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Article published Jul 18, 2004
A
new kind of leader
ROBERT W. DALTON
Staff
Writer
COLUMBIA -- He quotes from the Bible and his mother.He
likes to dust off his old trumpet and play with the band at University of South
Carolina football and basketball games.Andrew Sorensen is not the typical
president of a major university.Still not convinced?There's the whole bow tie
thing, which has become so much his trademark that his annual P.R. trip around
the state is called the Bow Tie Bus Tour."My dad gave me a bow tie when I was
13, and he taught me how to tie it," Sorensen said. "When I was in my late 20s
or early 30s, I started wearing them most of the time."And for toppers, the
65-year-old Sorensen goes back into the classroom, teaching an epidemiology
course at USC's Columbia campus every other semester and teaching classes at
some of its branch campuses.He said the main reason he still teaches is because
he genuinely enjoys interacting with the students. But teaching also shows his
leadership-by-example philosophy, something that was ingrained in him by his
mother."My mother had a saying that I will carry to my grave with me, and that
is 'what you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say,' " Sorensen
said.Sorensen begins each day the same way -- with a 9-mile bike ride around the
perimeter of the Columbia campus. And each weekend during the summer he joins
his wife, Donna, at their home in New York's Finger Lakes region.Toney Lister, a
Spartanburg attorney and USC trustee, said he only wishes he had that kind of
stamina."Dr. Sorensen is one of the most energetic people I've ever met," Lister
said.USC Upstate Chancellor John Stockwell said that Sorensen holds regular
meetings with the leaders of the system's institutions and is a frequent visitor
to the branch campuses. Both are things that Stockwell says he's unaccustomed to
seeing."He's been on campus at least a dozen times here," Stockwell said. "In my
experience, that's very unusual. He's met with students and faculty and he's
listened to our concerns."Two years before Sorensen arrived in Columbia from the
University of Alabama, USC Upstate -- then called USC Spartanburg -- was ready
to leave the system. Funding inequities and a lack of recognition in Columbia of
USCS' growth potential had Stockwell and other school officials frustrated and
looking for a way out.Now, two years after Sorensen's arrival, the school has a
new name and a big supporter in its mission of becoming a major metropolitan
teaching university."There are a couple of extreme possibilities," Stockwell
said. "The first is a system where the structure makes every effort to hold back
the member institutions. The opposite extreme is one where the system supports
the mission of the member institutions and wants to see them be their best."With
President Sorensen's leadership, the whole tenor of the relationship has
changed."A native of Pittsburgh, Sorensen spent six years as provost and vice
president for academic affairs at the University of Florida before becoming
president of the University of Alabama.He also has served as executive director
of the AIDS Institute at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and director of
the School of Public Health at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.Lister
said Sorensen's resume made him an easy choice to be USC's 27th president."He
brings an imagination and experience that Columbia has not seen before," Lister
said.When he accepted the USC job after six years in Alabama, Sorensen found
that Stockwell wasn't the only head of a system institution who was concerned
about the way Columbia was running the show."When I came here, they felt that
they weren't -- the metaphor that I use is a Biblical metaphor, gathered in the
bosom of the university -- that they were not loved and nurtured and nourished
adequately," Sorensen said. "I don't know whether their perceptions were
warranted or not, but that was the perception that a few of the campus heads
had."USC Union Dean James Edwards said two actions that Sorensen took early on
have helped solidify the system.The first was to make sure that all branches
operated on the same academic calendar, a transition that took a year to make,
Edwards said."It seems like a fairly simple idea, but it was regarded as
revolutionary," Sorensen said with a laugh.The second was to mandate that the
system use a common catalog with matching course numbers, something that is in
the works."I think those are two very notable things that pulled us together
into a more cohesive group," Edwards said.Sorensen also played a key role in USC
Spartanburg's recent name change to USC Upstate. Stockwell said the change had
been discussed at length during the past two years, but that the board of
trustees wouldn't go for it until Sorensen pitched it."As he became acquainted
with our mission and our opportunity for substantial growth, he became
convinced," Stockwell said. "He's anxious to see us grow as a major metropolitan
university across the Interstate 85 corridor."Sorensen has bigger plans for the
USC system than a matching calendar, matching course numbers and simple name
changes.In February 2003, he introduced a research campus plan, which the board
of directors unanimously approved.The plan led to the formation of a research
campus foundation, and in the fall the university will break ground on the first
425,000 square feet of the research campus."I feel passionately that research
universities in particular, but other colleges and universities, including
technical colleges, can provide intellectual property that can be commercialized
by corporations in ways that will advance high-tech industries," Sorensen said.
"And I sincerely believe that the state of South Carolina is behind the
curve."Sorensen has been delivering that message since his arrival in Columbia,
and he said it's getting through."There have got to be a huge number of people
in government, in business and in educational institutions that agree that this
is a worthwhile goal and then make concerted steps to achieve that goal," he
said. "What's been immensely gratifying to me is seeing that that message seems
to be resonating."Fulfilling Sorensen's vision will require cash and lots of it.
With fewer dollars coming from the state, Sorensen knows he will have to look
elsewhere for the funding."The budget for the University of South Carolina has
been cut by $65 million since I became president," Sorensen said. "In 1994, the
principal source of revenue was the state legislative appropriation. In 2004,
it's the third source of revenue."Grants and contracts are now the top revenue
generator, and ever-spiraling tuition is second.Sorensen was pleased when the
Legislature in March overrode Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of the Life Sciences Act
-- an economic development bill that included making more than $200 million
available to research universities for qualifying projects. Both the Legislature
and Sorensen drew the governor's ire."The governor and Dr. Sorensen have had
cooperative relations on a number of issues," Sanford spokesman Will Folks said.
"Other relations have from time to time been strained, particularly when Dr.
Sorensen made a special trip to thank the General Assembly for overriding the
veto."Relations also were strained when Sanford, in his executive budget,
suggested eliminating USC Union and USC Salkehatchie. Sorensen lobbied to keep
the two-year institutions open.He said a meeting with a working single mother in
Union convinced him he was on the right side of the fight."She had tears
streaming down her cheeks," Sorensen said. "She was working on her associate's
degree at Union and cobbling a life together."Folks said it's just an issue that
Sorensen and Sanford disagree on."The governor has been very aggressive in his
support for a governing board that would implement a true statewide vision that
would eliminate waste and duplication in the existing system," Folks said. "The
governor appreciates Dr. Sorensen's perspective and views him as someone who
needs to be an integral part of the discussion."Lister said Sorensen's opinion
is, in this case, the one that counts."I don't think any president of any
institution can do more to coordinate the activities and programs than Dr.
Sorensen," Lister said.Even with the budget crunch and the squabbles with the
governor, Sorensen said he's enjoying himself in Columbia. So much so, he says,
that USC could be his last stop."There are a lot of opportunities here,"
Sorensen said. "With the research campus, the timetable I've set is a five- to
10-year period. I think if we are able to do the research campus, I think that
I'll say that was a good run and it will be time for someone else to take
over."That being the case, Lister does want Sorensen to focus on improving in
one area."He needs to play his trumpet more in tune with the band," Lister
said.Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or bob.dalton@shj.com.