Meet the new LSSU president David Travis
SAULT STE. MARIE — Incoming Lake Superior State University President David Travis spent several days on campus last week meeting with community members and becoming acquainted with the school.
Though his family is from Canada, Travis grew up in Georgia. As he has advanced higher in his career, he has also been moving further and further north.
"I have family in Canada, so they are all very excited that I'm now living on the border," said Travis.
Growing up, his father worked at the University of Georgia. Travis' first passion was weather science, something he studied extensively and even taught as a professor.
"I was walking around with weather instruments and measuring things for projects even in high school," said Travis. "So I always wanted to do research, study and ultimately teach about weather and climate."
He picked up his first teaching position at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater in 1994 and taught for 15 years. He said it was his experience as the son of a professor that ignited his love for helping the school beyond teaching students.
"I love teaching. I love working with students, interacting with students, and I originally never really had any interest in being an administrator," said Travis. "My father was a university professor. I grew up on a university campus. I got to know all his colleagues and all his graduate students, and so in some ways my brain was kind of trained to understand how the university works and how it changes people's lives. I realize now my childhood was preparing me to become an administrator in university."
Despite having to leave behind his passion for weather science, Travis said he believes his experiences make him uniquely qualified to work as an administrator.
"It's important to start as a faculty member because you really understand the primary mission of the university, which is to educate students," said Travis. "I don't think I would have been able to appreciate that if I had started out as a faculty member."
As a professor, Travis said he worked to give students confidence and help them develop good learning habits. As an administrator, he now hopes to be able to help students on a larger scale.
"There's a lot of commitment and great talent here. I think as a president, my job is to utilize that talent and commitment and give them clarity of direction and support," said Travis.
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Travis will be moving into on-campus housing, and he is excited to be able to live near his students. He said being able to connect with the students and the college is a priority for him.
Now that he has a better feel for the campus community, Travis said he is eager to begin helping in many different areas. One thing he would like to improve is bragging and showing off LSSU's many successes.
"One thing I've picked up on here in my short time is it's a very humble community. People are very helpful and don't try to put themselves in front of others," said Travis. "But in the case of this university, we've got to be a little less humble and we've got to make sure that people know how great the university is."
Travis also hopes to be able to use his passion for science at LSSU, since the college has so many science and environment related courses. But, he said his main focus will be on rebuilding enrollment numbers.
Enrollment at LSSU is the lowest it has been in around 20 years, and growing enrollment strategies will be one of Travis' main priorities in his first year.
Travis will begin his new position on June 3.
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: David Travis is the newest president for LSSU beginning June 3
