Almost since he walked into his office Aug. 1, new Eastern
Michigan University Provost Jack Kay's days have been an
immersion course in all things EMU. Lots and lots of meetings
and reading have filled the bulk of his time.
No EMU provost up to this point had kept a campus blog,
and blogging was — at least in the beginning — the
last thing on Kay's mind.
Now, it's the last thing on his schedule.
Before he goes to bed, Kay spends the last 20 minutes
of most days blogging about things he wants to share with
the world and the EMU community in the Provost's Blog at http://blogs.emich.edu/provost/
 |
BLOGGING BANTER: Eastern Michigan University
Provost Jack Kay updates his blog. Since he started
his new job Aug. 1, Kay has used his blog to
communicate
with campus and receive feedback. |
"By the end of my first week here, there were so many
things I wanted to brag about in terms of the University
and the faculty," he said. "The blog gave me an opportunity
to do that."
Though it'll generally focus on what's happening in Academic
Affairs, the blog also gives people a chance to get to
know Kay in a little more personal way — as
a parent, a traveler, a collector of political buttons
and a horseman.
His early posts chart the journey of someone discovering
EMU layer by layer, from the many ways the University collaborates
with community organizations to the beauty of the campus
in summertime to the accomplishments of faculty and alumni.
Kay's first stint as a blogger came when he was interim
chancellor at the University of Michigan-Flint from January
2007 to August 2008. He found the blog he kept during that
time helped him reach people he might not otherwise hear
from.
"A number of people, particularly from the community,
read the blog and contacted me," he said. "They had suggestions
and had great stories to tell about the university. It
was a great communication vehicle for a lot of people who
traditionally wouldn't have communicated with the university."
The Provost's Blog at EMU had 1,094 unique visitors in
its first month — not bad, Kay said, considering
the fall term hadn't yet started. But, like most blogs,
he's got far more lurkers than participants. About 20 people
have left comments. Many are still reluctant to throw their
ideas out to the world.
To draw people out, Kay recently posted some picture — an
old black-and-white photo and shots of a couple of sculptures
— with an invitation to visitors to provide them some context.
"The funny thing was, in the first week, I received about
50 comments about the blog, but they were all sent to my
e-mail," he said. "I'd love for people to leave lots of
comments on the blog. Then, instead of writing a post,
I could moderate their comments."
Marti Bombyk, an EMU social work professor, said she's
never been shy. She left one of those early comments, sharing
some of her own experiences with community partnerships
in response to Kay's post about Washtenaw Literacy and
EMU community engagement. The blog has created a venue
for casual, informal conversation and an opportunity to
welcome her new boss and lay groundwork for a good working
relationship.
"It's his 'honeymoon' right now, and it's certainly a
nice time to be friendly and establish the parameters of
a good working relationship," she said.
Bombyk also pointed out that the Provost's Blog has the
potential to be a place where the campus and community
can get "on the same page," something that's becoming more
elusive as newspapers die off and other media take over.
"I believe he was a communication professor so that makes
sense, if he's a communications kind of guy, to establish
a blog. It can be friendly. It can be public and on the
record to the extent that people want to engage in those
conversations."
Kay said he'll post to the blog about four days a week.
"I just hope it's something people log onto occasionally
to get a sense of what I'm thinking in my journey at EMU
and how positive things are here," he said. "I guess my
wildest dream for the blog is that other people would share
my sense of enthusiasm for it."
