A familiar position
Linfield University’s interim president confronted
similar challenges at Oregon State
By Scott Unger, McMinnville
N-R/News-Register Feb 21,2024
Linfield interim President Becky Johnson doesn’t
think about the temporary part of her job; she’s too busy working on the
budget, enrollment numbers and overall image of the school in an effort to make
it an ideal landing spot for a permanent leader.
“I just jump into it like I’m the permanent
president because you want to make sure that things keep moving forward or
things that need to be fixed are getting fixed,” Johnson told the News-Register.
“I kind of don’t think about the fact that I’m only going to be here 12 to 18
months and I think people want that to happen, they don’t want to just be on
pause.”
Johnson knows what the job entails, having served as
interim president at Oregon State University last year. She also oversaw the
creation of OSU’s Bend branch campus, which has a similar enrollment to
Linfield.
A month in as Linfield leader, Johnson has met with
the board of trustees and gotten to work on lowering an estimated $4 million
operating deficit and improving enrollment numbers that have dipped in recent
years.
“We’re facing a budget deficit and no president
wants to come into that and have to make hard decisions about ‘who do we cut,’
kind of thing, so we’re trying to take some actions over the next 12 to 18
months to get the budget back in order, at least on a glide path,” Johnson
said. “We can’t keep hoping that we can grow our way out of this, we have controlled
our expenditures and some of that you can do with vacancies and some are that
you really have to cut part of your workforce and get your expenditures in line
with your revenues.”
Johnson hopes to get the school on a three-year path
to a balanced budget, as trying to do it all at once would be “too destructive”
for the university.
“Maybe we can cut that (deficit) in half over this
next year and then it might take two more years to get us back in the
positive,” she said.
The budget shortage is partially caused by the drop
in enrollment, so getting more students to attend Linfield would help alleviate
it.
“Our enrollments been down for a few years, so (I’m)
trying to get that headed in the right direction,” she said.
One area of focus is the nursing program at
Linfield’s Portland campus, Johnson said. Competition is tight for nursing
students after community colleges were approved to offer bachelor’s programs.
Other schools have increased funding to their programs and there is an
exhaustion in the field following the pandemic.
“All of that’s kind of compounded to have our
enrollment in nursing down a little bit,” Johnson said. “It is one of our
signature programs for sure, and we want to get that back where it was.”
She plans increased marketing for the program and
adjustments to enrollment costs and financial aid to get enrollment up.
“It’s already a great program so I don’t think
quality is an issue at all.”
School image is another area where Johnson’s
previous experience will help. She took over OSU after a tumultuous one-year
president and righted the ship and wants to shift away from bad press Linfield
has received in recent years due to administrative changes and a lawsuit from a
former professor.
“When I became interim at OSU it was after a crisis
of leadership, where we had hired a president who didn’t last even a year I
think,” she said.
“Everybody was very upset; there was a vote of no
confidence. So, to come into that situation and try to make sure that people
were aware that the things that made Oregon State great hadn’t changed. We’re
still teaching the students, we’re still doing the research, we’re still in
every county doing extension and master gardener and all of these things that
people love about Oregon State. And so, let’s just forget this last year that
people were so traumatized about. And because I’d been there for 35 years
people knew me and had trust in me and I think I am very collaborative and I’m
calm. And it just settled down very quickly and people got on with their work.
“I think the collaborative part is really important
just because Linfield has had some bad PR over the last few years. I lived
afar, I was in Bend and still read about it in The Oregonian all the time. We
want to make sure that we have a great reputation because you talk to the
students or the alumni or the parents and they all just rave about the
experience that students have here. I’ve talked to faculty and they love
teaching here. That’s what should be known about Linfield, not just the few
things that end up in the newspaper.”
From her Melrose Hall office, Johnson can see her
new campus home, where she and her wife have adjusted better than their pets.
Her two cats miss their Bend outdoor covered patio and her dog longs to be
unleashed to roam, she said.
Although she hasn’t had much time to interact with
the student population since they were on winter break when she started, the
former golf and basketball player during her time at the University of
Wisconsin has observed the importance of athletics at Linfield.
Johnson saw students practicing baseball in the rain
during an early morning dog walk and appreciates the dedication of student
athletes.
Sports can be a connection to the community, a point
of pride for students and alumni and can teach valuable life lessons such as
working together, communication and leadership, she said.
Johnson always liked to be team captain when she was
competing post college so she could make sure the best players were on her
team. Asked if she is competitive, Johnson replied “I don’t think of myself as
cutthroat by any means, but yeah.”
She has talked with many in the Linfield community
through introductory phone calls and plans to get to know the community.
“(That’s) one of the things that I really emphasized when I was in Bend,” she
said. “It was really important for me to get out in the community and let
people know what was going on at OSU, why their support was important.”
Johnson won’t have a formal role in choosing the
next school president but will give input to the search committee, she said.
Johnson hopes her work provides a solid landing spot for the incoming
president, whomever is chosen.
“The main purpose is to make this as attractive as
possible when they go to hire a permanent president,” she said.
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