cover letter - Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City

Cynthia Kaye Hess
Oklahoma State University
107 Whitehurst
Stillwater, OK 74078
February 5, 2011
Dear Mr. Clark:
I am pleased to apply for the role of President at Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City.
Attached for your consideration are my resume and a statement of leadership philosophy for
technology-oriented education.
My career in education has provided me a breadth of knowledge and experience both in leading
and in teaching: nearly twenty years in progressively responsible leadership roles in community
colleges in Okmulgee, Tulsa, North Carolina and St. Louis, following ten years as a secondary
English teacher with Jenks Public Schools. I believe I am well-suited to lead OSU-OKC into its
next phase. Your list of qualifications for the executive leader of OSU-OKC indicate that you
need someone with ethical and administrative ability in managing budgets and people, a
commitment to academic excellence, and strong interpersonal and communication skills. Below
are highlights from my experience that match your needs.
Ethical and administrative ability in managing budgets and people
My roles have always been informed by the notion of being a good steward with taxpayer and
others‟ resources. When evaluating expenditures and recommending personnel decisions, I keep
this mantra in mind: why should the taxpayer pay for this This lens keeps me focused on
ensuring that the enterprise I work with is managed efficiently and effectively, and minimizes the
influence that personal agendas play in decision-making. An added benefit, of course, is the trust
that accrues from those stakeholders, both internal and external, in the ability of the organization
to meet their needs.
A key example from my work in North Carolina was the reorganization of Craven Community
College in North Carolina with President Catherine Chew, both to minimize administrative
layers and costs, and to get the „right people in the right places.‟ This project was both complex
and difficult, as it affected twenty positions/people in a small college and community, and it

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required an ability to stay focused on the overall goal: achieving greater effectiveness and
efficiency in our structure, and hiring right, so that our students, staff and faculty were positioned
for success. Key to the success of this task were the several „listening‟ sessions we held, both to
develop guiding principles of the reorganization and to assist in refinements to the plan.
I have focused my actions in all my formal leadership roles on providing our students the best
learning environment possible, while ensuring that as public institutions, we are effective and
efficient stewards of the public trust. That means effective and efficient use of financial and
human resources. Throughout my tenure, I have continually assessed individual and program
effectiveness and efficiency through transparent processes, and redeployed financial and human
resources to match institutional priorities and goals. This cannot be accomplished well without
strong interpersonal skills, and a recognition that programs and people must deliver on
performance.
Interpersonal and communication skills
Effectively performing in the role of President requires a skillset that all leadership roles require:
strong interpersonal skills, including effective speaking and listening, knowing the various
audiences within and outside the college, including their diverse motivations and goals, finding
common ground, and negotiating solutions for issues. I have been ranked consistently above
expectations in my interpersonal and leadership skills by all my supervisors in my career.
An example of my interpersonal skills was my work in North Carolina with faculty and staff to
collaboratively create a means through which their performance could be assessed, which can
often be quite contentious. Within the first five months of my employment there, through three
large task forces, and much listening and learning, we created an effective appraisal system for
faculty, staff, and administrators that became ingrained in the campus culture. In addition, we
revised the means through which faculty „excellence‟ monies are distributed to match college
priorities, and to increase the quality of our distance learning courses, we provided stipends for
experienced faculty to mentor their faculty colleagues who were relatively new to the online
environment as well as for faculty new to the community college environment. We developed
and deployed a “one stop” approach to the delivery of student services, and re-invigorated our
program review processes to ensure that our program offerings matched current workforce
needs.
These examples of implementing college priorities and effectively utilizing financial and human
resources could not have been successfully executed without a belief in and respect for other
people‟s talents and perspectives, and without a collegial, consultative, open style on my part,
focused not on personal agendas, but on identifying common goals which ultimately improve the
student learning experience.
Another area where interpersonal skills are key are in work with area employers, who are major
stakeholders in post-secondary education. In all my roles, I have fostered strong relationships
with existing and potential partners. Active involvement in the community, and consistent
communication with faculty and students about business and industry needs are critical in
adjusting, re-inventing, and adding to the curriculum offerings of a college.

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My experience in North Carolina exemplifies a strong connection with business and industry.
During my tenure there, we established an advanced manufacturing center with direct ties to
Bosch-Siemens, who worked with us in establishing a new curriculum to serve their needs, both
in advanced manufacturing and in Six Sigma. In addition, we developed and delivered a
curriculum in composites manufacturing and repair in concert with Cherry Point, the Marine
Corps air station in our service area. Key to both those efforts was initiating and maintaining
strong professional relationships with key persons in both these industries, and effectively
delivering training that matched their workforce needs. This meant constant professional
development of our faculty, and continual assessment of our graduates‟ abilities and success in
the workforce from the employers‟ perspective. My most recent experience is with St. Louis
with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where we are re-establishing a relationship with their Chief
Learning Officer, and delivering both a respiratory therapy and nursing degree for cohorts of
their employees.
The President as well as key staff must be active, trusted members of community and regional
organizations and boards to ensure that the college is known as a „trainer of choice‟ for its
stakeholders. Relationships with K-12 and other educational entities, including business and
industry, also pay off in the pursuit of grant and other funding opportunities, for which
partnership and collaboration is essential.
Academic excellence
Community colleges are known for their diverse curriculum, including vocational/technical
preparation, developmental education, customized training options, and college transfer
coursework. Having worked in four community colleges in three states, and having taught
doctoral courses on “The Community and Junior College” and “Effective College Teaching,” I
possess both an intellectual and practical understanding and appreciation of the range of
educational offerings we provide the community, and the range and diversity of the students we
serve. Our faculty are challenged with maintaining currency not only in content, but also in
instructional design and teaching methodology. Ongoing, strategic professional development for
college faculty and staff is key to developing a college‟s capacity in any area, especially in the
development of employees‟ ability to learn, think and act in a way that values and respects the
diversity of our students in all parts of their learning experience.
I strongly believe that learning should occur on both sides of the proverbial podium, which is
why I‟ve been a strong supporter of faculty and staff development, and have always advocated
for and provided employees access to and support for quality learning experiences. People who
teach must learn. In addition to developing an appreciation for diversity, it is also critical that
our faculty and staff continue to learn about the scholarship on learning and assessment, and
most importantly, develop a capacity and habit of thinking critically about their daily work,
whatever their role. There is much to learn about learning, and the college‟s leadership, including
thought leaders from faculty and staff and those in formal leadership roles, must insist on
practicing what we preach: the value of life-long learning. A commitment to academic
excellence is simply not possible without expecting our faculty and staff to engage in learning
themselves. In North Carolina, we created a Center for Teaching and Learning for that very
purpose, and to focus on staff and professional development, and at Forest Park, we have a fully
operational Center to support the notion that it‟s not just students we must teach.

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In closing, I am committed to continuing to provide leadership, service and support for faculty
and students in my career, and being closer to our family in Oklahoma is a priority for my
husband and me. In short, we‟d like to come home. I have the personal characteristics, work
experience and ethic, as well as leadership qualities to effectively serve in the role of President at
OSU-OKC, and look forward to an opportunity to discuss how I may meet the expectations and
hopes you have for the next President in serving its students, faculty, staff and community.
Sincerely,
Cindy Hess
Dr. Cynthia K. Hess