Smithson to supervise university finances

Editor in Chief Sam Koch, '11, recently sat down with Saint Joseph's University's newest administrator, John Smithson, '68. A mathematics major and former member and chair of the Board of Trustees, Smithson also served in various positions, including president, CEO, and chairman, at the Pennsylvania's Manufacturers Association from 1981 until 2003. Smithson returned to Hawk Hill last week to fill the newly created position of Senior Interim Vice President.

Q: What has your relationship been like with the university since leaving the Board of Trustees in 2007?

A: I've remained very active with the university… I guess I've only left the Board for two years, so I've stayed involved in a number of ways, attended a lot of events, [and I've] stayed in touch with Father Lannon overtime. I was pretty much up to date with a number of the things going on.

Q: How would you describe your position at the university?

A: I'd say it would be primarily collaborating with all of the vice presidents that report to me now and be part of the team on very much a daily basis. There are a number of things that cross departmental lines, of course, but I can help coordinate those. And I think from an overall basis, a new organizational structure is intended to enhance the way policy decisions are made.

Q: How were you approached with this position? Was it something that was a new idea or was it always in the back of administrator's minds?

A: [It's] been something that [President Timothy Lannon, S.J. has] been considering for some time. The university is a very complex organization and it requires a lot of attention… I think that in his mind the complexity of the organization, the size of the organization, that he can best focus his time on major policy issues, the major planning issues, the major strategic issues [because] a number of the day-to-day administrative affairs could be delegated to this [new] position.

Q: How do you think that your experiences in the business world will influence how you approach your position here?

A: A couple of the positives, I think, that go along with me is I have a long-standing and deep relationship with the university. I am familiar with the importance and the high priority of preserving the mission of the university as the foremost goal. I have a good sense of the business of the university having served on the board for so long with that. I know all the people; they know me.

Q: Given the budget cuts and salary freezes, what's adding another salary going to do as far as fiscally helping us?

A: I think first of all it frees up Father Lannon to continue to focus on completing the campaign. I think that will be a big benefit that we might not have had otherwise. That's the big one. It's a good question; it's a fair one.

Q: After your first week on the job have you done anything just yet?

A: No, I've been pretty much in wall-to-wall meetings…. The timing for me starting is good in the sense that there are a number of Board committee meetings that are being held in preparation for the full Board of Trustees meeting on February 26th. So it's been a help to be able to dive right into a number of active things that are being evaluated, especially the components of the Bridge Plan….We also have the university's budget, which will be reviewed at the Board meeting on February 26th. I [also] attended a zoning board hearing in Lower Merion regarding Maguire Campus.

Q: Is that something that was your way of meeting the players in the situation?

A: You mean the zoning board hearing? Well it's a fundamental part of my responsibility to do everything I can to shepherd that process along. So that's part of my responsibilities.

Q: Is it accurate to say that administrators are getting impatient—maybe that's not the right word?

A: No, that's a good word. Frustrated, impatient.

Q: If you had to guess, what is it going to take to fully utilize the fields on Maguire Campus?

A: Well it's really very difficult to say. It's in the hands of local government officials. I'm sure you know that we've also appealed the zoning hearing board's decision to require us to apply for special exception, so other than our trying to continue to move the process along, in large measure it's in the hands of government officials.

Q: During these difficult economic times, what specifically do you see as the challenges for either the university or for yourself in this new position?

A: Well, for the university it's the… ability to continue to manage the university given the fact that we're largely tuition dependent. The economic pressures that all of higher education has, including Saint Joseph's…. And [it's] the ability of parents and students to continue to afford a high quality education that Saint Joseph's provides.

Q: How would you address those challenges in your new position?

A: I'll be the end part of the senior management group that has to continually evaluate the model that we're using and that's an ongoing process…. There's a full recognition of the pressures—economic pressures—that both we have and that our students and families have. It's one that's being taken very seriously and dealt with in a very responsible way by the university. It'll be an ongoing process as well.

Q: What do you see as the greatest strengths, despite all those difficulties, that St. Joe's has to offer?
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A: It's clearly the mission of the university and its identity as a Catholic and Jesuit institution. That is what distinguishes us….I'd say just as another comment for all the years that I've been around here, I think it's possible that at many institutions they talk about mission but may not really live it. My experience has been that everyone around here lives the mission and understands the mission and treats it as the highest priority.