President Reflects on Five-Year Anniversary

A Q&A with President Gnadinger

On July 1, 校长辛迪·格纳丁格庆祝了她担任卡罗尔校长五周年——这所大学的第15届校长. 我们最近采访了她，讨论了她的前五年，并抢先了解了我们对卡罗尔未来的期望.

You just wrapped up your first five years at Carroll. How would you describe it in five words?

Only five words? That's a bit tough. 我认为过去的五年是激动人心的、迷人的、多事的、可爱的、愉快的.

Can you expand on those a bit?

Exciting. 能成为博天堂官方入口登陆登录的第一位女校长，我过去很兴奋，现在也很兴奋. 我喜欢校园里的其他年轻女性和我分享她们对我担任总统的热情，讨论她们未来的目标和打破自己的玻璃天花板的梦想. I can’t tell you how rewarding that is!

Engaging. 在博天堂官方入口登陆登录，总有事情要做，总有事情要参与. 约翰(格纳丁格，她的丈夫)和我试图尽可能多地参与进来. We love helping with move-in day, calling bingo for our students and attending athletic events, faculty/student research sessions, theatre performances, art shows and concerts.

Eventful. Our calendar has never been so full. 除了博天堂官方入口登陆登录，我们周游全国，与校友和卡罗尔的朋友见面. 很高兴能见到我们的先锋队朋友们并了解卡罗尔对他们的特殊之处. I also serve on various local and national boards, which is an excellent way to boost Carroll's name and reputation. 当然，约翰和我也喜欢在总统家里举办活动. It’s always a joy to share the beautiful President’s home with others.

Endearing. 我很幸运地与这么多人建立了深厚的亲密关系. 我们的校友、员工和学生将卡罗尔描述为“一个特别的地方”，我非常同意. I feel fortunate to be part of this wonderful institution’s story.

Enjoyable. 我想从我之前的回答中可以很明显地看出，为什么我会选择“愉快”这个词来描述过去的五年!

What has been one of your biggest highlights these past five years?

Many things stand out to me. Certainly, 我们为纪念格特(已故的格特·乌尔斯伯格)而奉献主餐厅(MDR)的那一天是一个亮点. 我们这样做的时候，她还在餐厅工作，可以享受它. Her children were here, many alumni came back to celebrate with us, and our current students, faculty and staff were here, along with various media. It was everything beautiful and wonderful about Carroll; all rolled into one day! But there have been other highlights, 比如庆祝学校成立175周年，邀请多丽丝·卡恩斯·古德温来访，去年在本赛季最后一场橄榄球比赛中击败迦太基学院时，我们拿回了内战时期的火枪. 我们上一次拥有这把火枪是在1996年，所以那是很特别的一次!

You established a strategic plan in your first year; how is that going?

We are making significant progress with our strategic plan, Pioneer Driven. It centers on four main goals: Enhancing Teaching & Learning, Enriching the Carroll Experience, Building & Leveraging Partnerships, and Growing Strategically. It serves as our North Star as we embrace opportunities, 面对挑战，让我们深爱的机构在未来茁壮成长. Indeed, 我们指导这所伟大大学的所有决定都是基于这四个目标中的一个或多个.

到目前为止，你在领导工作中最重要的一两个成就是什么?

这是一个很难回答的问题，因为我们的团队在过去的五年里做了很多工作. 我非常自豪我们与沃克夏免费诊所的合作伙伴关系，为沃克夏保险不足和没有保险的公民提供医疗服务. 这与我们的使命一致，我们的健康科学学生可以在现场获得临床经验. 看到我们的学生和教师为我们的社区带来的变化，我感到无比自豪, with their work at the clinic, in the early days of the pandemic.

在过去的三年里，我们迎来了卡罗尔历史上最多样化的班级. This results from intentional efforts, 创造性的合作伙伴关系和我们校园社区的辛勤工作，以确保我们的访客知道我们尊重和欢迎所有人. 我们努力创造一个思想多样化的校园社区，在这里，思想可以在健康的环境中进行辩论和挑战, respectful way. We are just getting started in this area, 但我很高兴我们设定了目标，并作为一个社区每天都在朝着目标努力. We also have added numerous new academic programs. 它们有助于维持我们的财务实力和生存能力，并加强我们更广泛的社区. We have added teacher education programs for career changers, similar programs for career changers seeking a nursing degree, and a new program in Behavioral Health Psychology to address the mental health needs in society. 我们不仅要保护卡罗尔的未来也要照顾我们地区的需求.

What’s the best part about your job?

The people – without a doubt! I get to meet and engage with our bright and energetic students, which makes me hopeful about the future. 我也见到了校友和朋友，他们非常关心我们的大学，并慷慨地回馈，以确保我们的良好工作继续下去. 我也很荣幸每天都能和有创造力、足智多谋的人一起工作. The faculty and staff are incredibly committed to our students. 当需要什么东西来支持大学时，反应是压倒性的. The pandemic proved just how adaptable our employees are. Now, as we find our footing in this new environment, they continue to be innovative, curious, competitive and resourceful – all traits of pioneers!

What do you like least about your job?

像大多数领导者一样，我必须做出艰难的决定，而这些决定并不总是让所有人满意. Whether that has to do with vaccinations, masking or other issues, many of our decisions, despite the attention and care we gave to the deliberative process, will result in people who are unhappy with us. When the public is so divided on issues, 我们可能会冒犯一些我们尽心尽力服务的人. That is always difficult.

What are you most hopeful about in the future for Carroll University?

I am hopeful about so many things for Carroll. We are a healthy university on a positive trajectory. 

We just finished up a year of celebrating our 175th anniversary. 最初的卡罗尔学院现在是博天堂官方入口登陆登录，有四个学院和学院: The College of Arts and Sciences, The College of Health Sciences, The School of Business and The School of Education and Human Services. 

We are fortunate to maintain strong undergraduate enrollments, and our graduate enrollment continues to grow, something many peer institutions can’t say. To meet our growing student body, 我们通过购买校园附近的建筑和土地扩大了我们的物理足迹. 这些新的空间将允许我们继续增加新的项目，以满足社区的需求. 感谢我们慷慨的捐助者，我们在增加捐赠方面取得了长足的进步.

我也对我们商学院的未来感到兴奋，这是一个我们经历了显著增长的学术领域. 我们过去的一些商业校友正在帮助塑造我们学校的未来方向, and we are poised to become industry leaders in business. It’s definitely an exciting time to study business at Carroll!

There is still much more to do, 但我很荣幸能帮助我们亲爱的卡罗尔迎来她的200岁生日. 我迫不及待地想看看当她200岁时我们将一起完成什么!