Steen Speaks: The President on Stepping Down

That voice. Heard every year for the past nine years at orienta­tions, convocations, and commence­ments, Plymouth State University President Sara Jayne Steen’s voice is a silky alto, easily recognized by students. For most students, that is all they will hear from Steen: a welcome and a goodbye. In small doses, her voice is too perfect. She comes across as insincere. She is so well-spoken, even normal conversations seem scripted. But when sitting down with her, the articulation isn’t script but smarts, and the tone doesn’t seem so perfect when interrupted by laughter. Talking with her about her presidency shows it was far from scripted, and when talking about Plymouth State, students, and stepping down, Steen comes across as anything but insincere.

Before knowing Steen, the presi­dent, one must first know Steen, the person. Raised in Oregon, Ohio, just east of Toledo and off the shores of Lake Erie, she loved reading, the outdoors, and playing piano. Her father worked in a nearby glass fac­tory, making automotive glass that was shipped to factories in Detroit, and her mother, like most women of the time, stayed home. The two had not gone to college, and were intent on giving Steen that opportunity. “They put aside money from every paycheck to ensure I was going to be the first in my family to be able to go to school,” said Steen. Along with the money her parents saved, Steen received scholarships and attended Bowling Green State University in 1967.

Along with her parents’ money and scholarships, Steen worked her way through school. “I punched a cash register, I worked in department stores, I did all sorts of things to help get through school,” she said. The jobs were useful, not just for money, but they showed Steen just how hard people, like her parents, have to work.

She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in 1970, and went on to teach high school. She went back to graduate school to earn her Master’s Degree at the Ohio State University in 1974, and she later earned her doctorate from Bowling Green State Univer­sity in 1978. Then, Steen entered the English department at Montana State University, where she taught under­graduate and graduate courses for over two decades. She also received a teaching fellowship opportunity by the American Council on Education where she was given a year at full pay and a budget to travel and learn from other educators of her choosing. Steen went to the University of Dela­ware, and trekked across the country, and even Europe, going to community colleges, public colleges, and private colleges to expand her knowledge of higher education.

While at Montana State, Steen earned numerous awards for teach­ing and research. A self-described teacher to the core, she would eventu­ally become the chair of the English department. This was never her plan, but she wanted to change things. “I saw things that should have been happening,” she said, “…and to my surprise, I liked [being chair].” Steen found satisfaction in seeing problems that were complex, and figuring out ways to fix them and take action. She eventually moved from teaching to administration, becoming Dean of the College of Letters and Science while at Montana State. “Being an administrator was never the plan,” she said.

Becoming president was also never part of her plan. “I wasn’t particu­larly looking for a job,” she said. “I had been recruited.” When she was invited to campus, she was unaware Plymouth would be her home for nearly the next decade. “I couldn’t imagine what would consider me to change my life,” she said. After spending three days on campus, Steen changed her mind. She loved the people she met, and the sense of integrated community Plymouth State and the town offered made Steen feel that this was a place she could call home.

Nine years later, Steen sits in her office on the top floor of the Guy E. Speare Administration Building. Pictures of Plymouth Normal School and Plymouth Teachers College, along with paintings by Karl Drerup, who founded the art department at Plymouth State College, hang from the walls. Two full bookcases are mounted on the walls in the corner of the room behind her desk. Steen, with her short, neat brown hair and clean frames, wears a black suit and an avocado green scarf. “I love Plymouth State. I will always love Plymouth State University,” she said.

Steen starts her mornings between 5 and 5:30 a.m. She likes to exercise, drink coffee, read the newspaper, and have quiet time with her husband, Joseph. She gets to her office around 8 a.m. and starts her day, typically with phone calls and emails. Last summer, she came to the decision her last trip to the office would be June 30, 2015. This year will be the last of Steen’s presidency.

Reflecting on her past nine years as president, she is obviously proud of the University’s numerous ac­complishments. She lists the 16 new international partnerships the Uni­versity added just last year, including opening an office in China. She cites how Plymouth State students are in the top 15% of graduates being well prepared for jobs after commence­ment. One of the accolades Steen is most proud of is Plymouth State earning a Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching clas­sification as an engaged university. This means Plymouth State works well and has an active partnership with the region. “We have partners all over the area, and we have initiatives with them. Students are working with them in service learning, working on behalf of non-profits and busi­nesses getting real world hands-on, minds-on experience that’s going to set them apart when they go out to look for a job, and the community is benefitting,” she said. The list of ac­complishments goes on, including the expansion of the university with the Active Living, Learning, and Wellness (ALLWell) Center and the near clos­ing of the Imagine A Way fundraising campaign which, to date, has raised $18.3 million for scholarships, faculty and staff awards, and buildings on campus. Steen hopes to close the campaign at $20 million by the time she leaves.

This list of achievements is over­whelming. Steen almost goes into autopilot, her voice mesmerizing, almost hypnotic. Again, it can feel scripted, but Steen’s verbal precision comes from practice. This is all terri­tory covered before. In her numerous State of the University Addresses, Steen has covered all these bullet points and more. She’s proud of how far Plymouth State has come during her tenure, and rightfully so, but even Steen agrees spouting facts doesn’t show the whole picture. “When you talk about students in education,” she said, “you can talk about the whole. I can tell you about collegiate learn­ing assessments at 95% and all of those things, but in the final analysis, education happens one person at a time. I love hearing what peoples’ stories and experiences are.” She concludes those same State of the University Addresses with personal stories. Whether telling about how she overheard alumni in Biederman’s Deli or reading a letter from parents of a graduate, she is at her best reveal­ing these candid moments. It’s when Steen, the president; and Steen, the person; are one.

It’s not those bullet points of new buildings, academic accolades, or statistics Steen is going to walk away with. She hangs her hat on what stuck out on her first three days on campus: the sense of community the Univer­sity offers. “I’ve grown in response to the values of the people here. That sense of integrated community has also given me a lot of joy and personal growth,” she said. The thing Steen will miss the most is the daily contact with the great community of people she has come to know.

It’s these people she credits the success of the University to. The small class sizes at Plymouth State give students personalized atten­tion and guidance. “Faculty and staff want to mentor and work with stu­dents,” she said. “That sense of how people want to work with you and involve you, that’s what Plymouth State is.” She also mentions that at commencement, faculty member sometimes show even more pride in the graduates than their parents, and that when, “attending an event and seeing students get awards, you’re seeing faculty and staff success [as well],” she said. This brings Steen back to when she was a teacher. She pictured her class, not as individuals, but as a team. She and the students collaborated and created knowledge together. Steen looks at her senior team in a similar way. “I often tell people being President isn’t a solo [act], it’s an ensemble,” she said. Over the years, she and her team have taken on a lot. Steen is astounded by how fast it all went by as they moved from project to project, most of the time juggling multiple things at once. “I can remember someone saying, ‘Does anybody ever take a breath?’ And I thought, ‘Yes, and then we start moving again'.” The success from all: faculty, staff, and administration, is what makes Steen comfortable with stepping down now.

For personal reasons and things she still wants to experience, Steen felt her time as president had come to an end. Her senior team and a new strategic plan already in place give her confidence in walking away. “You want to leave when things are in really good hands,” she said. Her predeces­sor, Don Wharton said to her, “You want to leave the wood pile higher.” Steen feels she’s doing that.

As Steen’s presidency comes to an end, she reflects on how fortunate she has been. Whether it’s because her parents set money aside from every paycheck so she could go to school, or attending a public school that was funded in large part by the state of Ohio, or having people support her with scholarships, or being president, Steen feels nothing but gratitude. “What I walk away with is how lucky I am. Higher education has given me the opportunity to wake up every morning doing something I love and get paid for it. That’s what I want for our students,” she said.

President Sara Jayne Steen’s office is decorated with pictures and paint­ing from Plymouth State’s past. All the memorabilia mounted on the walls shows her affinity for Plymouth State’s history, a history she will soon become a part of. This May, Steen will conduct her final commencement. For some graduates, this will be the first time they have heard Steen speak since orientation or convoca­tion. Most students only know Steen by her satin speeches, speeches she always concludes with a story. This commencement, as Steen’s final ad­dress winds down, the concluding story will be her own, as the voice of the University steps down.