 "Photo: Stephen Fogg")
As Texas A&M University at Galveston vice president and chief executive officer, and 2008 Galveston United Way campaign chairman, Interim President R. Bowen Loftin has had to think on his feet.
"I've had a long and pretty broad career; I've had to do many kinds of things," Loftin said. "2008 brought [Texas A&M Galveston] two major crises. I've gone through enough experience in my life … that nothing much suprises me anymore. We had the kick-off luncheon at United Way in early September of 2008; on the 13th of September [Hurricane Ike] happened."
In addition to the evacuation and relocation of Galveston students due to Hurricane Ike, the sailing accident was an extremely difficult moment for all Galveston students, faculty and staff, Loftin said.
"I got to the office at 7 in the morning on the 10th of September and looked at the models and it looked okay," Loftin said. "As the day went on I watched the models change, and by 2:30, I said we're going have to leave and I made a decision to evacuate the campus and all the students were gone by the end of the day."
Loftin did not have the privilege of time in making the evacuation decision, he said.
"So planning is important. Dwight Eisenhower once said that 'plans are nothing; planning is everything,'" Loftin said. "We were able to improvise and follow our plan in general."
The timely evacuation and smooth transition to the flagship campus is widely attributed to Loftin, said Galveston County's The Daily News editor Heber Taylor.
"When he began to ask around and realized they didn't have a plan on campus, he convened a meeting with the faculty and staff," Taylor said. "I think he really does listen to faculty, students and members of the community. As a result, A&M's performance during and after that storm was amazing."
More than 90 percent of Galveston Aggies made the transition to College Station, said Texas A&M Galveston regents English professor Stephen Curley, and the Galveston campus experienced a record student enrollment in the returning spring semester.
"The main campus needs that kind of a leader, especially now," Curley said. "He brings no hidden political agenda to the position of interim president."
As a former student, Class of 1971, and former faculty member, Loftin said he can relate.
"I'm a faculty member at heart. I know how faculty think; I think the same way. I was a student here, so I know how students think as well," Loftin said. "So I believe that I'm in the right place, at the right time to be able to help this University quickly heal and continue on its mission without any disruption."
Loftin was part of the faculty for more than 30 years, and served as faculty senate president.
"I taught freshman physics," Loftin said. "I've done graduate education, undergraduate education, research, administration; so in a way, by accident, my career has really prepared me for this [position]."
The shared services initiative will not involve Loftin until later, he said.
"That initiative is going to be handled through a series of task forces that are going to consist of people from both the System and the campus," Loftin said. "I'm sure I'll be engaged with the chancellor in deciding which ones we can implement, which ones we can't."
It is necessary that the University be reevaluated, Loftin said, and stakeholders need to ask two questions in doing so.
"I think it's always good to look at how you do your job," he said. "There's a natural growth of costs that you can't get rid of, that's why it's important to back up and say 'Are we really doing things right?' and you also ask the question 'Are we doing the right things?'"
The University's leadership objective is attracting the best faculty, making discoveries and providing services, Loftin said.
"I really want to keep the university focused on its mission: teaching, research, service. We don't want to lose track of that because we're being distracted by other things right now," Loftin said. "We are really interested that our students get the full extent here and get a chance to sample everything so those things bring with them challenges when it comes to resources."
Rather putting the time into tracking the cause of financial issues, Loftin said it is more important to move forward and find a solution collaboratively.
"We are a very strong and resilient institution. This place has been here 133 years; it's gone through a lot of serious problems before," Loftin said. "These things happen, leadership's changed before here abruptly, so this is nothing new, in a sense. Let's solve this problem together."
With the impending renovation of the Memorial Student Center, Loftin said he has become concerned with available space on campus, but finds the renovation necessary.
"I'm an Aggie and I've spent my time sleeping on the couches," he said. "We were able to relocate people here last fall and a lot of the space that we used is now where the people from the MSC have gone and so if we have a hurricane this year I'm very concerned about where Galveston goes the next time. I've actually asked to people to begin thinking about contingencies."
The interim presidency was assigned unexpectedly, but accepted happily, Loftin said.
"At 1:04 p.m. on Monday I received a text message with three words in it: you are interim."
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