Wiseman leaving large office to fill

Photo by Keely Vaughan
Christine Wiseman, right, vice president for Academic Affairs, meets with Dr. Barbara Braden, dean of University College. Colleagues say one of Wiseman’s greatest gifts to Creighton has been her constant availability to meet with students, faculty and staff.

By KELLI MUTCHLER
Assistant Editor

Tough as a Bull Terrier. It’s not necessarily the most flattering image for someone in a position of authority. Especially if that someone is a woman.

Christine Wiseman received the canine reference because of the way she handled challenges to revamping the Encuentro Dominicano study program in the Dominican Republic, said Deborah Fortina, assistant vice president of Academic Affairs, in a phone interview.

But as vice president of Academic Affairs, Wiseman’s job is supposed to be tough.

Wiseman said working her way up the occupational ladder —from lawyer to law professor, and then as the first woman to reach the position of associate vice president of Academic Affairs at Marquette—was not easy because she had grown up in a time when job opportunities for women were limited.

It was not easy to leave her husband and parents in Milwaukee when she made the transfer to Creighton five years ago.

Now, as she prepares to move to the academic officer position of provost at Loyola University Chicago, she says it is going to be tough leaving the students, staff and faculty —whom she calls the soul of the university—behind.

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The official description of the vice president of Academic Affairs position includes executive responsibility to oversee the policies; programs and procedures of the Graduate School, School of Law, Colleges of Business Administration and Arts and Sciences, University College and Summer Sessions; all International Programs; Enrollment Management, the office of Academice Excellence and Assessment; TRIO programs (such as Upward Bound tutoring); Reinert Alumni-Memorial Library and the Registrar Office.

When she entered the position, Wiseman said her first duty was to learn about Creighton’s unique culture.
“Administrators are only effective if they can build on the strengths of a culture and work within that culture to improve on the challenges,” she said.

She said one of her largest challenges involved working with the deans of the various colleges and schools to improve their governance roles and the lives of faculty who worked within them.

Fortina said that Wiseman’s work on the flailing Encuentro program is another of the many challenges she’s tackled with a head-on style.

“I appreciate her willingness to deal with tough issues immediately. She wasn’t one to put things on the back burner,” said Mary Higgins, director of Student Retention. “She never backs down from a good fight if it means supporting her programs within Academic Affairs.”

Higgins witnessed this when Wiseman oversaw the organization of a new advising system for freshmen and sophomores. When the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S. J., commissioned the Academic Affairs office to improve upon the current advising system, Higgins said Wiseman put her foot to the pedal to finish the project.

The ad-hoc group in charge of naming and re-designing the program had the complete support of Wiseman from the start, said Higgins. She said Wiseman never tried to micromanage, but trusted the group to figure things out. Though the project could have taken much longer, Higgins said Wiseman continually cut through political issues and offered strong budget support to ensure that the system, now called Ratio Studiorum, was successfully finished.

“That was a terrific boost of support,” Higgins said. “It gave us the green light to plan creatively and quickly.”

Higgins said Wiseman’s role in changing the Encuentro program and supporting the completion of the Ratio program established her as a well-respected leader. She said Wiseman’s impact on these challenges will be part of her legacy at Creighton.

Wiseman also tackles daily issues with a passion rarely seen in such a position, Fortina said. Even after a late night in the office, Fortina said she could never see it in Wiseman’s eyes the next morning.

“She’s got an unbelievable amount of energy,” Fortina said. “I’ve never met anyone like her. She’ll work 12-hour days, and it’s not her own business, it’s not her own family.”

Fortina said it is an office joke that Wiseman works so hard because she’s powered by fish. When she eats off-campus, Fortina said Wiseman always choses places where she can enjoy a good plate of seafood.

Wiseman herself puts no minimum on the amount of effort she gives on a daily basis.

“I have always followed my passion, and that is what led me to Creighton,” she said.

Throughout her years of university leadership here and at Marquette, Wiseman said she’s discovered two types of administrators: those who do what is best for the institution and those who do what is best for them. Putting herself in the former category, Wiseman said that for the most part, the faculty and administrators here have no agenda besides one that benefits Creighton.

She said she hopes her tenure is marked by this sentiment.
Fortina said that while the public sees what a good speaker Wiseman is and how quickly she can think on her feet, she has always made herself personally available to meet with anyone, including students.

Even if many have not come in contact with her, Higgins said that students should know that when Wiseman deals with behind-the-scenes issues, nearly every decision weighs in favor of the students.

“She’s not a disinterested bureaucrat sitting in an ivory tower,” Higgins said. “Students are real flesh and blood to her, and she wants to see them having the strongest experience they can at Creighton.”

Wiseman said students should remember that Creighton’s administrative positions exist to serve.
“It’s about the institution, it’s not about us,” Wiseman said. “We occupy but a moment in time. My role is to make sure those moments are meaningful.”

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As those moments at Creighton count down, Wiseman admits she’s nervous for the transfer to Loyola but said that’s healthy. She was nervous to start her job at Creighton, but said the secret is getting to know people where they are. Missing the people she’s known here will make her job switch the toughest.

Higgins said that while it is inspiring to see a female in such a position of leadership, the fact is a good benchmark for her particular leadership style.

“I think what was most effective to me was to see her efficiency and that she was not afraid to take on confrontation.”

As sad as it is to see her go, Fortina said she believed God has a reason for Wiseman’s leaving. She said Wiseman has a big heart, one she will share at Loyola as much as she did here.

“I am the woman the Jesuits educated me to be, and every time I think to go elsewhere, I’m pulled back to the mission and intellectual tradition that are so much a part of who I am,” Wiseman said.