until it happens to them just how much attention there can be.
If someone is in an automobile accident, they would say 'State College man in an accident.' But if they are a Penn State student or Penn State faculty, it will say that. It's a label that you're gonna have if you are associated with Penn State. The story will always make reference to your affiliation to Penn State. And if you're an athlete, it will always say 'Penn State football player' or 'Penn State basketball player.' That's the way the media works. We can't change that. That's just the reality. We would love it if the Collegian would put 'Collegian reader involved in fight downtown.'
[Athletes] hear it over and over again. That is why it is particularly disappointing when an athlete is involved.
Q:Is it hard to balance a full schedule with students wanting to meet with you?
A:My schedule is 95 percent set for the next several months. It's that complicated and that full. So most times if people just show up, then no, I can't meet ... People also think that they need to meet with the president or nothing will get done, but there are other people who are better to handle that ... There's a difference between trying to be accessible and being student-centered and being as involved as you can with students and saying I'll meet with every student on every topic. I can't do that with 90,000 students.
Q:There has been a shift within Student Affairs after the resignation of Former Student Affairs Vice President Vicky Triponey. How has the office adapted?
A:It has gone extremely well. Gail Hurley is doing extraordinary. We have some vacancies at the senior level, but everyone has stepped up, and it is going extremely well.
Q:What is your view on the role of student government?
A:I want student government to be strong and for students to see their student government leaders as truly their leaders. A lot of what's happened now at our university is you have a whole bunch of student groups, and they all think they're in charge. If they don't like the student government, they go off and say 'we're the voice of the students.' When that happens, it doesn't serve the students well.
