1991_09 The Daily Collegian September 1991

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Welty addresses student concerns
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•New president trying to solve university problems with openness
By Debbie Richards
DC Copy Editor
New CSUF president John
D. Welty spoke calmly about
the budget crisis Wednesday
morning while outside his shut¬
tered windows large numbers
of students sprinted to the Satel¬
lite Student Union in a frantic
attempt to add classes.
Welty turned away front
the window and extended his
arms across the table.
"Obviously we have a fis¬
cal situation to work with and 1
already have spent considerable
time looking at that situation,"
said'Welty: ' " f"'"
j"We wUl try to give, prior-.
i try to the seniors who need cer-.
tain courses to complete their
programs," he said. "But it is
going to be difficult and I think
it's important that we be honest
about that.
There is going to be an
impact for students.''
Welly's eveh-tempered
disposition and approach belies
an active mind that he says is
constantly thinking of new so¬
lutions and programs for deal¬
ing with the considerable prob¬
lems that plague the university
this year.
Welty officially replaced
former president Harold Haak
July 29. His May appointment
came after a long and contro¬
versial search that was marked
by charges of racism and ineffi¬
ciency.
Welty said he's aware of
the controversy over the presi¬
dential search and his appoint¬
ment, but hopes the university
atmosphere will change to be¬
come more tolerant and open.
"I think ifs very important
that we build a university com¬
munity that supports and en¬
courages all students and fac¬
ulty within al] ethnic groups,"
he said.
"1 plan to devote a consid¬
erable amount of time to work¬
ing with the community on that
issue to search
for Ways that We
cari/learn   to
work together, .        .v     W'J
support    and
help each other,
and make this a
better place."
Before
coming to
CSUF, Welty
was the presi¬
dent of Indiana
University of
Pennsylvania.
Also a state uni¬
versity, IUP has
a student popu¬
lation of over
14JJ00 and 750
faculty. Theeth-
nic breakdown
■is distinguished
by the majority
of whtte stu¬
dents: almost 94
percent are
white.
That lack
of ethnic diver¬
sity among IUP
students might
leave Welty
without experi¬
ence dealing
with a large number of ethnic     limitonthat.Ihavemetwiththe
Hector Amezcu a/ DC photographer
New CSUF president, John D. Welty reflects on the task facing him. Welty began his term July
replacing outgoing president Harold Haak, who retired last semester.
29
groups on campus. The recent
racial tensions at CSUF and the
controversy over his appoint¬
ment havemade Welty aware of
both the diversity at CSUF and
the tensions associated with that
divefsTty.-        	
"I believe we have an op¬
portunity to really become a
national model in that regard
because of the diversity of our
student population," he said.
There are not too many cam¬
puses in the country who have
the kind of diversity that we
do."
Welty sees himself as being
open and honest and says he
will try to listen to students as
they raise concerns and prob¬
lems to him.
"I believe it's very impor¬
tant for me to talk with and lis¬
ten to anyone on campus," he
said. "Obviously, there's some
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leadershipofa number o f ethnic
minority groups on campus."
Welty said one of his
strengths as a president is his
open manner and interest instu-
dent> a nd their concerns. At IUP,
-Wefty was- known for his fre¬
quent walks around campus to
talk with students. With a smile,
Welty acknowledges he might
not be able to do that at CSUF.
"I'm certainly
going to try to make
sure and do that,"
he said. "But I
understand there
will be limitson my
ability to do that. I
do look forward to
talking to students and hearing
about the struggles they're hav¬
ing."
Welty aims to create a
campus atmosphere where stu¬
dents and faculty feel comfort¬
able offering their ideas about
problems and possible solutions.
"I think it's important that
you create an atmosphere on
campus where people feel that
they can inatesuggestionsabout
how things could be different,''
hesaid.
Welty stopped and re¬
flected.
"1 happen to believe that
it's important for people to say
when there's a problem, but I
Also, would hke people,*©, tug-
gesf solutions: It's-oa sy to iden¬
tify problems but it's difficult to
identify solutions."
When Welty visited the
campus on April, he said he was
were a lot of students in the li¬
brary even though it was a beau¬
tiful afternoon."
Welty looked out the win¬
dow of his office and 'contem¬
plated the coming semester. The
line outside the student, union
was smaller now, and students
seemed less frazzled as they
traversed the campus looking
for open classes.
"Very few students know
me, because 1 have not had
It's easy to identify problems but  *• oppo^^ty to meet
with them," he said "I
it's difficult to identify solutions
Dr. John D. Welty
struck by one image. He arrived
onaSunday,and was surprised
with the number of students in
the library.
"I wasvery impressed with
the number of students in the
library at that time and I went
there because that's one of the
ways I judge whaf s happening
and the level of intellectual ac¬
tivity and excitement at a uni¬
versity, he said. "So I was im¬
pressed by the fact that there
would not expect that they
would think that 1 would
have a high degree of in¬
terest in students, that I
care deeply about stu¬
dents.
"But that is the case. I very
much enjoy working with stu¬
dents and 1 look forward to that
opportunity."
Welty smiled and shook his
head.
"Hopefully students will
see that I'm open, but fair and
honest. Thafs certainly what I
think is very important."
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