Jim Schmidt is James Madison University’s seventh president. He will be inaugurated Wednesday, April 8, as his first academic year at JMU comes to a close. WMRA’s Calvin Pynn, asked Schmidt about the feedback he’s heard from students, faculty and staff regarding JMU’s future.
Jim Schmidt: I was surprised because the university's been through a lot in the last 20, 30, 40 years. And so, I kind of expected them to say, we're kind of tired. Let's just take a moment and digest what we've done in the last several decades. But instead, and this is a surprise, there was a palpable anticipation about what's next. And what's next is one of those where it's exciting and a little bit scary as well. And yet there's this belief that because of all the success that the university has had in the past, there's a belief that if they could set their mind to it and agree to a course, that they could accomplish more. So, there's a tension, right, about becoming who we could become, not unlike the process our college students have gone through. And I have to tell you, as we've developed the strategic plan, the Madison Promise, that is going to be the thing, and I will say this at the inauguration, I promise you, I will defend that amazing student, faculty, staff, to student culture. We will continue to be a great teaching institution as we evolve into areas of focused research, research that makes a difference in our community, region, and the Commonwealth and beyond. And I have great confidence in this faculty and staff to be able to do just that.
WMRA: Definitely. All learning and growing together. Absolutely. With the strategic plan, is there anything about that can be shared right now?
Schmidt: Oh, absolutely. Not surprising, we're following the board's direction and that is to double down on the student experience. So, everything that we do at the university, I can tell you everything about the way I, the lenses that I view decisions as president is first, is a decision or an action good for students and is it good for the Commonwealth? We're a public institution, and we have an obligation back to the taxpayers and the people of the Commonwealth to continue to evolve and to change to serve them and serve the best interests of that. And of course, the students, and by extension, their families, are also first and foremost in our minds. As we evaluate whether to take action A or B, it's simply a matter of which is best for the student and the Commonwealth, including civil discourse. We're also going to be unveiling some guarantees that we're going to make. I think we'll be the first significant school in the country that'll make a guarantee to the employer. So, if you're saying, I hired a JMU grad and they don't have the attributes you promised, we'll take them back and we'll help them. We'll help develop those skills further. We're also, I'm breaking it here, we're going to be talking about an employment guarantee. At a time when people are a little cynical of higher ed, we're saying: “look, after you shake my hand at graduation and I hand you your diploma, our relationship's going to continue. And if you have a hard time finding that first job after the first year, we're going to invite you back and we're going to help you at our expense.” We're going to help you to prepare yourself for that first big job that every grad dreams of getting. And we're going to put it in writing, and we are going to stand behind our grads. We're going to stand behind those that we give the James Madison diploma. A James Madison University diploma should mean something. It's got my signature on it, and I'm saying we have your back, and we are a partner with you for the rest of your life.
WMRA: What would it take to facilitate something like that?
Schmidt: Well, we're putting together the infrastructure as we speak, and right now, it's not a huge promise on our part because 97% of our grads get jobs right out of college. But for those that struggle, and right, we don't know what the future will bring, do we have an economic downturn? What is the impact of AI? We're saying: “look, we're going to help prepare you.” More importantly, 97% of those who go directly into the workforce report that the job they've taken is in line with their career goals. So, this notion of art history majors working at McDonald's is really just a myth, certainly around JMU grads, because we're going to make sure those students have the power skills and they know how to take whatever their degree content was and how it relates to the real world. One of the things that we're going to be promising is that every student will have a work-based learning opportunity before they graduate. It'll take us a few years to get that in place fully. Already most of our students are doing internships. You're going to see a major initiative around undergraduate research and community-based work as well. Look for some other innovations that I think are really going to adapt to where the world is at the moment. And I really believe where James Madison is heading, we will define a new course for what a modern research university can do in the real world.
WMRA: With JMU's growth, there's also its relationship with Harrisonburg, with the city. I understand that you've been able to meet with, you know, local leaders here, and of course there have been... some growing pains. But I'd love to know, how are you and the city working together to kind of navigate?
Schmidt: It's been terrific so far. I met with the mayor the very first day on the job, met with city leadership immediately after that, in fact, the entire city council and all of the directors. I met with the leadership of Rockingham County, and I've been in contact with them all along the way. Yes, as the institution's grown, that's had growing pains for the community. We can't be a great university without being in a great city and region. I said, what's good for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County is good for the university. And I want to make sure they're able to say that as well, that what's been good for the university is good for this region. A couple things that I recognized early on - as I've talked to our alums, they talk about those important connections on campus. Many talk about the fact that they lived on campus all four years. Right now, we're housing only about 28% of the student body. We need to do better. We need to do better, or we lose that sense of connection. I don't want to become a commuter campus. And as we've seen larger and larger housing developments further and further out away from campus, that creates traffic problems, that creates parking problems, and it creates anxiety and stress. It's not good for student development for them to be sitting remote from campus in their apartment by themselves, maybe with intention of studying and they end up picking up their phone and two hours later they've been doom scrolling. That's not good for student mental health. So, the primary reason why I want to house more students is there are better student outcomes. We retain more students. We graduate them. We graduate them on time. By being around other people, they're learning navigation skills. And if they're in a dormitory, they're learning how to be good neighbors. They're learning how to meet and talk to people that they wouldn't otherwise talk to or meet. it's the broadening of all of their experiences, and my goal is that we can bring them onto campus without any without by creating greater density. So, I've looked very carefully, might we still acquire a few small properties around the campus? Yeah, but we're planning to try to be a fairly aggressive housing builder over the next several years. The campus master plan called for needing to replace about 2,500 beds because, you know, they're more than 50 years old. The construction went up awfully quickly. They're not air conditioned. They're just, we have electrical, HVAC, roofing issues with many of them. It's just time that those buildings be retired. We're certainly not retiring the beautiful Bluestone, but some of the village is one area in Eagle and Shorts for those in the area were identified early on. And because of its location along the freeway and we surround the rest of the campus, we will build some higher-rise units and we'll provide both traditional dormitories and apartments and we'd like to create some mixed-use retail within the middle of that campus, and we're going to work on traffic patterns and all the rest. So, look for more of that planning as we go along. But we're planning a pretty exciting vision, particularly for that center core campus between the stadium and through the village area along the interstate. I believe it will transform how our campus operates, and I believe most importantly, it's going to lead to a greater sense of belonging And I think the area in the community will like it that we're bringing the traffic back onto campus and hopefully people won't get in their cars as often. Port Republic Road, I've learned if I leave work between 3 and 6 o'clock, it's going to take me a while. So, I experience all the pain that people around the university will. And by bringing students back to campus, I think we'll have a huge impact on that. And I might add, it'll free up workforce housing in the community as we move housing back to campus. I believe all of those apartments with some modest changes, depending on how old the apartments were, I think that'll free up needed workforce housing for the community, which is something that includes our faculty and staff. They find there's a housing shortage in this town and we'll help with the market by building some of the units directly on our campus.
WMRA: What would it take to incentivize students to live on campus beyond the first two years? I know that for a lot of them, like moving off campus is a rite of passage, but for practicality's sake, how would they be invited to live on campus all four years?
Schmidt: Yeah, so I don't think we're going to have enough to house every single student for all four years. My goal has been a minimum of at least 50% of the student body and ideally up to two-thirds. For some students, it's better for them to move off campus. That's okay, but we're going to provide them actual full-blown apartments so they can experience that independent living. Some of the thinking that we're doing, if you look at some modern developments, include a lot of activities that are embedded, not only just in the residence halls, but how we use the landscape, things that we will find very attractive students. We want to bring those amenities onto campus that students are most interested in. And frankly, we're looking at additional arts, recreation, and athletic event spaces that we think will make it very appealing. This generation has a little bit of a fear of missing out. And they've also been so disconnected by their technology. This generation is starving for that sense of human interaction. Now, if they're living on campus as an upperclassman, they're likely, as they advance, beyond the freshman year, probably going to have their own small bedroom within these student apartments. They can still get their alone time, and yet all they have to do is walk out the door and find interesting people to engage in and do things. So, the goal will be for the market will be that they want to be on campus because it's convenient. It de-stresses their life of having, you know, imagine a student has an 8 o'clock class. And they drive in and they're still parking at 8 o'clock, but their next class is until 11. They think, oh, I'll drive back to my apartment and get a couple hours of studying in. Well, by the time they get back to the apartment, it's 20 minute drive. They doom scroll and they realize, oh, it's quarter 11, I need to get to campus. They get there, everyone else is coming to the campus. They're circling parking lots, creating more traffic on the streets as they zip from one ramp to another to find a place. They get there, they're frustrated, they're stressed out. It's quarter after 11, they realize they're late for class, they give up and they decide, oh, I might as well just go back. Well, that's created a lot of stress. By using that center part of campus, it actually ties together the Bluestone campus and the East campus. It actually, instead of just an area to get through, it's actually a destination. And it just really turns the tables around. And I think it's going to be pretty phenomenal. I can't wait to share more of some of our early thinking soon.
WMRA: While I still have you here, is there anything from your first several months, it hasn't been a full year yet, but just from the first several months that you would say has been a standout in your experience here?
Schmidt: Well, I continue to be amazed by the students that we have on our campus. I want to invite everyone in your listening area when in doubt. Come onto our campus. There's no ivory tower there. Come in and see a football game, a concert, a play. Date night at D-Hall or E-Hall, you can't go wrong. Some of the best food in the area, and then just walk around and talk to some of our students. Do what I did with my secret shopper trip. Go up to a table full of students and say, hey, can I bother you for a minute? Tell me why you picked JMU. What do you love most about it? What do you want to do when you leave? You will leave more optimistic about the future of this country, given the young people who you meet. I will say that it's been wonderful for me to get to know the members of the General Assembly. I've been all over the Commonwealth visiting them in their districts. I've spent a lot of time in Richmond, making them aware of some of the things that we're working on. I want to be the number one partner in the Commonwealth I want every business, nonprofit, government agency to say, I got a problem, and I want them to say, I hope JMU can help, because I... because we've developed a reputation for being responsive, nimble, cost-effective, innovative, and most importantly, we get back to them right away. So, I want to create a whole new front door for the university, for small businesses or large businesses to call a number, go to a website, and say: "I've got this problem. Can you help me?" And just like the old movie, A Miracle on 34th Street, I hope that we can, but if we can't, we need to say, you know what, we're not your best bet. Virginia Tech is a better option, or Blue Ridge Community College is a better option, or VCU is a better option. So, we will refer to them and not waste their time. So, I want to be the best partner, and I have to say, I am so optimistic about the future of JMU in this region, and it has just been an absolute privilege. And by the way, my wife loves it here as well, has already met so many close friends. And I'm afraid you're going to be stuck with us for a while because we've fallen in love with the Shenandoah Valley.
WMRA: President Jim, thank you so much for coming in. It's been a pleasure.
Schmidt: I've really enjoyed it. Please invite me back.
Full disclosure: JMU's Board of Visitors holds WMRA's operating license.
