In it for Concordia
This full-length feature of Alan Shepard is from the fall 2012 issue of the Concordia University Magazine. A link to the full issue is found below.
Taking charge of an educational institution with 46,000 students at a time of mounting international competition, growing societal expectations and evolving teaching methods may seem daunting for some leaders. For Alan Shepard? Not a chance.
“Concordia is a place with a tremendous future,” says the university’s dynamic new president. “This is the time for urban universities like ours. It’s the time for work that crosses disciplines and reaches new audiences. That’s a real strength ?at Concordia.”
His positive outlook and passion — immediately evident to those who meet him — certainly equip Shepard to lead the university. “This is a pivotal time for Concordia and universities everywhere,” he says.
Shepard began at Concordia on August 1. For the previous five years, he served as provost and vice-president academic at Ryerson University, where he negotiated with multiple stakeholders to deliver a successful academic plan. He also played a key role in advancing four new building projects and launching Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), which allows young entrepreneurs to tap into the resources of its downtown Toronto setting.
An incubator for new digital enterprises by students and alumni from various disciplines, DMZ has since enabled the creation of 38 start-ups and seven full-fledged companies while spawning about 350 new jobs. “DMZ entrepreneurs would rather start their own company than work from a cubicle,” he says.
Sheldon Levy, Ryerson’s president, lauds Concordia for hiring an effective new leader. “At Ryerson, the provost is the chief operating officer. That meant Alan had the responsibility of working with the community on the academic vision, and then making it happen operationally. He brought talent and strength to his mandate and, most of all, a real openness and collegiality to his conversations with students, faculty and the whole community, so that everyone was really engaged and invested in the university’s momentum and achievements,” says Levy.
This appraisal is echoed by Maureen Mancuso, provost and vice-president at the University of Guelph. She worked with Shepard when he was that university’s associate vice-president, academic, from 2005 to 2007. “Alan is a passionate and thoughtful leader. The focus, integrity and dedication to students, faculty and staff that he demonstrated during his time at Guelph will surely serve him and his university well,” Mancuso says.
Momentum and growth
Shepard takes the helm of Concordia after exceptional growth at the university. Students can apply themselves in 500 programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, while the two campuses have been rejuvenated through an investment of $600 million in buildings and urban renewal. What’s more, a recent study by the SECOR consulting firm reveals that Concordia generates nearly $1.3 billion a year in economic spinoffs for the Quebec economy, notably through job and research creation.
The new president has already toured Concordia’s numerous research centres, many of which are nationally and internationally recognized. He says the university possesses “invisible strengths” through its cross-sector collaborations. “It’s a network of programs, people, attitudes and intellectual interests that goes toward the multidimensional nature of the modern academy,” he says. “One excellent example is the fusion of work in engineering, digital media, digital literacy and visual arts that’s happening at Hexagram-Concordia, and other programs and research centres across all four faculties.”
Shepard, who earned a PhD from the University of Virginia in 1990, says that in recent years there’s been a significant shift in how those in higher education view the dissemination of knowledge. He recalls asking his PhD advisor if he ?could take courses in other disciplines, to help place his studies in context. “I remember he said to me, ‘Why would you want to do that?’ Today, they would say, ‘Of course you should do that!’ ”
That progressive philosophy has reinvigorated professors, he believes. “I think academics everywhere are excited by the ways in which academic fields are becoming more flexible. ?You still have the disciplines, but in the midst of that are incredible opportunities for new adventures with people in other disciplines; you get something totally new, and that’s pretty inspiring.”
Buoyant in face of challenges
Shepard was well aware he would face some challenges when he said yes to Concordia’s invitation. Not one to shy away from difficult situations, he met reporters just days after his arrival, ready to face some tough questions. Among them were queries about the university’s governance issues. “I’m coming to my role with my eyes wide open,” he says. “I feel confident that Concordia is a strong institution with great depth, and it’s ready to move forward with the support of the Board of Governors and Senate.”
Student protest action against the government’s increase in tuition fees, including a disruption at his public presentation in April, failed to dampen Shepard’s spirit or humour. ?“I understood that I was caught up in a much larger public policy debate unfolding in Quebec and elsewhere,” he says.
The interruption, which necessitated that Shepard later respond to questions from members of the Board of Governors and Senate via conference call, came as no surprise. “In fact, it gave me the opportunity to go back, tweak my speech and read it again. It was like getting extra time to write my assignment.” He adds that it also gave him an opportunity to communicate with 700 people through the conference call, more than double the original audience.
Shepard acknowledges that tuition remains a sensitive issue. Yet he points out that, no matter the source, Concordia will need additional funds to continue to provide quality education, hire top faculty in a competitive environment and evolve to fit its changing public role.
As he sees it, Concordia and indeed all universities are coming to terms with new pressures in a new millennium. “I believe it’s a time when societies are looking to universities. Suddenly we are at the epicentre of what’s going on, and that’s not actually a familiar role for us,” Shepard says. “There was a time when we educated a tiny elite. Now we educate a great number of people, and the well-being of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the world all depends upon having graduates from universities like Concordia who are ready for the 21st century.”
Shepard also looks forward to tackling another potential obstacle: “How will the technology of the 21st century change our work, change how we educate students, how students learn? I think students will push us. And that’s a big challenge not just for Concordia but for everybody.”
Concordia’s new leader is eager to assume another key function: approaching alumni, donors and friends of the university to raise new sources of support. “Fundraising and engaging with donors is incredibly important to the university,” he says. “The generosity of our donors will be increasingly crucial in providing quality education that we can all be proud of. I enjoy fundraising because I get to talk to people who are in the position of making gifts to the university about what makes Concordia truly special.”
Shepard is clearly primed for his new role, and given his professional path, it would almost seem he’s been gearing up specifically for Concordia.
In the late 1970s, the American-born Shepard entered St. Olaf College in Minnesota, the first in his family to attend university. “I knew by the end of my first year that I wanted to work in university for life,” he says. “I realized very early on that I loved these places and what they could do for people like me with no real family university history.”
He soon gravitated toward literary studies. “It’s like studying the world — history, geography, science, and so on,” he says. “It’s an avenue into how the world works.” The respectful way his professors treated students also taught Shepard the value of outstanding pedagogy. In teaching, he says, “the ‘who’ matters as much as the ‘what.’ ” He adds, “Great teaching is life-affirming.”
His tenure-track career began in 1990, in the Department of English at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Former colleague Linda K. Hughes, now TCU’s Addie Levy Professor of Literature, says Shepard’s intellectual curiosity makes him an impressive scholar who’s quick to support the scholarship of others. “Commitment to human relationships and high ethical standards also define him,” she adds. “And he is a brilliant administrator. When I asked what he liked best about being a university leader, he answered, ‘getting to meet so many fascinating people and working with them to realize their dreams.’ ”
As he prepared to make the move to Concordia, Shepard and his family also made the transition to Montreal. He’s looking forward to living in the vibrant city, which he believes will be a wonderful setting for his sons. Avid cyclists and hikers, he and his partner adopted two children in 2007 and quickly discovered that parenthood has its own hurdles. “It’s been both the greatest reward of my life and it’s for sure been the hardest thing I’ve done. It’s harder than getting a PhD.”
Shepard’s combined focus on teaching, research and innovation match what he feels are essential Concordia goals. “It really matters to me that we offer the best programs, hire top faculty, recruit strong students and conduct vital research. That is why we’re all here: a great education in a great environment — to have that education filled with research opportunities,” he says. His background, his experience, his education, his personality, his philosophy: these will all smooth Alan Shepard’s transition into his new post. “Concordia is an easy place to want to be at,” he says. “It has passionate students, two beautiful campuses, community engagement. Its long-term outlook is very, very bright.”
Shepard looks forward to getting to know the Concordia community. As he puts it, “We have great people here. Great people working together make great universities.”
Related links:
• Concordia University Magazine
• President and Vice-Chancellor's page