Q&A with University of Mobile
President Dr. Mark Foley

(Editor’s Note: On Feb. 13, 1998, the University of Mobile Board of Trustees selected Dr. Mark Foley as the school’s third president since the university was founded in 1961. At the time of his election, the university was in crisis. Now, a decade later, Dr. Foley discusses the past, present and future of the University of Mobile.)

Q: When you arrived at the University of Mobile 10 years ago, what did you find?

A: I found highly dedicated men and women – faculty, staff and students who believed without question that this was a marvelous place. But, I also found a university which was on probation with its accrediting agency for financial issues. I found a highly politicized environment in the state Baptist convention, which was divided about the University of Mobile. I found that perceptions of the institution’s integrity were very weak, both in the state convention and among local residents and leaders. I found a university system with antiquated technology. And, I found a branch campus in Latin America which was troubled and creating a good bit of financial difficulty.

Those findings defined my actions in the first two years, which were to restore the university’s integrity, to restore its financial credibility, and to encourage the people who work here and want to study here. I’m pleased that those things were remedied in fairly short order, within the first two years.

Q: A decade later, where is UM now?

A: We are now ranked as one of the best master’s level universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report. We’re defined as one of the best Christian universities in America. We have built, renovated, retrofitted or refreshed nearly every building on campus. We have captured the attention of the Mobile region, and at the same time, we have reached out to the entire state and contiguous states in our enrollment efforts. We have transformed what was largely a commuter campus into a residential campus which continues to grow. We have built two new residence halls. We have seen the transformation and emergence of the music program into a nationally recognized performing arts center, with groups appearing literally all over the United States and in foreign nations. We have strengthened the university’s academic profile with increased academic rigor in the classroom and elevated enrollment standards. We purchased and installed an integrated administrative technology system, a million dollar investment, and developed expertise in its application – and that has brought us forward rapidly. Also, we have implemented a higher level of technological sophistication in our faculty and staff offices and in our campus communication systems.

All of this has been a part of the intentional repositioning of the university designed to strengthen both the academic and the faith-development aspects of the school. But it is still not enough. No matter how long the list of accomplishments and how many objectives have been achieved, there is so much more to do. There are important objectives not yet achieved, critical things not yet accomplished.
So we continue to press forward, all for the purpose of creating the graduate: a man or woman who is truly able to be a change agent -- a Christian change agent -- in the world in which they step. And that is driven by my personal conviction that Christians must never excuse poor work performance with faith. In fact, Christians must be as good as or better than anyone they work with for the simple purpose of gaining the respect of their colleagues and having influence in that place. This is the driving purpose of the university and the reason for all of the changes we have made in these 10 years. It is to produce graduates with the capability of becoming leaders who are highly respected by their colleagues and able to bring influence to bear in their work, their community, their church and their family.

Q: What do you see as the greatest accomplishment during your tenure?

A: I don’t think there is any one thing that can be identified as the greatest accomplishment. It is a 10-year process that I believe has produced a stronger university, producing graduates in whom I have tremendous confidence. I view, with great pleasure, their many accomplishments and the Christian influence they bring to bear in the marketplace.

As part of this decade-long process, we are focused upon distinctiveness in our academics. And at the same time, because we are a Christian university with a wonderful Baptist heritage, we must be equally serious about spiritual development. As a university, we worked through a process of integrating the two and being very serious about the quality of both. That brought us to the concept of Christian worldview and learning to understand that a Christian worldview does not limit learning but, in fact, spurs learning -- drives it -- broadly and deeply, in every discipline. And then, we learn to interpret what we’ve learned through the truth of Christ and his Word. That is a Christian worldview, and we incorporated that as a part of the repositioning of the university.

Q: What does the future hold for UM?

A: That which drives the future is the same idea that drove the repositioning and strengthening of the university over the past 10 years – the idea of producing the kind of graduate who will change the world. The question then becomes “how do we put more and more graduates of that character and quality into the workplace?” We wish to see our enrollment grow so that more people are graduating from here prepared to be change agents.

A student center, which we need, remains a priority. We will see that student center here. We will continue to expand our residential housing to move to a 50/50 ratio between commuters and residents. All of that will drive further renovation and improving of the facilities. We will seek opportunities to add property to the university as it becomes available.

Seeing how entrepreneurship can find its way into our culture here is probably the next step for us as we grow the university. I want this to be a place that is fostering innovative thinking that comes out of an entrepreneurial culture.

Entrepreneurship will be here in Fall 2008 in the School of Business as a concentration for business majors. But the real idea of entrepreneurship expands beyond business. We wish to explore the role of entrepreneurship and leadership in each of the areas in which we teach, extend the entrepreneurial concept of innovation as a part of students’ learning process across all of our disciplines. For instance, what if a person in music or in the arts or in education asked the question “what if?” and looked for ways to apply their talents and skills and their discipline in ways that expand their influence in that realm?

I’m intrigued by the idea of entrepreneurship. I’m interested in the role of innovation leading to an opportunity where nothing has existed before, and translating that opportunity, that idea, into a business or a service which is touching lives with the values and teachings of Christ. The innovation of entrepreneurial thinking as a culture of the university can drive and even expand the idea of a Christian worldview beyond what we’re accomplishing now. We’ll use that type of entrepreneurial thinking as we look at the University of Mobile as a whole and ask “what if?...”