7QUESTIONS+PLUS

Jack Keating, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Chancellor, who will retire at the end of the school year. Having arrived at Parkside in 1998, Keating has overseen the start of the expansion to the student union, a remodeled Communication Arts building and an expanding enrollment. This week, he answers your questions about his time at Parkside, talks about where he thinks the university is going, and what he might have done if his childhood fantasies had come true.

Jack Keating will now take your questions ...

This is ‘7 Questions’ where each week we ask you to submit questions for a person of interest in Kenosha County. Then, we interview the person and publish their answers. E-mail questions or ideas for people we should interview to connections@kenoshanews.com 7 Question home page May 18, 2008 Jack Keating May 11, 2008 Anita Faraone May 5, 2008 Bethany Kitzrow April 28, 2008 Mike Pollocoff April 21, 2008 Mark Wisnefski April 7, 2008 Doug Baker March 31, 2008 Terry Rose March 24, 2008 Bosko Djurickovic March 17, 2008 Wally Graffen March 10, 2008 Patrick Moran March 3, 2008 Keith Bosman Feb. 25, 2008 Holly Stanfield Feb. 18, 2008 Del Meyer Feb. 11, 2008 John Antaramian Feb. 4, 2008 Cheryl Hernandez Jan. 28, 2008 Reince Priebus Jan. 21, 2008 Alan Kaddatz Jan. 14, 2008 Rocco Vita Jan. 7, 2008 Jack Waters Dec. 31, 2007 Joe Mangi Dec. 24, 2007 Santa Claus Dec. 17, 2007 Denise Usinger Dec. 3, 2007 Lauren Zielsdorf Nov. 26, 2007 Shawn Zwrigzdas Nov. 19, 2007 Mary Ellen Close Nov. 12, 2007 Bob Williams Nov. 5, 2007 Mike Maki Oct. 29, 2007 Dale Wamboldt Oct. 22, 2007 Laura Larson Oct. 15, 2007 Dan Joyce Oct. 8, 2007 Renee Mura Oct. 1, 2007 Capt. Marion "Cappy" Moore Sept. 24, 2007 Christine Reardon Sept. 17, 2007 Martin Pitts Sept. 10, 2007 Jim Kreuser Sept. 3, 2007 Bryan Albrecht Aug. 27, 2007 Scott Pierce Aug. 20, 2007 Susan Rosas Aug. 13, 2007 Robert Bonn Aug. 6, 2007 Eric Olson July 30, 2007 Ronald Bailey July 23, 2007: Cheryl Bowen July 16, 2007: Kenosha News summer staff July 9, 2007: "Jane the Phoole" July 2, 2007: Yolanda Santos Adams June 25, 2007: Mona McDermott June 18, 2007: Garrett Kornman June 11, 2007: Penney Haney June 4, 2007: Daniel Wade May 28, 2007: Kevin Poirier May 21, 2007: Kenosha News Connections staff "7 Question For" home

Chancellor is a cool title. Why not president? What do you make of that? The title Chancellor and President are almost interchangeable. In Wisconsin, Chancellor means Chief Executive Officer for a single campus whereas President is reserved for the head of the Wisconsin System. In other states the two titles and functions are reversed.

Do you have a favorite memory of your time at Parkside? My favorite memory was last spring when the Board of Regents visited UW-Parkside. The campus showed off its theme of “excellent education for everyone” that was extremely impressive.

What do you think is the next step for Parkside? A campus has to evolve or it will backslide. Adding several majors and masters programs are the immediate next steps. Securing more support from the state and the private sector is always on the wish list.

Where do you see Parkside 10 years from now? I think UW-Parkside will be better recognized as the excellent university it is and the first choice university for the community. It deserves that now, but it takes time to get the message out to the broad community.

What advice do you have for your successor? The best advice I can give to a successor is be yourself. I think this is true for any position — but especially when joining a new community.

What do you hope is your legacy at Parkside? I hope my legacy at UW-Parkside is leaving an inclusive campus that rejoices in its national designation as an “engaged university.”

What is something you wish you could have accomplished as Chancellor? I wish we had the state support that would have allowed stronger growth of the campus, especially through new current graduate programs.

If given a chance, what would you do differently in your life? I am not one to second guess so I think I would pretty much live my life and its choices as I have.

What communication device could you not live without and why? Sometimes I think I could live without any communications devices — except to keep in touch with my son, family, and friends.

What advice do you have for living life to the fullest? Don’t look back and take some risks in your decisions.

Who has inspired you most in your life? My life was filled with inspiring figures from my family to teachers and coaches to friends. It’s impossible to name the “most” influential.

Why did you seek a career in education? I think education chose me more than me choosing it. It’s clearly satisfying to see students mature and develop and being involved in the education process keeps you vibrant and thoughtful.

What was your dream job when you were growing up? To be a train engineer. Then a pro-baseball player.

If you could meet anyone for lunch, who would you meet and why? What subjects would you discuss? Clark Kerr, the former Chancellor at the University of California-Berkeley. I would try to pick his brain on his skills at guiding a university to prominence, especially in topics of cultural turmoil.