A Conversation with Julie Sullivan

Santa Clara’s incoming president talks transparency, trust and communication

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Q: How does it feel to be the first woman and the first lay person selected to serve as president of Santa Clara?

A: I am certainly honored. I have an understanding of that, having been selected as the first lay person and first woman as president at the University of St. Thomas. I thought a lot about being the first when I was going through the interview process at St. Thomas; it had always been led by religious males. I started asking about being the first lay person — was the community going to be ready? Could they accept that?

In addition, there is an importance of having females in the community, whether they're students, faculty, staff or alumni. They must be able to feel like they're part of a community that a woman could be the leader of. 

I don't feel there's obstacles in this community. You want to make sure the community, whether it's the internal community or the external stakeholders, alumni and others, is ready for this — if they're not, it's just an uphill battle. I feel like this community is very open to the idea.

You have degrees in accounting, taxation in business. How did you get into university administrative work?

I worked in a business school and in university administrative work, particularly on the academic side. Often, professors have an inclination to be a leader, and therefore you're tapped to lead. I never had a path of, I want to be one of those things next. I love being a professor and a scholar. I was very active in the research dimension and the teaching dimension, but I also wanted to keep learning and growing. I enjoyed learning, so it just happened. It never was the plan.

How do you think your business background has influenced your leadership style in previous roles?

With a business background, I've certainly had education about leadership. I've watched a lot of leaders. I’ve found that there are some innate abilities that contribute to leadership, but also some learned principles. I like data-driven decisions, due to the fact that I’m from more of an accounting and quantitative background. I'm not afraid to make a decision, but I want to make a fully informed decision, backed by applicable data. I also want it to be informed by the qualitative context that people can give you. The worst thing, for me, is to have to make a decision when I don't feel like I have adequate information. 

During the search process, students expressed the university's need for a leader who is transparent and present in the community. How do you plan to honor those wishes?

It’s very important for a leader to be transparent and present in the community. If you're not in the community and present, it is difficult to gain trust. I've always been a very relational person and had an open-door type policy, whether that was for students, faculty, staff or administrators. At St. Thomas, I had open office hours at designated times a few times a month. I would say 90% of the people that came in were students, and sometimes they wanted to share something — they had a concern. Sometimes, they just wanted to introduce themselves and talk about what they were doing. It was a really nice mix. As president, I have to find the ways that students feel like they have access to express their concerns or to express something that they've appreciated. I've learned a lot.

What have you learned?

I see things more through the student's eyes, and more about the student experience and how they see things. There have been some times where I've helped give students a bigger context of a situation than they were seeing. It's also helped me build relationships. When there is a problem, it is important to have relationships with students so that it's not the first time they've seen you or talked to you. You just have to have those touch points that are ongoing. That really helps with transparency and communication.

This past year, as I'm sure you're aware, our community has dealt with many challenges, specifically related to sexual assault and mental health. In the past, students have been dissatisfied with how the university has handled and communicated with students about these crises. How do you communicate with the student body during campus-wide crises?

One of the things I've learned about a crisis that impacts your students directly is that you must communicate right away. You might not know all the facts, but you know that there are people in your community that are hurting. You need to communicate that knowledge as soon as possible. Share what you can, but then say, ‘as we learn more, we will share more. But right now I just want to acknowledge that something has happened, our community is impacted, and you're hurting. Here are resources, and we'll continue to walk together through this journey.’