Saint Joseph’s University new president Cheryl McConnell has been a steady agent of change for Hawk Hill. Ryan Mulligan of the Philadelphia Business Journal spoke with her about her next steps at the Wynnewood institution.

McConnell’s vision for the university dawned during her interim service, as she led the SJU mergers with the University of the Sciences and the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences.

That success propelled her to vie for the top administrative seat.

“I knew that there would be nobody better to lead the institution than me and I needed to throw my hat in the ring,” McConnell said.

Her colleagues agreed; her vote was unanimous.

She’s now identified three priorities:

1. Fundraising
2. External relations
3. Community relations

The focus is meant to burnish the SJU image. Once McConnell successfully reintroduces St. Joe’s, “[W]e really will become nationally recognized, seen as an industry trailblazer,” she said.

The school’s recent life-sciences focus has two upsides: embracing a thriving field and boosting enrollment. It will also help counter a detrimental notion McConnell cites in higher education: that universities are “slow to seize, slow to respond” to change.

She also wants to see SJU produce graduates who can continue to make a difference.

She’s committed to ensuring that the university’s programs sit at the crossroads of “… student interest and society need.”

The full Cheryl McConnell interview is at the Philadelphia Business Journal.

_____

The Mar. 10 announcement of the SJU presidency of Cheryl A. McConnell.