Episode 64: Dr. Aondover Tarhule
John: Welcome to Redbird Buzz. I'm John Twork from University Marketing and Communications. We're pleased to welcome back Dr. Aondover Tarhule, the 21st president of Illinois State University. Dr. Tarhule arrived at Illinois State to serve as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost in 2020, and in February 2023 he became the interim president, a role he served in until being appointed President in March of 2024. Born and raised in Nigeria, President Tarhule is a first-generation college student who holds a Ph.D. in geography and has nearly 30 years of higher education experience and faculty, staff, and administrative roles. We're joined by Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule. What's the word, Redbird? President Tarhule, as students start the move-in process this week, what are some of the back-to-school items on your agenda as president?
Aondover: Thank you so much, John. I'm really excited to be here and getting ready to welcome another academic year. I think some of the things that are most exciting and on my list is to make sure that people settle in comfortably. Getting started in the new academic year can be very stressful, especially for new students. It can be intimidating. It can be confusing. They're trying to figure out where their lecture halls are, where they should get different resources and help. Sometimes it's stressful for parents as well. So we want to make sure that people who come to us know that we have lots of resources and they know where to go to get those resources and help them settle in. It's not just new people though. Even faculty who are coming back, they have to set up new classes, they have to produce new syllabi, they've got to figure out where the lectures are, and then staff. So all around, it's a hectic time for everybody, and our job is to make sure that people know we've been doing this for over 100 years. It may look really chaotic, but trust me, it's organized chaos, and we know what we're doing. So really, getting people to settle in and know that we're here to help them and give them the resources they need. I think that's the biggest thing that we work on. It's an exciting time. You could feel the energy as the students return to campus.
John: Absolutely, absolutely. There's new energy on campus, and love it. It's been an exciting couple of years since you were named president, and the last time we had you on the podcast was just a month or so after you were officially named president. And in that time, the College of Engineering has welcomed its first cohort of students. They have a new building. There's a new strategic plan. So, can you just talk about during your initial years here as president? What are some of the things you're really proud of that the university has accomplished?
Aondover: Gosh, that's so much. How much time do we have? As much time as we need. I can start. I think I'll start with academics because you mentioned the College of Engineering. I'm really excited about the things we have done on the academic in terms of our academic portfolio. Obviously, we created a new College of Engineering. We expanded the Mennonite College of Nursing, and so we went from enrolling about 700 students to more than 1000. Now, we converted the program in creative technologies from a program to a school. We created data science, and on and on and on. What is common with all these programs is that they are responding to what students want and what employers want. And so we're truly living to our mission, into our mission as a state institution to educate the next generation of Illinois students and prepare the workforce, and so I'm really excited about that's just a sampling of the programs that we have created. We're also working tremendously on campus transformation, so the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts project is finally going, and very excited about that. Obviously, you mentioned engineering. We're also installing a solar system energy system. Progress is really impressive, and we expect that to provide 85% of the energy needs of that complex, that campus, through solar using solar energy. So very excited about that. In July, the board of trustees authorized us to build a new science building, so that's going to be really beautiful, and right next to Hiller at Manchester, that's going to be under Science Lab. That's going to be an amazing facility. So lots and lots going on in terms of campus transformation. Again, that's just a sample. Of course, we’ve had wonderful athletics here. We had an athletics year for the books. We did, and the only thing that will make it better is when we actually bring back some hardware this time, and and that's the goal. That's I think that's the goal. We are we are way overdue. It's been too long since we went to post-season play NCAA championships for some time, so hopefully we're going to be doing that as well. So lots and lots to be excited about. We passed a new budget model that's going to be foundational in terms of keeping the university going. Enrollment has been strong and steady, and actually growing in many different ways. So we're very proud of that as well. So strategic plan you mentioned that I really feel like we're a forward-looking universe and we're taking all the steps that we we think we need to be taking to prepare us for the future that is coming. So really excited all around.
John: We'll touch on each of those things you mentioned in greater detail as we move through the interview. So let's start with the College of Engineering. What is it that distinguishes Illinois State University's College of Engineering from the competition? As students are thinking about where to go, why are they picking Illinois State?
Aondover: Great question, John. This was a question that we worked on quite a bit at the time we formed the college. We knew that engineering is a matured discipline. We have one of the most reputable engineering programs in the world, certainly in the country, a few miles from us. And so we were very thoughtful in terms of where we thought we would have a niche to fill. And the two things we came up with were workforce readiness and removing barriers. So we want the students who come out of this program to be so well prepared that they walk out of their labs and onto any employer's workplace and perform competently. And because we prepare them that way, and so we have incorporated a lot of industry leaders on our advising board to make sure we know what it is industry is not just working on now, but what's coming down the pipe, so that we prepare students to be ready when they go out. I'm very proud of that. I think we're going to do a really good job. And then the second distinguishing factor is removing barriers, whether that is financial, whether it's success rates, whether it's the demographics of the students who come into the program. As you might know, around the the country, maybe 60% maybe something more than 60% of most undergraduate students around the country is now female, but not in engineering. In engineering, we still have 80% of students as male and just around 20% as female. So, how do same thing with other demographics, whether it's Other minorities. So, how do we make sure that our program is different? So that's another way that we we would like to distinguish ourselves. And then the success rate: less than half of the students who enter an engineering program across the country, on average, actually receive an engineering degree. We would like to change that. So one of the goals that we set was to say we would like the students in our engineering program to retain and graduate at the same rate as the general ISU student body, if not better. And so, student success, removing barriers, producing workforce readiness-those characteristics we think will really stand us well and distinguish us from the from the rest of the competition.
John: Yeah, I think something that's impressed me, knowing many of the students from that freshman cohort who are going to be sophomores this fall had internships over the summer, and so that professional development, yes, as freshmen at Illinois State, readied them for that workforce, which which is just an incredible thing for those students.
Aondover: Absolutely, that was very intentional. If you go to many engineering programs, students sometimes take the first two years just taking general classes. They actually don't take a proper engineering class until they're in their third year. So, because of the goals we had set, we sort of flipped that model on its head. So, our students started taking engineering design in their very first year, and many of them actually started producing things and working and intern taking on internship. So yes, this was all according to design, and we would like our students to be very different when they come out of here.
John: I know those students are excited to come back to campus this fall and have a brand new home over at Campus East. The university originally had plans to renovate a facility here on campus, but then the Country Financial Building on GE Road came up for sale, and the university seized the opportunity. Can you talk about why what's now known as Campus East is such a great opportunity for the College of Engineering and then other units potentially to move out there?
Aondover: Absolutely, and I'll say this to anybody listening: If you haven't taken a tour of Campus East, please do so. You're gonna love it. You know, after I've been there so many times throughout the different phases of construction, and I still get out each time I see it. So the progress is truly amazing. So I'm gonna I'm inviting anybody, everybody. If you want to go take a tour, please do so. You're gonna love it. But to return to your question, why did we make the pill? It was a financial decision. I'll summarize it in this way: If we had gone ahead with the original plan to use John Green, you know, as the first phase of the engineering college, we would have been able to accommodate about 500, 520 students in that building. Now that's not large enough for a college. Ultimately, we would like this college to be between 15 102,000 students. But in order to get that number, we would have needed a second building, which would have cost about 150 million. Wow! So we thought renovating John Green was going to cost about 82, $83 million, plus a second building down the road long after we are gone. But ultimately, the university would have faced that cost. So in order to get the engineering college to the numbers that we really wanted on campus would have cost in the neighborhood of $250 million. We bought Campus East and renovated it for $60 million, and we are not going to need to spend any more money, or much more money, to get the school to 1500 or 2000, so it's a savings of over $170 million. Once I saw those numbers, I thought, "My goodness, this would be malpractice if we didn't take advantage of this opportunity. I think future administrations and students are going to be really pleased that we took this decision because we have effectively removed that financial burden from them. So, financial decision-I think it was a no-brainer, and I think almost anybody who looked at the numbers, including the board of trustees, once they understood what that would entail. It was a no-brainer. So I'm very pleased that that we did that.
John: It's an incredible amount of space out there too. I think that's what impressed me the most on a college campus. You're used to buildings that are a little tight sometimes, you know, and offices and you know places that weren't intended for offices to be in some cases. But out there, it's just it almost makes your imagination run wild with opportunity because of the just the space that that they have to grow.
Aondover: I agree, and if you look at the resources they are providing for students in terms of study spaces, opportunities for collaboration, RSO spaces, and so on. We wouldn't have been able to do that here. So I agree with you, John. It just gave us a lot more room, more real estate to play with. Again, for people who are not familiar with this, that entire complex is about 400,000 square feet. We need only about 200,000 square feet for engineering to grow up to 1500, so we have an additional 200,000 square feet that we can devote to other university operations and and entities. So we got a lot more than we bargained for actually, and it couldn't be a better deal. So I'm very proud of it.
John: It leads me to my next question, which is: On January 1, the university acquires the space to the east, so the College of Engineering is on the west side of that complex campus, east, and then Country Financial will move out at the end of the year, and Illinois State will take over the the rest of that facility. Are there plans developing for what that the the west side or the east side of the facility will be utilized for?
Aondover: Absolutely. Again, that's 200,000 square feet of space, including a dining, a fully functional, well-equipped dining area. So when we started thinking about what else we could utilize it for. We saw this was an enormous undertaking. Yeah. So we have now hired a consultant, and we created a group on campus, a space planning group. So that group has consulted with different offices and departments on campus to see who else would want to move, so we've got that list now of units that are interested in moving to the new site. So we're going to the consultant is working, started working in the summer, and will continue through the fall to figure out the best configuration of the space. You know which types of offices and operations should be adjacent to each other, so that you're utilizing the space as efficiently as possible. And they will be giving us those plans once they are done with them. It's not just what happens over there, though. If you think about it, any unit that moves from here to Campus East vacates a space here on main campus, and we've got to think about what do we do with that. So you don't want to fill up that space and then create other spaces here on campus that are inefficient. So the consulting firm is going to be looking at all of that. It's going to be looking at what should we do with Campus East. What should we do with the spaces that become available? The other thing I can tell you, we're very excited about is we do lease spaces off campus that we pay for. So this gives us the opportunity to move those operations from those leased spaces because we have so much more space, and and and therefore save the university money on those leases. Over the next two to three years, there's going to be a tremendous amount of moving on this campus. And again, people might see it as as confusing, but it's all good ultimately. Although I understand it's going to be stressful. Let me explain. Several years ago, we moved fine arts out of their their college and created temporary spaces in different parts of campus to accommodate them. We created 50,000 square feet of additional space. So Julian Hall was renovated. The basement of the library was renovated. Classroom building number two across across from the stadium were renovated. So we even got some space in the mall. So fine arts is now spread all over these operations. Hopefully, in two years' time, their facilities, their college, the renovated college will be back in operation. They will all need to go back, and these spaces where they're now occupying on a temporary basis will open up. So, if you think about new construction with the science complex, moving people to Campus East, fine arts moving back to their campus, it's a lot of moving, and so we'll be doing an overall campus master plan, space master plan, to figure out how does how would all this come together, and what's the best way to make it work financially and in terms of reducing stress on people. So it's going to be a lot of work here, but it's all good work. The campus would look entirely different when this is all done. So that's something I'm very excited about.
John: And this is an issue that probably not a lot of college presidents are dealing with at this point in time in this landscape of higher education. Can you put into context for our viewers how unique it is for a public university like Illinois State to have this many construction projects happening simultaneously as the university continues this trajectory of growth.
Aondover: Not so much. I see you're absolutely correct. I think a lot of universities have the opposite problem. They now have empty facilities because the enrollment has declined so much, and so they're thinking that what do we do with that? We have the problem where we're trying to figure out we need more space. We need to utilize our spaces more efficiently. So it's a really good problem to have, and I think it says a lot about where we sit, even within a very difficult, very challenging higher ed environment, we are positioned very uniquely, as you said, in a very strong position to be able to weather these challenges. And a lot of the decisions that we're making with respect to space and the academic program portfolio, and all of this is to make sure that we continue to to look forward with optimism. The word I use, the word I I try to use when I speak to cabinet is what is happening in higher ed is is an adjustment between supply and demand. We were built for a time when the supply for higher education spaces is much more than there is now, so there's a market correction going on, if you will, and some institutions might fail or struggle, but that means that other institutions will become aggregators, meaning people will have faith in those institutions and prefer to go to those institutions because they know that they'll be here for the long term. My goal, my aspiration is that Illinois State is an aggregator, and and that's exactly how we are working in in terms of getting ready for what we know will continue to be a thriving future. I think future we we just don't want to survive. We need to thrive, and and and that's how that's the mindset with which we're planning everything we do.
John: The university has seen four consecutive years of enrollment growth, setting a new record last year. While as you mentioned, not every university has seen that trajectory of enrollment, and what what do you attribute that success here at Illinois State to as as we continue to see strong classes and just growth in general here at the university?
Aondover: Yeah, well we have a great brand. I mean people know what they get when they come to Illinois State to get an education. We have more than 240,000 alums who testify to that fact every day. We have amazing people. You know, we faculty, whether it's faculty staff, everyone here is invested in the success of the students and the institution. This is one of the and the community too is very invested in the success of the university, this is one of those things that really drew me into Illinois State. When I came here to interview, it was very clear to me that people loved the institution, people were proud of the institution, and people wanted it to succeed, and that was attractive to me. So we have great people and a great recognizable brand. We also have the great advantage of geography. Our location could not be more ideal, given the population distribution. We're far enough from Chicago land that students can come here and get out of mom's hair. I don't know whether the moms just in that want them to, but not too far away that they can go home and do their laundry if they want, and we have very easy communication, transportation access to Chicago. So our geography is outstanding. So when you combine, you know, excellent brand recognition and name recognition, and just a very unabashed focus on student success and a good location-all of those things work in our favor, and we're trying to leverage them and to build on them. But if I may add quickly, you mentioned we had four consecutive years of enrollment growth. This year is the onset of the enrollment cliff. Everyone's been talking about, and we knew this was going to come. So we are not going to have another record enrollment this year. But that's okay. Part of the reason we grew as much as we did the past three years was exactly because we anticipated a decline this year. So I wanted us to bulk up a little bit, knowing that we were going to shed some numbers, but we needed to be at a point where even after losing some numbers, we will still have a decent decent enrollment. So, we've known about this for a long time, and we've been working very diligently getting ready for it. But we will not have another record enrollment. So far, I think we're going to be within the delta that we expected, so we have models that that tell us how many students we think we're going to to lose or enroll, and we're going to be within those enrollment numbers, those forecast numbers.
John: As that pool of high school seniors shrinks because the population of of that age group is smaller following the Great Recession. I imagine retention is probably more important than ever before, right? You get the students here, but you want to keep them. So, can you talk about some of the strategies Illinois State is implementing to increase retention and and ultimately persistence to graduation?
Aondover: Gosh, John, you couldn't be more correct. Retention is maybe our number one priority on campus right now. To put it in context, our current retention number is about 81%. Let's use 80% for simply, and we bring in about 4000 students. So we lose after only one year eight. That's the size of some small private universities-and we lose that in one year. So there are some of the factors why we lose those students are beyond our control: finances or family issues. But there are many that are beyond our control. So we have put in place tremendous number of initiatives to try and improve retention. So, if you look at our strategic plan, our goal is to be at 85%. I actually really hope we can better that number. The provost has introduced an initiative called a continuous improvement. So, every year, every department we're going to be looking not just at departments or students groups, but students individually to see before they get into trouble who is on track for but who is not responding the way they should be responding, who is not doing the things that they should be doing and reach out to them earlier. The new AVP associate vice president for undergraduate education, Marco, has also developed an amazing initiative to try and improve retention. I was so impressed when I saw it. I agreed to cost share its implementation with the provost. So that's going to be going into effect as well. We are looking at our funding strategies. More than 60% of students who drop out are dropping out for financial reasons. They're dropping out for financial reasons. It's not because they are not in good academic standing. Now we can only help so many. As we go into the next capital campaign, my hope is that trying to raise money to support students who are in otherwise good academic standing but at the risk of dropping out, if we could help those students to stay, these type of strategies-whether it's academic, like what the provost is doing, whether it's more monitoring, like what Marco is doing-and just making sure that, to the extent that we can, we support more students to stay here. I would like ultimately, ultimately, to cut our losses down by half. So instead of losing 800 students a year, could we cut that to 400? Now, 400 is still a large number. Ideally, I would aim for something, something even smaller than that. But we know that for some people, you know, college is just not for them. They realize, you know, that's not what they want to do, and it's okay. They can explore other opportunities. So we know we can't save everybody, but 800 is too much, and I really would like to cut that number. So retention, graduation rates. If you come to meetings I lead, you probably get bored feeling those terms over and over and over, and I'm not going to apologize for it. I'm going to keep talking about those things. Well, you mentioned affordability being a key factor in keeping students here, and so that means donor support, alumni support is so important in funding scholarships that keep students here, keep college affordable. And last year was a record year for private donations, $52 million. Can you talk about that milestone for the university? What that means, and and sort of what also what what that means for our alumni base and those those donors who are ultimately giving that private support to the university? John, I couldn't be more proud. I couldn't be more appreciative. I couldn't be more thankful to our donors and alumni who support us. In many ways, all of this support, as you mentioned, two record years in a row. I mentioned last year was a record at 52 million, but the previous year was also a record, 44 point 5 million. So we are not just breaking the records; we are obliterating the records. Okay, and that says a lot about the confidence that our alums and our donors have in the students and in our in the institution, so I am very very thankful. I hope if there's any donors listening to this, thank you for what you do for our students and in helping us achieve achieve our mission. Donor support is incredible in terms of the impact that it has on students. As I mentioned, the majority of students drop out of school or stay longer not because they are not capable academically. It's finances. If a student is having to work two or three extra jobs in order to make ends meet, they have less time to pay for studies and homework and assignments and things like that, and it some of them are not able to take as many courses as they need in order to graduate in a timely manner. So when you provide funding, and last year we were able to award 6000 scholarships from donor supported funds, 6000. That's a lot of scholarship to a lot of students who would otherwise have had to work for it. And, get this, we did some preliminary analysis that showed that the students who get a scholarship from a donor, they have a 92% retention rate. Wow! Remember, our retention rate is about 80%. Students who are getting those support are retaining more than 10 percentage points higher, because now they have more money, more time to devote to their studies, less worries about where the future lies. So, donor support is incredible, and everything I just described has to do with students. Same kinds of impact applies when we support faculty and research endowments, all the things that we couldn't do with just the money that is coming from the state or tuition. We did an analysis, another analysis. We're always analyzing data. We did another analysis with respect to a college of business. Guess what? The 50 top colleges of business in this country are all named. Now you might say they are named because they are prestigious, but we think just as likely they became prestigious because they're named. That investment of money allows them to attract, you know, different kinds of faculty to create endowments to promote themselves in ways that really helps them to stand out. And so, what our donors do for us, I couldn't possibly put it in words in terms of student support, faculty support, and just helping the university reach another level of prestige and success. So once again, thank you so much to our donors. We're very grateful to you, and on behalf of all the students, many of whom may never even get to see their benefactors and the families. When you help a student, you're not just helping that student; you're helping the entire family, and by extension, the communities they come from. So the multiplier effect of donor investments in Illinois states just goes on and on and on, and for that we're very grateful.
John: It was also a record-setting year last year in Redbird Athletics. The FCS Championship playoff run was so much fun. I got to run into you there, as I think probably all of our alums who went there to Nashville did. And and what a fun event that was! So much fun, and also you know the the financial impact of having Illinois State's brand on national television for the you know three hour playoff championship game. The the number I saw was $218 million of of advertising value, which is just remarkable. You add on to that, the men's and women's basketball teams made it to the NIT and WNIT semifinals for the men and the championship for the women, and and also got national publicity there. The the Redbirds won the All Sports Trophy, the Academic All Sports Award as well. So, what a year for the Redbird athletics teams last year! Can you just talk about the significance of of athletics having success and and how that just adds to the prestige of this university?
Aondover: John, I think you used the right phrase and you took it out of my mouth. What a year! What a year for Red Athletics, as you said. Those championship runs and the successes we had gave us a lot of national visibility. Now I want to I want to say something here before I come back. You mentioned $280 million of advertising equivalent. Yeah, I want to be sure everybody understands it. We didn't actually get $280 million. Sure, sure. If we had to spend money to get the kind of exposure that we got from those runs and successes, yes, it would be about $280 million. But one thing most people may not know is that unlike FBS in the FCS Championship, there isn't a revenue sharing formula, so our run didn't generate more money for the university. It cost more. We actually spent over half a million dollars more if we didn't participate than we would have if we didn't participate in those championships. Don't get me wrong. That's money I'll spend again in a half bit. But but I just want people to know that we didn't get more money right because of those successes because FCS is different from FBS and they don't share money. But my goodness, not only did we have success in all those fields, our students were classic, as you say. Nashville, the behavior of our students and fans, they were the definition of class, the definition of grief. I think Illinois State showed up really, really well, and most people who may not have been familiar with Illinois State now are. Now, my hope is that we do this again. If it's just a blip, if it's just a one-time thing like a fluke, then after a couple of years, people are going to forget about us and move on to the next Cinderella story. I don't want this to be a Cinderella story. I want this to be the next reality for us that we show up every year or prepare to show up and play at this level and be this visible. I know it's hard; it's really hard. But Coach Spack is here. We got most of our coaching staff, and we got a good number of students returning, we didn't lose too many into the portal, which tells you something as well. We actually attracted a higher class of students from the portal. So my hope is that we are able to leverage this opportunity and continue to build on it, much the same way as North Dakota State or Montana State have done, because of that consistency of performing at a high level, so again, the only thing that will make last year better is if we actually bring back some hardware. And I, guys, I can't wait to actually hold one of those trophies in my hands. So I tell Jeri all the time, Jeri Beggs, our athletics director, no pressure, but I do need to have a championship. She knows that, but but but I couldn't be more proud of our students and our fans and our alums, and their support is going to be just as critical. They are every bit a part of the team and the success of the team, and we're looking forward to that partnership again to bring even better things to Illinois State.
John: We had Coach back on the podcast last week, and I can assure you that they are working toward that same goal of returning to Nashville. Great guy, absolutely. We have unfinished business in Nashville.
Aondover: Unfinished business. I hope we can get it get get it past that line this time.
John: Before we let you go, I we've talked a lot about the great successes the university's had here over the past couple of years. Let's talk about the future and where you want to lead this university here, maybe in the short term and even longer term, perhaps guided by the strategic plan and otherwise.
Aondover: Yeah, short term we have to be able to. When I say short term, I mean two to three years. We need to be able to navigate the complex, multidimensional challenges that all institutions are facing. We've got to figure out the finances. We've got to figure out enrollment. We've got to figure out some of the challenges we're dealing with in terms of public perception of the value of higher ed. That's that's just a problem that all universities are facing, and we have to figure out how we respond to them as an institution within our specific context and circumstances. Longer term, I think we need to be much more. We're very well known in Illinois. I would like us to become even more known nationally. When I think about Illinois State University, I think about Michigan State University, Penn State University, Louisiana State University. We are a state university. We are a national research university, and we should show that. And so we need to get. We're not just simply a regional university. Now we are very well known here, but how can we take that next step? What does that mean? It's not just about getting your name out there. That has to be built on certain metrics and accomplishment. That has to do with student success. We should be graduating students at a higher rate, and that begins with retaining them at a higher rate. Our research productivity has to go up quite a bit. Let me clarify: I'm not saying our research productivity is low or poor. It's very good, but in order to get to that next level, we have to kick it in another. You know that's something that we're also working on, and so if you look at the strategic plan, these are all goals that we have encapsulated in that plan: student success, research success, national visibility. So for me, I would like. I know some people don't like the idea of rankings because they think it's a popularity contest, and there's some truth to that. It used to be that rankings were a popularity contest, but the system has improved so much that it's now based on actual metrics to do with student success and so on. So, at one point, Illinois State was ranked 79, number 79 public university in the country. We have slipped to 122. I'd like us to get back to being a top 100 national public university, and so we got work to do. We have identified how much we need to improve, where the headroom is in terms of student success, what we need to do in terms of research, what we need to do in terms of other metrics that we have identified. So it's not just a popularity context. The actual ranking is icing on the cake. The thing that gets you there are all those accomplishments that you build, and that's that's what we're working towards. So, if you ask me to summarize, I know there was a convoluted, lengthy explanation, but we need to get back to being a top 100 national research university in this country.
John: President Tarhule, thanks so much for your time today. Before we let you go, a lightning round of some quick hit questions, sort of all over the place here, but I just need a quick answer on each of them. So let's start with your favorite place to visit on campus.
Aondover: Can I give you three?
John: Well, that's not quick, but yes, absolutely.
Aondover: The Quad, the bridge and Aaron Leech Stadium. Oh yeah, yeah. I I I love the lounge. I really love those spaces.
John: Absolutely. You did make that quick. Thank you. What's your favorite season at the university?
Aondover: I'll say spring. I almost said commencement season. Commencement is my favorite event at the university because it shows the culmination of everything we stand for. That's when the students were actually producing students, which is what we're about. So commencement. But if you mean in terms of the calendar seasons, I'll say spring because commencement is in spring.
John: Yeah, absolutely. When the flowers are blooming on campus, it's it's a whole new life on campus. Okay, if you have to grab a quick lunch on campus, what's your go-to spot?
Aondover: Macalister's. You gotta be careful though, because sometimes the long the lines are really long, and so you gotta go there at the right time. But McAllister's.
John: You don't have a special way to get to the front of the line, huh, as president?
Aondover: I try not to. Yeah, that's not a good example. No, it's not. A good time to interact with the students while in line too, right? While you're out and about. Yes.
John: What do you get at McAllister's?
Aondover: I got the half and half. So usually half a soup and half sandwich. That's that seems like almost literally the only thing I get every time. Now, the the sandwich itself can change. Sure, I always seem to get half and half.
John: You answer my next question. Your favorite day on campus is homecoming, right? Or I'm sorry, it’s commencement.
Aondover: Commencement. Yes, I like homecoming. Homecoming is fun too. If you make me choose one, I'll choose commencement.
John: Do you have any interests or hobbies outside of being president, this occupies a lot of your time. But what do you do when you're you're not the president of Illinois State University?
Aondover: I like to read, and I like to go on walks, and I like to play word games, especially Scrabble. So those things keep me busy. I like traveling. If I have a bit more time to actually go away from here. My wife and I like traveling. We are both geographers. She's an accountant now, so as you can imagine, we like to see places.
John: Yeah. What are you reading right now? You said you like to read.
Aondover: Well, people know I like reading, and so they send me all kinds of books to read. Right now, I'm reading something about African Europeans, so we know it by an author called Olivet O'Toole. Okay, so we know a lot about the Africans in the Americas, but Africans also went to other parts of the world in sizeable numbers, like Europe, you know, like China even and the Middle East, but we don't hear much about that. And so somebody sent me this book, and so of all the books I got, I thought, wow, that's really interesting. And so I'm reading it, and it makes for fascinating reading. I would recommend it to anybody.
John: You mentioned that you and your wife like to travel. Yeah, but it gives you a unique perspective on Bloomington normal. You've lived all over the world and all over the country. What makes this community unique?
Aondover: Well, I know most people will say this, and it sounds almost like a cliche. But people make a place. It doesn't matter where you go. You can have you know the most blitz-looking infrastructure, but in the end, you interact with people, and that's what really makes a difference. And the people here, their support for us personally, but also their investment in in this institution and their their aspiration that this institution succeeds. That's half of my job already. I mean, if you were working in a place where people are essentially trying to undercut or undermine you the work you're trying to do, can you imagine how miserable that would be? But we're in a place where people already want this institution to succeed, and they're supporting it with their heart, with their time, their talents, and their treasures. And so that's half of my job already, and on a personal level, my goodness, my wife and I have just tremendous support from everybody, including former presidents Larry Diggs, Al Bowman, David Stran, and other community leaders, and and that that makes it just special.
John: And I remember the last time I interviewed you too. You mentioned the plethora of restaurants in this community also makes it very appealing, right?
Aondover: It does. It does. It does. It sure does.
John: Presidential pets. Do you have any pets out at the presidential house?
Aondover: We have two cats. Uh huh. I can't rightly say they are my cats. They are cats that my children had when they lived with us, and now they're gone, and now we have to take care of those cats. So I don't know if that rightly qualifies them as presidential cats, but they live with us. So I guess I guess you could call them that.
John: And they like playing with your ties.
Aondover: They ruin my ties, and I have to replace about half of my ties, and because the cat they were hanging down from the closet, and the cat got trapped in the closet one day. And you know, just kept scratching at my ties. It was probably looked like a wonderful toy, right? But so now half of my tie is, not this one. It's all ragged on the edges, and I have to go get a few more.
John: It's important for the president to have good ties.
Aondover: I think so.
John: We talked about what you're reading. What are you listening to? Do you like listening to music or podcasts?
Aondover: So I do, but I don't do much listening, in part because it's not very far from my house to to walk. And when we travel, I tend to just listen to what my whatever my wife plays. It's good for the harmony in marriage. I can tell you that. So I don't insist on listening to anything special, whatever she likes. I'm game. So we have a very wide range of music. She tends to like music that comes from Europe. I mean, because of her background, I'm fine with that too. So we listen to a wide range.
John: She's the DJ in the car when you're driving, then?
Aondover: That's a good term. I'm going to remember that. Yeah, she's the DJ.
John: Lastly, President Tarhule, what advice do you have for Illinois State students as we start a new school year?
Aondover: We have a tremendous amount of resources and support for our students. Every time I get an opportunity to tell students, I say we don't exist to do anything else but to support you. Let us know what challenges you may be having. There are people who are paid to support you. One of the things that makes me a bit sad is when I hear a student say, "I don't want to disturb you. Please disturb us. We're here for you. I mean, if you didn't have, if it were not for you, we wouldn't exist. So, my advice to the students: please disturb us. We are here for you, and we want to make sure that you succeed. And you've heard me say over and over in the course of this conversation: I like our retention rate and our graduation rates to improve. So I'd like to see more students stay here instead of dropping out. So if any student confronts a situation where it may risk their dropping out or not progressing on time, please let us know, and we want to help you. That's what we get paid to do. You are not disturbing us, so talk to us before a small problem becomes a crisis, and our goal is to help you succeed.
John: We look forward to the work that it'll take to get there. And President Tarhule, thank you for leading us in the right direction, and best of luck to you as you enter your third year here.