NEWS | October 31, 2003

Presidential Search
The path least taken
Presidential finalist James Spaniolo says his experience in different fields aids his leadership

By Danny Woodward
The Shorthorn staff

James Spaniolo isn’t like the other presidential finalists.

For starters, he’s not a career academian. He’s never been a university president or provost — even a vice president — and he doesn’t hold a doctorate. He’s worked at only one university.

All of which, he said Thursday, makes him perfect for UTA.

“I’ve been an assistant to the president, a lawyer, a journalist, a newspaper executive, a national foundation executive, dean of (a Michigan State University) college,” he said. “I’ve also had a chance to be involved in civic life and political life. As I look back, all taken together, it has prepared me to assume a position of major leadership.”

For seven years, Spaniolo has been dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State, one of the largest such colleges in the nation. During his tenure, undergraduate enrollment in the college increased by more than 1,000. He began interdisciplinary and master’s programs, and he is partially responsible for the prestigious Quello Center for Telecommunication, Management and Law — a $3.5 million venture founded with private money.

To build the Quello Center, Spaniolo and others took the massive fund-raising campaign to alumni, private citizens and business leaders.

“We reached out,” Spaniolo said. “My experience is that very seldom do people come and knock on your door and want to make a donation. It comes from multiple conversations by people wanting to share a vision.”

Teresa Sullivan, who chaired the presidential search committee, said UTA’s next top administrator must be able to find additional sources of revenue. Spaniolo said he’s up to that.

“The economy is a big issue for UTA like it is for other universities in Texas and around the country,” he said. “That’s the biggest challenge: finding new sources of revenue, whether it be research or development or partnerships.”

Spaniolo has raised more than money. He said he turned around Michigan State’s alumni development program by traveling the country to visit graduates.

“It’s been a combination of holding events on campus, to going and hosting receptions,” he said. “We began to develop a critical mass of connection with alumni. I write personal letters and e-mails. I make phone calls. It’s what I would call a full-court press.”

That phase could also describe Spaniolo’s life.

Kevin Hardy, editor in chief of Michigan State’s student newspaper, said Spaniolo is always on the go.

“I don’t know how much coffee he drinks. I don’t know if it’s caffeine or good drugs or what. He’s extremely active, and he has more energy than most people on campus, and I’d include athletes in that,” Hardy said. “I never thought of him as someone who had presidential aspirations. But as soon as I heard that, it made total sense to me.”

Spaniolo serves on the board of directors for The State News, continuing a media career that includes stops at two major newspapers and a national journalism board.

“He impressed me as being a very knowledgeable and intelligent person. ... And he is a thoroughly nice person,” said W. Gerald Austen, a Harvard professor and chairman of the Knight Foundation, which advances media education.

Spaniolo is a former vice president of the organization and colleague of Dr. Austen.

“I think he would make a good university president,” Austen said.

Spaniolo believes that, too, though he’s never been a senior administrator. He knows something about the job, though.

From 1970 to 1972 he was assistant to the Michigan State president, something he said trained him well for the UTA position.

“I learned how important and serious the responsibility is,” he said. “It was a very critical building block in my career, whether I had gone into higher education or not.”

Gary Reid, for one, is glad he did.

Dr. Reid, a telecommunications professor at Michigan State, said Spaniolo’s background outside of higher education made him the perfect dean — and potentially a top-notch president.

“What was really neat about Jim was that many people said the same thing about him coming in to be a dean,” Reid said. “But what he brought to the table was a fresh look, a new way of looking at things. He didn’t take the traditional route, and we’ve really benefited.”

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