After holding the presidency at three different universities, Auburn President Jay Gogue, along with administrators from a variety of backgrounds and institutions, have taken to camera and keyboard to compose a digital textbook.
"A President's Perspective" came together after Gogue was encouraged by faculty in the College of Education to record his lectures. With the digital recordings taken from his lectures, a team of University media specialists and Gogue pieced the book together.
Gogue was convinced by his staff that a digital textbook would appeal better to readers as "the future lies in the digital text arena." As an old-timer, though, Gogue told The Plainsman that he would rather read it on paper.
With the help of Brian Keeter, director of public affairs, and Bruce Kuerten, director of the Media Production Group at Auburn University, "A President's Perspective" developed on screen for all eyes.
"I was the face," Gogue said. "I talked about my experience and gave the premise."
He said he went in to record his lectures, sat down, spoke for an hour and was told six minutes of the footage was good for use. Gogue laughed and said, "54 of those minutes they didn't use! They are so tough on us."
Gogue plans to use the book in what he called a "blended course," in which half of the class time is spent using the online text and half in live lectures.
His lectures focused on leadership in higher education from a practical point of view, Gogue said. He began teaching 10 years ago and has taught the class about six times.
Gogue said he opens the class with the question, "Who cares about Auburn University?" He said students throw out approximately 15-16 groups of stakeholders off the top of their heads, including students, alumni, faculty, trustees, parents of students, donors and athletes.
The next question to consider, Gogue said, is "What is the highest priority among each of those groups?"
After digging through data, students come back with the understanding that every group values different priorities.
"What you arrive at is everyone that cares a lot about Auburn will define the success at Auburn differently," Gogue said. "Whatever decisions you make, you'll have to recognize that the vast majority of people think you've made a poor decision."
Navigating these decisions is covered in the text, Gogue said.
"Each chapter can stand alone, or you can use the whole book as it comes," Gogue said.
Each section of the book encompasses elements from Gogue's personal experience as well as experiences and anecdotes from fellow administrators. Gretchen M. Bataille, former president of North Texas University, and Robert Moulton, former president of the University of New Mexico, both contributed to the digital textbook.
Gogue said the team strove to bring a multitude of varying perspectives to the table and are still working to ensure that all types of universities are covered in the text. Moulton brings international knowledge from his time in higher education in Saudi Arabia.
"People were chosen for their experience at different types of universities on different levels," Gogue said. "I'll come out and say something and some of them will agree with me and others will disagree, but it leads to nice discussion."
From Gogue's experience, he's found that every university holds different values. What one campus might find hugely important, another may not even notice, Gogue said.
"The values, the traditions and the cultures are different at every university," Gogue said.
He plans to continually update the textbook as higher education culture transforms.
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