Everybody loves Raymond
trinity SAYS HELLO TO ITS NEW PRESIDENT
March 23, 2006
Kristin Ostensen
Last Thursday evening the Board of Governors of Trinity Western University voted to appoint Dr. Jonathan S. Raymond as the next President of TWU, effective July 1, 2006.
After undergoing the lengthy search and selection process, Raymond met last Thursday with various campus groups, including faculty, staff, President’s Cabinet, and executives from the TWU Student Association and Graduate Student Association. Friday morning, Raymond was introduced at chapel.
Faculty who met Raymond last Thursday were impressed.
“He had an easy-going manner which opened the faculty up to him,” said John Dyck, Professor of Political Studies. “He wasn’t afraid to answer tough questions.”
Dr. Rob Hiebert, Director of Master of Theology program at ACTS, believes Raymond has “a good understanding of an academic institution.”
“He brings good experience to a university setting like ours,” Hiebert added.
Raymond certainly is no stranger to the academy. Since obtaining his PhD in Social Psychology in 1975, he has worked at six different universities or colleges. For the past seven years, he has served as President of William and Catherine Booth College, a Salvation Army institution located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His wife, Irene, whom he met while an undergrad at Asbury College, is currently a professor of Spanish and Latin American literature at the University of Manitoba.
To explain their feelings about becoming TWU’s next president, Raymond quoted C.S. Lewis: “We’re surprised by joy.”
Raymond first heard of TWU in 1990, when he became acquainted with Don Page who was then Vice President of Academic Affairs. When he came to Winnipeg in 1999, Raymond was part of a steering committee to establish Christian higher education in Canada, where he met current Vice President, Dr. Guy Saffold.
Raymond considers TWU the model for Christian post-secondary education in Canada.
“When I thought about what we could do to develop Booth College, I looked at Trinity as a model,” he said. “Trinity has a reputation for quality.”
“Not that there aren’t challenges and the opportunity for continuous improvement,” he added.
Raymond believes that TWU’s strong reputation has much to do with the diplomacy of outgoing president, Dr. Neil Snider. “His reputation ripples across the country,” he said.
Rather than “parachute in” his own vision, Raymond sees himself continuing the 2012 strategic plan. In the next year, he plans to “do a lot of listening,” both inside and outside the university, to develop strategies for the university.
“But my strategic thinking has to be refined and held accountable to what the community thinks,” he said.
Raymond mentioned several areas of development that he is interested in exploring including doctoral programs and centres of excellence, like the Laurentian Leadership Centre.
Raymond noted that many universities are known for their distinctive characteristics; for example, NYU is known for its tax law program.
“There’s a fine balance between developing the kind of distinctive programs that Trinity stands out for, but without sacrificing quality across the university,” he said.
Raymond’s plans for the future also include making TWU, the most expensive university in Canada, more affordable.
“There’s the sticker price, and then there are discounts,” he said. “The challenge before us is to increase endowments. That will permit the university to reduce the sticker price.”
Endowment donors, Raymond said, will be alumni and friends of the university–“people who believe in the university.”
“Raising tuition—I don’t think there’s much room there,” he said. “We need to change so that the institution is less dependant on tuition. Over 90% of the [current] budget is tuition-driven.”
Raymond may have experience as both a professor and an administrator, but he’s a cross-cultural social psychologist at heart. He views TWU as a diverse community made up of many different constituents, and that every member has a role to play.
“Not everyone can make every decision,” he said, “and there needs to be a freedom to make the decisions that are appropriate to that part of the university.”
As president, Raymond plans to bring TWU’s diverse campus community together by reaffirming TWU’s primary mission as an evangelical Christian university.
“My job would be to find ways to rally the university around its very wonderful distinctives in Christ.”
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