The Daily Cardinal: What was your motivation behind applying for the chancellor position here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison?
Kim Wilcox: UW-Madison is a great university. Everybody in the country knows that. It’s an institution that really exemplifies all of the things that have been important to me throughout my career. It’s a large, public research university—one of the best in the country—committed to students first, committed to excellence across all fronts. Those are things that have been important to me my whole life.
DC: Do you have a vision for UW-Madison if you’re chosen as chancellor?
Wilcox: The vision is several things at once. It’s to build on the tradition of excellence and ensure that in the coming decades it remains as accesible to students and as connected to the citizens as it has been in the past and it moves faster toward addressing and answering the key issues of the 21st century—things that the university is already doing but we need to move even faster in doing that.
DC: How would your past roles and positions help you in achieving that mission?
Wilcox: I spent essentially my entire career at public AAU [Association of American Universities] universities so I know how those universities operate. I’ve held nearly every post within those universities–associate professor, professor, department chair, dean, provost—so I understand the various workings of the institutions, I understand the roles of the people who make up the institutions. I was also a student at two AAU public universities. So my entire career has been associated with this kind of institution so I’ve had the chance to play roles across all of those. I was also president of the Kansas higher education system so I understand how multiple universities can and need to work together to be an even more effective whole on behalf of the state. So I think I’ve got all the skills and experiences needed.
DC: Do you have any long-term plans for UW-Madison if elected as chancellor? How long would you see yourself in this job?
Wilcox: Well I’m 58 years old. If I were selected chancellor this would hopefully be my last position—I would spend the rest of my career here, so eight, 10, 15 years. It just depends on how it all went.
In that time I believe the university is poised to be the prototype instituion of its type for the 21st century and I’d like to make sure by the time that I would step down from my time as chancellor it really was seen as the prototype for a public research university in the 21st century.
DC: What does a 21st century university mean to you?
Wilcox: I think we have to be more focused in our problem solving. We have to become even more international in our engagement. We have to be more deliberate in the roles that students play in our institution, particularly in their participation in the advancement of knowledge and discovery. We have to be more creative in our engagement with appropriations and industry than we have been in the past. I think we have to find even more effective ways of ensuring financial support for our students. There’s a number of aspects and of course it’s a mixture.
DC: Do you have any plans for connecting with students?
Wilcox: There’s two parts to it. One is a series of formal mechanisms. I’ll have meetings with student leaders and schedule those regularly. I’ll meet with the leaders and understand the issues and have a chance to work through the issues with them.
In addition I’ll do everything I can to make informal connections. I love to take students to lunch, I love to go eat at residence halls, I love to attend receptions—I enjoy doing those things so I’ll spend as much time connecting with individual students as I can.
DC: If you had one thing you would like to tell students at UW-Madison, what would that be?
Wilcox: I would tell them that, number one, they attend one of the great universities of the world. If I were selected chancellor I would do everything I can to make them feel not only that they’re at a great university but they’re at a great university that loves them and wants them personally to succeed.
DC: Do you have any final comments?
Wilcox: I’m really looking forward to coming. I know the campus a bit, I’ve been there several times. I know the faculty, some of the graduate students. I’ve worked with people at Madison over the years. I just love the place a lot and have always liked the way the students engage on the campus. It’s a really appealing piece to me. The whole university is a place I’d love to be.
