University President Dr. Jonathan Raymond

Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2009 in Back Issues, Featured Articles, Volume 14 Issue 1 | 0 comments

John Hennenfent: Who are you?
Jonathan Raymond: I’m a father, a husband, a social psychologist. In the context of the university, I’m an employee of the board who’s blessed to be here. I’m looking forward to building on the past and going into the 48th year of the university. I am someone who’s very positive about the potential of this next year.
JH: What is your background?
JR: I earned a BA in Psychology from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, an MA in Social Psychology and a Ph.D. in Cross-Cultural Psychology from the University of Kentucky. I grew up in Boston, finished high school in Ohio, and have lived in nine homes. The longest I’ve lived in one place was when I spent 11 years living in Hawaii and seven years living in Winnipeg.

JH: Hobbies?
JR: I enjoy reading…I read all the time. Trying to stay fit.

JH: How long have you been President at TWU?
JR: Since July 2006.

JH: Why Trinity Western?
JR: I consider TWU to be the most remarkable university in Canada with an incredible potential in regards to its future. It is strategically located in the Vancouver area and in Canada with a exceptional faculty with enormous promise. My opinion of TWU is that it is a much more exciting place to be than almost any other university.

JH: What makes a Trinity man and a Trinity woman?
JR: The mission statement talks about godly leaders – we need to unpack the idea of godly. All universities try to produce grads who are competent in their field. For us, that competence has to be not just nuanced by but amplified by character. We strive to have our graduates have a sense of commitment to higher values and greater ends. My idea of a TWU man and TWU woman are people who’s liberal arts education at TWU helped shape them for these means, so that the rest of their life has a greater impact on the world in Jesus’ name. They are a person for others – for one’s marriage, family, friends, and beyond that circle to include people who represent the world’s greatest needs. Not just to assure the world’s greatest opportunities.

JH: What will be different about the school this year?
JR: There are several areas where there are new things being added to the university. Starting with the international MBA and the Master of Science in Nursing. Probably the biggest change is the Community Covenant that has been introduced. The Community Covenant is about creating an environment that optimizes a students’ success…optimizing the whole development of every student. The university’s obligation is to do its absolute best in creating an environment in which students flourish. The ultimate definition of shalom is human flourishing, and we want to create an environment like that. We do not want to go outside the environment and police students, but when it comes to the university’s environment it is our duty to ensure the best environment for our students to flourish in.

JH: What are the biggest challenges TWU faces?
JR: The biggest challenge is over the long haul for the university to remain faithful to its identity as a Christian university. It’s not enough to just have a Christian worldview – our education seeks to communicate a Christian worldview, but that is not at the heart of what we do. Our biggest challenge is to be Christ-centered.

JH: And after that?
JR: The next greatest challenge we face is to make a TWU education affordable. We have more than tripled our financial aid in the last three years. We have a goal over the next several years to make the university more affordable as a place to work as well.

JH: What would you like to see different about TWU?
JR: I’d like to see the university highly capitalized. We have an $8 million endowment. We should have no less than $500 million endowment. Another thing I’d also like to see improved is the intentional design of the university. That includes the diversity of faculty and the design of educational programs. Having been on faculty in smaller university settings, five to eight thousand students have much greater impact than the big box universities. I’d like to see the university mature and develop in the next ten years into somewhere between five and eight thousand students with very intentional programs and offerings, an increasingly diversified faculty, and a real global impact by its alumni.

JH: How do you plan to have TWU’s students take more ownership over their school?
JR: I think ownership has to be preceded by authentic participation in governance and decision-making. For a lot of students that means giving them the opportunity to be able to be heard. I thought we did that fairly well when the Community Covenant was circulated and discussed last spring. When we crafted the strategic direction we tried to have the voice of the students heard and highlighted as well….Student voices won’t always prevail because the university is made up of several voices, but certainly students are at the top of the list of voices that need to be heard.