The first candidate interviewed in a "public conversation" format for the new vice president slot at UND said Wednesday her business background gives her certain strengths in an academic job.
Her 20 years in the business world help her make decisions quickly and measure performance, Susan Walton said during an interview conducted by Charley Johnson, news anchor at WDAZ-TV, in UND's Memorial Union lecture bowl before about 75 people.
She's the first of three finalists who will participate in such public conversations before the newly created job of vice president for university and public affairs is filled.
She grew up in "the shadow of the University of Alabama," Walton said, and has loved the academy since.
But she also has worked a wide range of public relations jobs for corporations from Harley-Davidson -- where she bought a touring bike and learned to ride it to understand customers' passion for the machines -- to Dow Chemical, including two years with the top Fortune 500 company in Switzerland.
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'Whole lot of listening'
Since 2006, Walton has been on the communications faculty at Brigham Young University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in independent studies in 1979 and a master's in English in 1986.
She said the first thing she would do if she's hired at UND is "a whole lot of listening," and she then would implement "a 100-day plan," a period she said is critical to getting a program and message in place.
Asked by Johnson how she would handle UND's public relations in the middle of the longstanding controversy over the Sioux nickname and logo, Walton said she learned in dealing with corporate crises, "Everybody has a side in an issue. Not right sides or wrong sides."
This is her first trip to North Dakota, but Walton said she has an affinity for the Midwest. She spent summers with her grandparents in Rapid City, S.D., where her great-grandfather homesteaded, and she also has children living in Minneapolis.
New position
President Robert Kelley announced the creation of the new position a year ago and the search began in August.
It will again give UND six vice presidents, as the university last had in 2008. But, for the first time, it will combine the public relations and communications department with "ceremonies and special events," said Peter Johnson, executive associate vice president for university relations, who will answer to the new official.
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The position is one most larger universities have -- North Dakota State University has had one for several years -- and it will give the institution a more unified public voice, Johnson said.
With its programs and curricula and research getting more national and international attention, a more strategic way of sharing UND's stories is warranted, Johnson said.
Peter Haga, executive policy advisor to the Grand Forks mayor and city council, will be interviewed at 3:15 p.m. April 10. Derek Hall, vice president for university and external affairs at Jacksonville (Fla.) University, will be interviewed in a similar format at 3:15 p.m. April 26.
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send email to slee@gfherald.com .
