Thread by @JimRosicaFL

We're back in Ruby Diamond, where a @floridastate search committee is interviewing nine candidates to be next FSU president. Next up: Robert Blouin, executive vice chancellor and provost, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

@floridastate Blouin says he wants to be FSU president "to work with people who aspire to be great." Says FSU could be a Top 10 school if it's "great at a lot of things, and that's hard. And there are lot to climb over to get into the top 10." First step: Recruit and retain top talent.

@floridastate "You need people who make other people better with them," he calls it the Michael Jordan phenomenon. Having a world class player brings all others around that person up.

@floridastate Blouin says you "have to have a vision, a plan, and be ready to execute it...you have to have aspiration to be great, you have to be willing the change the culture, BUT not do harm" to what already exists.

@floridastate Blouin says he hasn't had a whole lot of experience in fundraising. He does say he understands the need for investment in people, in buildings, "align strategic plan with development plan," show people how their money will "make a difference," that you'll be a "good steward."

@floridastate It's about the need to maintain a "personal touch with donors," understand their goals when they give money, show them what their gift will accomplish, and know that sometimes people are just "waiting to be asked," Blouin says.

@floridastate Blouin says invest in talent by recruiting and retaining. Give talented faculty a reason to stay, give them the resources they need to reach greater heights: "They just want to make a difference" for society. Talented students will follow, he adds.

@floridastate Make faculty realize they could not reproduce "the network of talent" they're in so other schools will not lure them away. Blouin talks about experience in writing research grants, including @NIH - says he learned to look years down the road to know what finances are needed.

@floridastate @NIH Blouin says AAU membership is an "ambitious goal." You have to a "major research player." But he points out research and teaching "have to be connected."
Students want to be taught by those "creating new knowledge." They pick schools "to have their thinking modeled."

@floridastate @NIH Most important goal is not just to teach "but to aspire." A faculty should care about students and inspire them and know enough about what will happen tomorrow that they can give students the tools to get there, "to do great things," Blouin says.

@floridastate @NIH Blouin says inclusion and diversity "is a big issue today." Race is a "critical issue," universities need to do "much better" in recruiting diverse talent, and supporting that talent so it thrives. They're trying, they get it, "but we have a long way to go."

@floridastate @NIH He says some Black faculty has expressed disappointment of not being given more tools to succeed. Blouin also says admissions practices need to improve: students don't necessarily want to be around others just like them, they do want diversity.

@floridastate @NIH Blouin says collegiate athletics is important, commends the FSU women's soccer team for being in the finals, but have to make sure "we do it right," meaning grades constantly monitored, sport by sport, "must perform at standards we set."

@floridastate @NIH Blouin admits "It's difficult to be a student athlete...it's hard to do all that we ask them to do."

@floridastate @NIH Blouin now discusses a controversy over "Silent Sam," a controversial monument on UNC campus, community wanted it gone, state law prevented them from moving it, "It was a mighty struggle" but statue was taken down during protest, then pedestal was removed for safety reasons.

@floridastate @NIH "Charlottesville was very much on our mind," he says, referring to clashes at a 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in which one woman was killed, others injured.
Background here: usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

@floridastate @NIH In closing, Blouin says if picked he would want his first 5 years on job to include FSU being well on its way to top 10 status and AAU membership. Doesn't think either will happen in that time, will take longer.

@floridastate @NIH Next up: Richard D. McCullough, vice president for research, Harvard University.
But first, lunch break. Committee will be back at 1:30 pm ET.

Add to this thread: Reader notes that Blouin *was* provost at UNC-Chapel Hill. He quit last week but will stay on as pharmacy faculty.
See this story by the News & Observer: amp.newsobserver.com/news/local/edu…

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