DISTRICT GOVERNOR VISIT - DG Russ Jones will be our special visitor on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12 at the Armory at 12 noon. You don't want to miss it!

 

 

Thank You Card – PE Bob acknowledged receipt of a Thank You card from the family of former Adrian Noon Rotarian Barry Reinink.

New Club Directory – The new directory is being printed!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our own Cindy Sutherland introduced our speaker today, the new president (its 11th) of Siena Heights University, Dr. Doug Palmer. He comes to Adrian after having served as president of Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. He is married and has three children - all boys.

 

Doug began his presentation by saying that what he loves about Rotary is that we bring together people from our community. He mentioned that the best book ever written about the American experience was Democracy in America written by Alexis de Tocqueville where he questions why Europe has numerous revolutions but America only had one to which he said it was because America has civic organizations and to form associations. This, he said, is what keeps democracy alive in America. And Rotary is one of them which has a positive impact on the world and are truly civic-minded in this community.

 

Doug went on to say that communities as well as higher education have the same problem and that is BRAIN DRAIN. Doug cited a recent report 1 in 4 Michiganders under the age of 30 anticipate moving out of the state! We don't do a good job keeping people at home which impacts SHU as an institution. Fewer children were born 18-20 years ago, he said, than anytime in American history since WWII! "SHU"S Admission cannot recruit students that were never born", Doug said. Likewise, employers cannot hire people not in the job market.

 

"Brain Drain means there is a deficit in our workforce, and we're feeling it at the university as well", Doug said. So, Doug's goal at SHU is to become a BRAIN GAIN institution where students can be recruited and also kept in Lenawee County to raise families, take jobs, buy homes, pay taxes, and contribute to the local econo9my. This, he said, is a virtuous cycle - local employers provide better jobs for skilled students coming out of SHU. "We are in this together"! It's all about connecting with people across this community and throughout the state to keeps students here at home.

 

Doug said that he wanted to be invited back one year from today to share with the audience what SHU has done to contribute to becoming a Brain Gain university. He went on to discuss 4 ways they plan to do that by:

 

1 - Internationalizing our curriculum and our students since very few international students come here to study

2 - Getting better at experiential learning allowing students to have real world experiences outside the classroom

3 - Embracing technology so it becomes a part of a student's core competence which includes Digital Communication

4 - Promoting access to higher education since it is the golden bullet to eliminating poverty in the world

 

Welcome to Adrian, Doug. Thank you for a most inspiring presentation and best wishes for a successful career at Siena Heights University.