'Brand' new situation

Myles Brand's office is much like you would expect. The floor is blanketed by a long, red oriental rug. The walls are covered with symmetric wood paneling; pictures and art work keep them company, and prevent them from being bare.\nHis desk sits in the corner of the large rectangular room. A picture of his wife sits next to his computer; a couch, two chairs and a small table help take up what would be an open space if they weren't there.\nBut in two and half months, they won't.\nNone of it will, but before Brand packs up to leave for the NCAA he sat down for a one-on-one interview to discuss his legacy at IU, his hopes for its future and his new job at the NCAA.\nMyles Brand, the person\nBennett Haeberle: First, can you run us through a typical day for Myles Brand? \nPresident Myles Brand: I'm up at about 5:30 or 6. If I have time I go to the rec center to work out, of course sometimes I don't because I have a breakfast meeting. I'll have meetings after breakfast, either here or in Indianapolis. Two to three days a week I have to drive up to Indianapolis. And so I have meetings straight through -- lunch meetings -- and then meetings and perhaps speaking occasions in the afternoon up until dinner. More likely than not it will be a working dinner. Afterwards, I will look at all my paperwork, and I will spend the evening doing my paperwork until I get too sleepy, which is usually around 10:30 or 11. And then I go to sleep, and do it all again the next day. \nBH: It seems like a 'dusk til dawn' type of job; what do you do to relax?\nMB: It's not a job; it's a life. You can't think of it as a job because there's no time as University president when you're ever off. So it's six and a half days a week; sometimes there are more public appearances than others. Sometimes it's Indianapolis or Bloomington -- but it's a life.\nBH: What's that been like, you say it's a 24 hour job, when does it ever relax?\nMB: There are some down times; it's very interesting as President. You're either on or you're off, and there are a few times a year when I'm off. I'm off at Christmas time, and I'm off usually during early summer in July -- then things just very much slow down. Then I enjoy some other activities. But if you don't enjoy meeting with students and working with faculty and talking to groups and advocating for the University, it's the wrong position for you. \nBH: What are some of those interests beyond higher education?\nMB: Well, as I mentioned when I can I get to the rec center I think that's a great opportunity, a wonderful facility. I think the campus is lucky to have it. When I do have time off, particularly a few weeks in the summer, I like to go canoeing and ride horses. Up until recently, up until I took this job, we had owned horses. So I enjoy doing that, hiking outdoors.\nMyles move to his new job\nBH: Moving on to your latest job with the NCAA, looking back what do you credit as your biggest accomplishment here at the University?\nMB: It's hard to say that there's any single accomplishment. I think the University is far better now, than when I found it. University presidents are stewards. They have a turn at which they're in office, and they take over from someone else. And they hand it off to another person. During that period of time, you hope you can advance the goals and the values of the institution...I think we've established strong programs across the board. So I'm most pleased about the quality of the instruction, the quality of the education and the quality of the faculty that we've put in place.\nBH: Was it a big decision to leave IU?\nMB: It was a big decision to do that. It's a continuation of the work that I've undertaken in higher education. It's much more focused, focused on just one set of issues, intercollegiate athletics, a very important set of key issues, but much more focused than what I'm doing now. So while the issues are more focused, the ability to affect a large number of people has increased. Of course, now it will be undertaken at a national level. So, yes, it was difficult to make that decision, but I also see it as a way to continue the work I've done in higher education.\nBH: The decision came up rather promptly. I know Bill Stephan had said the position itself had been made aware to you within a matter of weeks; I just didn't know some of the specifics. How often did you have to meet with the (NCAA) committee? Who was the first to know that you had accepted the job? Was it your wife?\nMB: Well, I was sworn to secrecy. The position was offered to me at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and they said 'Oh, by the way' there's a 5:20 press conference. So, I didn't really have a lot of time to tell anyone. We had discussed it a little bit, and I met with one group before that, so really it was the final day that was decision day. And as I said, unfortunately, I didn't have much time once I knew about it, and prior to that I was not permitted to speak to anybody about it.\nBH: Not even your wife?\nMB: Oh no, Peg knew. Of course she knew. And I told my dog 'Midas' too. But I swore him to secrecy.\nBH: Okay, how do you think the move is going to affect 'Midas,' or is he going to remain in Bloomington with Peg?\nMB: No, Peg is going to move with me…She's going to continue to teach here, but we'll live up in Indianapolis. Just as I have been going up to Indianapolis two or three days a week, now she'll commute down here. So that won't be a problem. We've been very gentle with 'Midas' about it, and sort of breaking it to him slowly bringing him to Indianapolis and letting him smell around to make sure he feels comfortable with it. He doesn't quite know yet. And I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't tell him we are moving because I want to break it to him myself.\nBH: Coach Knight got rid of all his IU sweaters once he left; what are you going to do with yours?\nMB: I'm going to wear them proudly, absolutely. I'm a Hoosier through and through, and one of the great parts of this job is that we get to stay in Indiana. Now, the NCAA says you have to be neutral, because you have to make sure everyone is treated fairly and the same. I'm not sure I can live up to that. I'm going to have to be rooting for the Hoosiers. And I'm afraid on game day I may well end up with an IU sweatshirt on. I just don't think I can pull off that part, and I'm just going to root for the Hoosiers.\nBH: How do you think your constituents will feel about that?\nMB: Well, I hope they'll understand. I'll be rooting for the football team, and basketball season is starting soon, so that will be a lot of fun.\nTime remaining\nBH: What sort of things do you think they should look for in the next president?\nMB: Well, I think the trustees should consult widely with faculty most especially, about the interim president, and most certainly about the next permanent president. They will need someone who understands these large complex universities. Someone who understands that though it's a multi-campus university, it's still unified in its goals and it performs best when it's acting as a single university rather than separate campuses, or separate schools on an individual campus. And so they will have to find someone who appreciates the complexity of the organization, but also the great opportunities it is to be president of really one of the greatest universities in the country.\nBH: Some have said that in your dealings with the state's General Assembly that you have been somewhat unyielding and often dogmatic; do you think these are fair criticisms?\nMB: Absolutely, I will defend Indiana University no matter what. I am committed to Indiana University, and I won't bend on that. And people who want to push by and say 'Well, you don't really need that.' -- uh-uh, I am going to stand up there and defend Indiana University. If they think that's being a tough guy, that's fair enough, because I'm going to defend Indiana University.\nIU's future\nBH: Where do you see IU going?\nMB: I think it's headed in the right direction. I think we're moving forward on the research side, most especially the life sciences and information technology. This campus is an arts and humanities, liberal arts campus. Incredible music school, great humanities departments and the social sciences are strong. The Kelley school is strong, journalism is strong. I mean, we just have a lot of strength on this campus. And the next president has to support and nurture that. The strength is there. But finding the resources to support those activities is what's crucial.\nBH: What would be the first thing you would advise the new president to do?\nMB: Probably buy a sweatshirt.\nBH: Are there any kind of quirks with your office that you would make the new president aware of, a squeaky chair or the phone doesn't always ring?\nMB: No, it seems to work pretty well. This is an old heating system, so sometimes you need a fur coat in here in the winter. \nBH: What would be your five-year plan for the University, if you were to stay?\nMB: It would be to continue on the track; I think the University is pointed in the right direction. I believe it would be a mistake to turn the University too much. The campus through Chancellor Brehm is undergoing a very important strategic planning process, and the results of that process will probably come to fruition during this fall. The committee is already formed, and I think that will help refine on the campus the particular initiatives and directions that the campus will take. And that's good. But that's a refinement and specificity within an overall context. This University is in good shape and was moving forward. The goal really has to be to continue to move forward and make those adjustments and changes where strengths and opportunities appear.\nMoving on\nBH: You mentioned the adjustments to the University. What sorts of personal adjustments are you going to make, in terms of the philosophies of your new job?\nMB: I found I can use sports analogies, when I'm talking, and I wasn't permitted to do that before. So that's acceptable. It's also acceptable on weekends now to watch sports, and I don't always have to watch the opera, although I enjoy the opera. But now, I can also watch sports, and supplement my musical tastes with sports. So I think I'll have to make some of those adjustments. \nBH: Your philosophy of "academics first," that most likely made you a great candidate for the job. How do you feel you'll promote that in your new job?\nMB: The academic mission of the institution is the most important part of the University and the athletic department and the athletic teams, and the student-athletes have to fit in within that general context. We're not running pro teams. This is intercollegiate athletics. It's student-athletes; it's not athlete-students. And so I think it's very important that we continue to provide the best educational opportunities for the student-athletes, and we do everything in our power possible to make sure that the athletic department just like the chemistry department or the School of Music is part of the whole.\nBH: Do you think everyone agrees or sees on the same level as you do in intercollegiate athletics?\nMB: Maybe not.\nBH: Is there any goal for you to persuade them to share your opinion?\nMB: I have pretty strong view about this. I think I will be able to articulate those views. I will try to persuade as many as I can about the importance of the academic missions of universities. Some I will be able to persuade. Some I won't, but I will give it my best shot.\nBH: You said the chemistry department would be at least as important as the athletic department. Given this how do you maintain the philosophy of keeping salaries competitive? In other words, how can a chemistry professor expect to make as much an athletic director?\nMB: For one thing I think the academic departments are the most important of the University. There would not be a University if we didn't have faculty or if we didn't have academic departments or if we didn't have students. You always have to look at salaries within a competitive market. I'm a philosopher by trade; philosophers in the academic world really did not have the same salary structure as someone in the business school because the market is different. And so you always have to look at the market…But that's the real world?\nBH: Once you're gone, what sorts of shoes are going to be left to fill?\nMB: I'm going to take all my running shoes with me, and I'm going to take it all with me. There won't be any shoes left.\nBH: As you mentioned you're a doctor of philosophy; what's Myles brand's philosophy?\nMB: That's a very good question. First of all to do the very best I can, to do it with integrity and be principled. To be honest and forthright and always understand that life is an adventure. And do the best you can at one job, being a student, so you'll have a different career. You do that with integrity and to the best of your ability.