ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602260073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PHIL WALZER LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
MORE AND MORE college presidents are finding time in between wooing donors, buttonholing legislators and running their schools to return to their roots - and teach.
Professor Koch offered his class one of the less popular reasons for the American rout of the Japanese during World War II: Maybe it had more to do with America's financial edge than with superior military training.
``This is a very difficult argument for Americans to deal with,'' he told nearly 20 students taking his World War II history course at Old Dominion University one recent night. ``If you talk to U.S. Marines, they would like to believe we had superior troops. But what's also true is that the typical soldier had the logistics and equipment and support behind him that the other side never had.''
Point by point, he then focused on the Pearl Harbor attack: how it happened, why the attack didn't lead to total victory for Japan, whether U.S. military commanders in the Pacific should have known better.
He sounded as if he spends most of his working days researching the Second World War. He doesn't.
Professor Koch is also President Koch, whose main job is to be the leader of Old Dominion. James Koch is among a growing number of university presidents who are finding time in between wooing donors, buttonholing legislators and running their schools to return to their roots and teach students.
In Virginia, the other president/teachers include Regent's Terry Lindvall (film comedies and humor); Virginia Tech's Paul Torgersen (industrial engineering); and Virginia Commonwealth's Eugene Trani (Russian history). Christopher Newport's Paul Trible Jr. began teaching a course on leadership and politics just weeks after taking the helm last month.
Most teach one course every year and say it requires about six hours a week of preparation, often done after hours.
Some acknowledge that teaching provides a welcome relief from the more tedious and stressful parts of the job. ``It's really the only time of the day I know what I'm doing,'' joked Torgersen, who teaches Theories of Organization to more than 90 students three mornings a week. ``It's really almost the highlight of the day for me; it's just a marvelous hour.''
Trible said his time in the classroom sends a powerful message across campus about what counts. ``I think symbols are important in any leadership position,'' he said. ``What we've always valued at Christopher Newport University is excellent teaching. I want to, in my words and actions, honor teaching and ensure that fine teaching always remains the highest priority.''
The presidents also say it gets them down from the ivory tower. In fact, the students in Koch's and Trible's classes give them high marks.
``I'm rather impressed with his teaching skills,'' said Brian Graham, a history major in Koch's course. ``He's a lot more down to earth and in touch with students than I thought big university presidents would be.''
If more presidents taught classes, Graham said, ``it would make students feel more comfortable going to administrators with their questions and concerns.''
From Koch's perspective, ``It forces a president to see things through faculty eyes. If the media equipment doesn't work or the VCR isn't delivered or it's too cold or too hot, I feel that immediately. Those are things faculty members experience on a daily basis.''
And with that knowledge, Koch added, ``I think I can do a better job representing us in Richmond. ... If they ask, `Why do you need additional technology?' I can give them a very specific experience of what has or hasn't worked.''
John Casteen, president of the University of Virginia, used to teach an occasional English course. But he stopped a few years ago because he needed to spend more time on the road to shepherd UVa's capital campaign.
Yet Torgersen said his teaching can help him win points with potential donors. ``When I speak to the alumni chapters, they love the idea that the president is teaching,'' he said. ``When I'm involved with fund raising, it's helpful that I can demonstrate this commitment to undergraduate education, which they think is the primary purpose of the university.''
Some presidents never get the chance to teach while they're in office. Timothy Sullivan regularly taught classes as law dean of the College of William and Mary, but he stopped when he became president in 1992.
``This has been a tumultuous 31/2 years,'' Sullivan said, ``and I wouldn't do a job I'd be satisfied with. ... If I have pride in anything, it is that I was a good teacher, and I wouldn't want to go into a classroom and be less than a good teacher.''
This semester, Koch and Trible are the only university presidents teaching in the Hampton Roads area. They come to their subjects from different perspectives.
Koch's specialty is economics, but he has been fascinated by the war since college, where he gained Illinois certification to teach high school history.
Trible's interest in leadership is more personal: He's a former U.S. senator and member of the House. ``Hopefully,'' he said, ``what I bring is not only a thoughtful discussion of the philosophy of leadership, but also a discussion of the practical application of all this to the real world.''
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