Barker's vision for Clemson nourished by school's roots

Published: Sunday, January 21, 2007 - 6:00 am

By Anna Simon
STAFF WRITER
asimon@greenvillenews.com

CLEMSON -- An enlarged copy of Thomas Green Clemson's will establishing Clemson University hangs on a wall behind university President Jim Barker's right shoulder when he's at his desk.

A copy of the state Legislature's acceptance of that will and creation of the school is at his left.

Nothing else is on that wall, not even Barker's own Clemson diploma.

The pair of 120-year-old documents guide Barker as he leads Clemson on a path that has brought both criticism and praise since he became Clemson's 14th president in 2000.

Bill Hendrix, Clemson University's trustee chairman, describes Barker as a "visionary leader."

Lawrence Gressette Jr., another trustee, said Barker's schedule "would put most of us in the hospital."

Barker said he derives his vision and his energy from two documents.

Their words inspired his top-20 vision for Clemson, he said.

Barker's top-20 ideas elevated him above hundreds of applicants in Clemson's 1999 national search for a president, said Gressette, trustee chair at the time.

Trustees adopted Barker's vision during his first year as president, and despite complaints over rising tuition, critics' cries of elitism, and state funding declines, Barker said Clemson is on course toward that vision -- a course he finds charted in the founder's will.

"It's our legacy, our destiny, to focus on quality," Barker said.

If Clemson focused on "indicators" of quality -- top students and faculty, smaller classes, a better faculty/student ratio and higher graduation rates -- "the rankings will take care of themselves," Barker said.

Classified as "second tier" in the late 1990s, Clemson is now 30th on U.S. News & World Report's annual list of America's top 50 public universities.

The remaining steps will be more demanding as competition intensifies, Barker said, and Clemson is already seeing a return on its effort.

"We're not the best-kept secret anymore," Barker said. "It gives greater recognition to our students, and a Clemson degree means much more than it ever has."

'Too big for our britches'

The recognition has increased competition for acceptance, but Barker doesn't apologize to critics who say Clemson is too elite.

"The question about were we getting too big for our britches started about the time Clemson was founded," Barker said.

Barker, 59, was conditionally accepted when he applied to Clemson in the 1960s as a scholarship track student from Kingsport, Tenn.

"The rigor of the application process was very strong then," said Barker, who was required to attend summer school before entering Clemson's architecture program.

"Our role is to be the highest-quality institution we can possibly be. If we do that, we are true to Clemson's mission as a high seminary of learning. That's what the will on the wall says, to be a high seminary of learning," Barker said.

Nearly 13,000 applicants vied for 2,800 fall 2006 freshman class positions. Applications are 11 percent ahead of last year for the same number of seats.

"We believe the size we are right now is the right size for South Carolina. We believe it's the right size for our students and faculty," said Barker, who asked the campus several years ago how big Clemson should be.

South Carolinians who "have enough success in high school" can get in, Barker said.

No contract

Barker, an architect, teacher and former dean of Clemson's College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, is an unusual university president.

Unlike most of his peers, Barker's only doctorate is honorary -- his master's is the terminal degree for architects -- and he works without a contract.

"I never had one as dean. I never saw the need for one," Barker said.

He serves at the pleasure of the board, as other presidents have, Gressette said. "He is an excellent leader with vision not only for Clemson but for the state's economy."

Barker often tells visitors in his office that the two framed documents are his contract, said Sandy McKinney, his administrative coordinator.

Higher education peers recognize Barker as "a thoughtful, reliable participant" who "defies the stereotypical image of large organization CEOs of being slow and stodgy and difficult to contact and communicate with," said David Shi, president of Furman University.

"Jim is a remarkable leader, not just for Clemson, but the Upstate and the entire state, in forging a vision for Clemson that is both bold and ambitious," Shi said.

Eddie Robinson, alumni association president in 2003-04, the third consecutive year of state budget cuts and corresponding double-digit tuition increases, called Barker "a brilliant man with a common touch" whose decisions during that time made Clemson stronger.

State House Speaker Bobby Harrell, who hasn't always agreed with Barker on issues, including tuition, said, "I'm a Gamecock who thinks he's great. He understands the roles a research university can play in building the economy of the state."

Developer Tom Winkopp, a 1988 Clemson grad, believes Barker's architectural vision will be part of his legacy and leave "a mark on what Clemson will look like 20-30 years from now."

Gressette sees a lasting legacy in Barker's drawings that capture Clemson today.

Pins given to guests at Barker's 2000 inauguration bear a sketch he made of the Tillman bell tower view from his office. Many more drawings have joined that one in a sketchbook he keeps nearby.

Drawing is a labor of love for Barker, as is teaching. Barker still teaches one architecture class a year and said it helps him remember that the faculty's job isn't easy.

When Barker became president, he said he'd serve 10 years, board willing, and return to teaching, but he told The Greenville News he'd consider serving longer.

"It's a question of what's appropriate to Clemson," Barker said.

More immediate plans include a major capital campaign. No financial goal or timetable has been set, but work has begun, he said.

"We can't achieve what we want to achieve without a significant capital campaign," Barker said. "We are, even under the most conservative estimates, 25 percent funded by the state of South Carolina. So the question is the 75 percent."

In the President's House

One recent morning, students on a scavenger hunt for Clemson trivia knocked on the President's House door. One snapped a photo of Barker helping them answer questions on their list.

Minutes later, more students rang the doorbell and repeated the process. The third time the doorbell rang, Barker asked if more groups were coming and gathered the students on the front porch until everyone arrived. There were 18 groups in all.

Barker loves sharing stories of life in the President's House. It keeps him attuned to the rhythm of campus life, as has his role as a Clemson parent.

The oldest of his two sons was in graduate school when Barker and his wife, Marcia, moved into the President's House. The youngest is now an undergraduate. His sons' experiences increased Barker's awareness that Clemson "is not 17,000 students, it's 17,000 individual students," he said.

"Our responsibility is to help the student discover the individual greatness they have," Barker said. "Each one has the capacity to change the world."

Life in the President's House has brought few disappointments, but a national headline-making 2004 brawl between Clemson and University of South Carolina football players was a big one, Barker said.

"It was so opposite of the way Clemson people think of this institution," said Barker, who made the ensuing decision to pull the team from bowl eligibility.

The "remarkable thing" was that no parent or player complained, and the situation became "a forward fumble" that "made Clemson better and stronger," Barker said.

Future challenges

Clemson's greatest challenge is to "still be Clemson" when top-20 status is reached, said Barker, who this year wants to "reinvent the research university."

The founder's charge calls for graduates with both a deep knowledge of their individual disciplines and a broad cross-disciplinary understanding that cultivates collaboration, Barker said.

Clemson's role as the state's "A&M college" requires deep knowledge in one's field, and being a "high seminary of learning" requires broader thinking, he said. Projects like Clemson's International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville that link education and economic development are part of this endeavor.

"I believe we're better at our land grant mission now than we've ever been in our history. We've figured out ways to link our intellectual development responsibility with our economic development responsibility, and both are moving forward at the same time," Barker said.

Taking on ICAR with "no funds and no land, just a compelling vision," was risky, said Chris Przirembel, Clemson's vice president for research and economic development. Barker created an "environment" that allowed a venture into "unexplored territory," and "every major decision broke new ground," Przirembel said.

Clemson's economic development role is rooted in its founding in what was then an agricultural state, Hendrix said. It has broadened, with the state's economy, as ICAR, Advanced Materials, Clemson's Restoration Institute in Charleston, and other ventures tied to the state's economic future have developed, Hendrix said.

"I couldn't imagine a better person to lead Clemson at this time in its history, and to be a contributing force to the state of South Carolina," Hendrix said.