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Chancellor Richard Telfer will be inaugurated as UW-Whitewater's 15th chancellor at 1 p.m. Friday in Irving Young Auditorium.
Telfer has served as interim chancellor since 2007, when he was appointed to replace Martha Saunders, who took a job at Southern Mississippi. He's been at the university since 1985.
"I thought Dr. Telfer had great experience since he has been here for so many years, and he's in touch with students and faculty," said junior Brianne Coffey, who attended search-and-screen meetings for chancellor candidates. "He has done a great job showing support for all organizations."
Jonathan Enslin, inauguration committee chairman, said the week will be one of celebration, beginning with a gathering Thursday at Cravath Lake Community Center to honor Telfer and his wife Roni and their connection to the community.
The inauguration on Friday will be a formal ceremony including Kevin Riley, UW System president, faculty, students, Board of Regents members and a representative of Gov. Jim Doyle.
"I'd like to encourage students, faculty and staff to attend," Enslin said. "It's a wonderful celebration for the campus and it recognizes Chancellor Telfer's new position."
In addition to an address by Telfer, DanceScapes will perform and a musical composition by alumnus Elon Arbiture will be performed.
Telfer said his focus as chancellor is to guide the university's growth and improvement.
"We want to grow a little bit and prepare more people with bachelor's degrees and master's degrees," he said. "We're trying to push the growth agenda package and prepare people to be workers in the global marketplace."
Telfer said the university needs to continue connecting with the community and becoming involved with international activities. He also would like to see improvements in science, technology and business through education initiatives designed to help connect the university to people who cannot come to campus but would like to take classes.
Telfer said he will ask the state for funding for recruitment of faculty and staff.
"These are areas where we've had a lot of interest, but we don't have as many faculty and staff as we need to be able to teach all the students who would like to be here," he said.
Telfer was raised in Michigan and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Central Michigan University in 1970 and 1972, respectively. He worked in Michigan and Indiana before becoming a reading specialist at Elkhorn Area High School in 1978. He completed his doctorate in curriculum and instruction at UW-Madison in 1984 and worked in Kansas before returning to UW-Whitewater in 1985.
Sophomore Josue Quezada, president of Latinos Unidos, said Telfer is approachable.
"He's active, and that's something everybody should appreciate," Quezada said. "Just to see him around, see him involved, see him at events, it's a great thing. Nobody wants a chancellor who sits back and just watches things play out."
Telfer has held a range of jobs at the university, including associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, assistant dean of graduate studies, chair of the department of curriculum and instruction, and provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs.
Stephen Summers, interim assistant chancellor, said Telfer is a good supervisor who gives clear expectations and sets high standards of accountability.
Whitewater Student Government President Allison Rygh met Telfer when she was a freshman and working as an assistant in the provost's office. She said he cares about student concerns.
"If he gets an e-mail from a student, he'll bring it up at staff meetings to make sure it's addressed," Rygh said.
Junior Choutae Yang, public relations officer for Southeast Asian Organizations, said Telfer attends organization events and "makes the extra effort to extend out to organizations and sees that our resources are utilized."
Senior Brittany Jackson, president of the Black Student Union, agreed.
"He's always pushing for us and doing things we ask him to do," she said.
Associate Professor Joseph Hogan, former chair of the Faculty Senate, said Telfer is good at building consensus and keeps an eye out for faculty concerns.
"I think we can all look forward to positive and proactive leadership from Dr. Telfer," Summers said.
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