from staff
Former Jacksonville Sheriff Nat Glover took over as interim president of Edward Waters College last week. Glover, a 1966 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in social science, joined the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and was elected sheriff in 1995, serving two terms and then running unsuccessfully for mayor. He was the first black sheriff in Jacksonville in more than 100 years. Glover, who graduated from the University of North Florida in 1987 with a master of education degree, has been special adviser to UNF President John Delaney.
Edward Waters College is the oldest private institution of higher education in Florida, founded in 1866 to educate newly freed slaves. Its most recent president, Claudette Williams, left for another position. Edward Waters College enrolled 830 students last year, but its graduation rate is just 12 percent. Glover met with the editorial staff of the Daily Record Monday, his fifth day on the job at Edward Waters College.
What are your first impressions of the job?
It brings back a lot of memories walking those halls. I was an athlete on scholarship and I felt a little funny as I walked through those halls and into the president’s office. There’s a feeling of pride. A feeling of trying to get to a point where I can make an impact. A feeling of hope. All of those thoughts were running through my mind. And I want to enjoy doing it. I don’t want it to seem as much like a job as the opportunity to move the needle.
What are some of those challenges going to be to move that needle?
My challenge will be, as I see it now – and this maybe is a little premature until I learn more – is that my first priority is to shore up infrastructure. Work with those problems I identify. I have not identified all of them. After shoring that up, I’m hoping we will have a new image to present to the community. And, of course, we hope that there will be a little more encouraging support from the community. There are a lot of people in this city that love Edward Waters College. I am one of them. Also know that there are people who believe HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) are a thing of the past now that access has been mitigated by community colleges and schools opening up. Some think they’re no longer needed. I certainly feel like that’s not the case and others do too. We’ve got to make our case. That would be my general challenge, but if we were having this conversation later, I would probably have seen other things, but for now I’d say shoring up infrastructure and presenting the image.
There are four institutions of higher learning in Jacksonville - UNF, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Jacksonville University and Edward Waters College. What niche does Edward Waters College fill?
There are a number of opportunities available at Edward Waters College. Many young people want to attend HBCUs because their parents and grandparents did so. I did.
I think our greatest niche would be getting young people ready to attend college. We take kids who are higher risk, I probably would have been one of those, and get them ready for college and through college. We are in the core city in a historic neighborhood. That in itself gives young people who would never see the inside of a college the chance to see where they could end up. When you look at Jacksonville and look at the four institutions, I think they present the best opportunities for a young person in this community. If we work together we can close off any apprehension about a person not being able to access an education in this community. That makes it better for all of us.
What about the transition? Is it a difficult one to make and how does a process like this go?
I look back over my career as a police officer coming in and eventually being elected sheriff. I thought that was divine intervention. I thought this was obviously what I’ve prepared all my life to do. But it didn’t feel like that. I got to the point as sheriff where I would run for mayor, and I thought, ‘maybe this is it.’ But, as you know, if it was divine intervention that certainly wasn’t it.
As I walked into the building Monday of last week, this kind of felt like it. After retiring in 2003, I was retired for about three years. Then the pressure of getting back into public service emerged, basically from the spike in the murder rate. I happened to call John Delaney, who of course was mayor at the time I was sheriff, to just ask him if he was being pressured as much as me to get back into public life. He indicated no, he hadn’t, but he had been meaning to call me. We initiated conversation and came up with the scholarship program I have been working on. Being on the executive staff at the University of North Florida has been almost miraculous. It gave me a launch pad to start thinking about higher education and preparing me for this position. I have the former president (Claudette Williams), the president of the University of North Florida (Delaney) and we aren’t just casual colleagues, we’re the best of friends. I have Steve Wallace (president of Florida State College at Jacksonville) and Kerry Romesburg of Jacksonville University. All of those individuals have pledged their support. I believe resources will not be a problem for me, at least the counsel and mentor resources. I’m committed to reaching out and working cooperatively with those institutions.
Are you interim for sure or would you consider the permanent position?
I am interim for sure. We have to see where that goes. I think it would be a mistake to be interim president and act like anything other than that. Not only would it be a mistake, it would be disingenuous. I am interim president and as I see that it’s a bridge to the next president. I need to pay attention to what I am supposed to be doing so I can be the best interim president I can be.
Is there a time frame for finding the next president?
Sometimes those processes take as long as a year or 18 months. I am hoping my service will not create a sense of urgency. We want to make sure we get the right person. It would just depend on the market as it relates to available people out there.
Have you had a chance to meet with professors and students yet?
I haven’t had a chance to meet with the students. We are not having summer school this year, so no students, no professors. I did have an opportunity to meet with staff and talk to them. I came away encouraged, surprisingly so. I talked about trying to get people motivated. It was an inspirational meeting and I pretty much laid out my priorities. Number one, the students come first. Then the school. In that order and everything else will have to feed into those two priorities. One of the things they need to know is that when they look at the school and they pick up a check there, they are a part of that. I want them to have a sense of ownership. We have got to educate those students and make them successful. Once they see that, I think I will have the bedrock for a great college.
What’s the graduation rate?
It’s about 12 percent, which is a low graduation rate. And we have got to work on that. We have to work on retention, we have to work on getting top notch scholars in there. We have to continue to work on getting more scholarships for need-based kids. We will get that up when we do the kinds of things I know we can do, beginning with creating the type of environment we want. We have to get that up, but we do work with a higher-risk student. We make no excuse about that rate.
What part will the ‘knowledge economy’ play in the development of Jacksonville’s business community?
Jacksonville is progressing to another level as it relates to businesses and as we look at the future of Jacksonville. There is going to be a need for individuals in the work force with higher education. I don’t think we are there yet in adequately supplying that need. The ‘Blueprint for Prosperity’ talked about the need for more college graduates to accommodate the industries that we would like to see come here into Jacksonville. (The blueprint program is a community effort to increase economic opportunity for Duval County residents.) I’m convinced the four institutes of higher learning here will be able to create an environment where we can get the total number of college graduates up. If we do that, we are going to make a better Jacksonville.
There aren’t many university presidents who have “sheriff” on their curriculum vitae. What’s the value of that experience in your new role?
I managed a $230 million budget and an agency with almost 3,000 people. I had to win public support and make sure the employees were working at a high level of efficiency. At one time I achieved a 91 percent approval rating with the citizens of Jacksonville, while reducing the crime rate. That’s unique stuff. All of that can be summed up as leadership and that’s what I bring. There’s no way I would try to sit down and figure out a curriculum for the department of education, nor would I be interested in doing that. I believe I can bring inspired leadership and the kind of leadership that will encourage people to be the best that they can be. I also hope I have a connection to this community. I think I’m one of those individuals who has earned some respect in the community. With that, I’d like to go out in the community and be a goodwill ambassador for Edward Waters College. Those are the things I’m excited about and those are the things I bring to the school.
You are a recognizable name in the city. Will it be an advantage for you to raise funds, especially in this economy, for the school or will the interim tag be a hindrance?
I am not certain the interim tag will play into it very much. I can understand the question because it almost begs the question, ‘if you’re not going to be there, why would I want to support?’ There are a number of reasons why a person would want to support, and that’s up to me to make that case. The first thing I would want is the college to be the main reason they’re supporting. You talk about the economy and we all understand that. Not only does the education community deal with it, but so does the baker. The store owners are dealing with a tough economy. That’s just the environment. A long time ago, when I was a kid, my mother told me something that I didn’t put much in it at that time, but I know exactly what she means now. ‘If it ain’t one thing, it’s another.’ You always have to deal with something. You just deal with it instead of trying to find excuses.
One of the photographs in a trophy case there is from your junior year when the football team went undefeated and you were one of the captains. What’s it like to pass by that case as president of the college?
It gives me goose bumps. It says to me that you don’t know where you’re going to end up. I have always said, without hesitation, that if I had not gotten an education that I’m not sure I would be sitting here. Some kids don’t even know they can go to college. No one has ever said they can. They have never dealt with a role model. Their next door neighbor didn’t go to college. The people across the street didn’t go. I tell people all the time if you ask me about my elementary school teachers, I might have a problem remembering all of them, but I remember my first grade teacher very well. That’s because I was with her two years. Even though I repeated that grade, I ended up being a college president. There are kids out there like that. They are budding senators and governors and mayors if we can give them the opportunity.
If you had unlimited resources, what would Edward Waters College look like in your vision?
If I had unlimited resources, and didn’t have to prioritize, I would like to spruce up the buildings. Students like to see nice, well-kept buildings, and there might be people who come to campus that don’t see the campus they want to see, and that would give us a shot at them. Some of the physical plant would be my priority.
But if I did have to prioritize, I would be certain we would have the right resources in there to provide the best education possible. Then come back to those buildings. In fixing the buildings, I wouldn’t destroy the historical significance of those buildings because I do believe there is such great value there.
I would like to have a transportation institute, a bigger community resource center, a charter school on campus for early college kids to help them make the transition right from high school to college. I would develop a speaker series to expose the kids to some things they wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise.
As development projects continue to evolve for Downtown Jacksonville, do you see a Downtown Campus for Edward Waters College?
I wouldn’t eliminate anything at this particular time. I would also be looking at all of those things that would affect the long-range life of the school. As an interim president, I am creating an environment for the next administration, some of that will be long-range. We will be looking at those opportunities. Education is going online, as well. We have to look closer at that frontier.
In the fall, will you be highly visible on campus?
I think that’s going to be part of the fun. I think I want to be out there with the kids and challenging them. One of my fortes was getting out into the community and talking to people. I see this as no different than walking through the neighborhoods at times (as sheriff). I want to use that with some of these kids. If they know the president will come up to them and take them on, you create that type of environment that’s loving and caring. They pay attention. I have a great vice president of student affairs that’s the same way. I think we’ll be standing on fraternity squares talking to them.
That’s what I’ve done, that’s my history. I came out of those neighborhoods. I know those neighborhoods. I’m excited about creating that type of environment. I know I’m not talking like a college president. I’m not trying to be like anybody else, though, I’m trying to be like Nat Glover. When the board of trustees met and said, ‘this is a person we want to be interim president,’ I don’t think they added an addendum that they had to spruce him up or anything. I think we can turn out a good product if we can create that caring, nurturing environment.