AIDAN POLLARD
News Editor
“I don’t ever describe myself. Other people talk about me — I don’t talk about myself,” said Interim University President Dennis Hefner.
It was a lighthearted answer, even though he seemed a little caught off guard by my question asking him to describe himself to the campus community. Especially those who may not even know that Hefner took over as university president last fall, as reflected by our poll of 46 students over the last week.
But if Hefner may not have the words handy to describe himself, and I have a suspicion most people don’t, maybe I can take the liberty of helping out.
When I walked into Hefner’s office to talk to him both about himself and about the successes and challenges of the fall semester, he took the time to ask about my classes, how I liked them and how I was doing. We held a conversation of small talk like that for about five minutes. Hefner also gave me advice on where to go, what to do and who to try and network with as I prepare to graduate in May.
Needless to say, Hefner is an extremely busy man, and he didn’t have to do that. He could’ve been short and cold with me. But he wasn’t. He cares far too much about Fredonia’s students for that.
Hefner is a tall man of slightly slouched posture and gray hair. Always sporting a suit, you can likely find him walking around campus, sitting with students at the library, or at a club event or in the stands of an on-campus game.
He takes the time to talk to students and even tends to remember some of them.
[RELATED: Hefner’s student cabinet returns to discuss campus concerns]
Since re-taking office last fall, Hefner has worked on some of Fredonia’s most prominent programs and initiatives. He’s helped launch an initiative to bring in and retain students after a drop in yield that cost the university 200 students.
“We are going through every academic program and looking at where there are unnecessary roadblocks for students and having those be eliminated,” said Hefner.
Some of those roadblocks include GPA requirements for incoming students that don’t necessarily reflect the requirements of the program.
Hefner has also helped secure funding for a solar panel array which will be the largest of any SUNY comprehensive college and create paths to all of Fredonia’s master’s programs from their respective bachelor’s degrees.
“We had [made pathways] for some of the programs, but some we may not have had the baccalaureate programs at the time that would mesh,” said Hefner. “It takes work to ensure that the degrees line up, and so [making the pathways] may take some changes to the baccalaureate programs, as well as some changes to the master’s programs. Those changes have to go through a whole-campus approval process, and then when it finally leaves the campus, it then has to go to the SUNY system.”
[RELATED: A change in Fredonia’s M.S. in biology promises to take the school to new heights]
The SUNY system then reviews and has to agree upon the addition and alteration of programs. Programs may also have to go through yet another review at the State Department of Education.
“Of course there’s questions going back and forth [about the programs],” said Hefner.“So it takes a while to make substantive changes in academic programs.”
Even though Hefner has been no lame duck of an interim president, many Fredonia students either don’t know he’s currently holding the office of university president, or don’t realize who he is, even though they may understand that the presidency has changed hands since last spring.
Over the last week, The Leader conducted a poll in an attempt to find out what students know about the current and former university presidents. The poll was answered by 46 students, and half of that sample either did not know who the current president is, or got the answer wrong. One notable answer to the poll’s main question, “Who is the current university president?” listed the President as still being Dr. Virginia Horvath, whose term ended last spring.
Also notably, most students sampled seem to understand that the presidency has changed hands, but many don’t know who either the current or former presidents are.
[RELATED: Presidential search committee announced]
“I honestly didn’t even know he was a thing,” said sophomore Emily Fish when asked about the difference she saw between Hefner and Fredonia’s previous president, Dr. Virginia Horvath. “Ginny once brought pizza to the library, so I liked her.”
“I haven’t noticed any major differences,” said junior Ryan Dunning. “… I’m not the most in-the-know about campus politics. That being said, I would think [Hefner is] doing better [than Horvath] because he isn’t being threatened with a vote of no confidence.”
Hefner was well-accomplished during his first term as president as well.
“We put in [during] my first year, the very first four-year guarantee program at any New York university, public or private. That’s the Fredonia in Four program,” said Hefner. “I believe very strongly in assisting students with graduating, making sure that we are a student-focused campus. And so that was my very first really large initiative that I implemented…”
Hefner also made sure students had access to the classes they needed to graduate around the same time.
According to Hefner, access to classes had been a problem on campus at the beginning of his initial term.
Hefner is also known for his candy-making abilities. Yep, you read that right.
Growing up in California, Hefner’s grandfather was a candy-maker and Hefner would spend a lot of time around his grandfather’s stores.
“He’s probably best-known for two things,” said Hefner of his grandfather. “When the current San Francisco airport opened, his little candy firm beat every single candy-maker on the West Coast, and won the concession for the San Francisco airport.”
Hefner’s grandfather also developed a new method of making lollipops in which the colors wouldn’t overlap or mix together.
When Hefner was a grad student with little money for things like holiday and birthday gifts, he began taking up the family trade and making candies as presents.
Now, he sometimes uses the gift-giving technique to get his foot in the door with N.Y. government officials.
“… And I know it sounds so simple, but [it’s] one of the techniques I used to be able to get into offices in Albany,” said Hefner. “People knew me [because] every December I would go to Albany, and I did it again this year, I went around and handed out little bitty boxes with only two pieces of candy in each one. But they knew me for that, so when I call for appointments, I could actually get appointments. And sometimes that’s hard. And you’ve gotta get in front of someone to say why we need a Science Center.”