President has ambitions for school

Midland Lutheran College's new president wants to boost the school's 716-student enrollment by as many as 400 students.

He wants to convince the state's high school graduates that they can afford private school tuition — that, in fact, a scholarship and a guaranteed four-year graduation actually might make the private college in Fremont, Neb., cheaper than a public university.

President Ben Sasse says he can build several programs that are the envy of higher education institutions across the state and region. Maybe Midland will house the state's best nursing school. Maybe the state's best accounting program. And maybe Midland will become the go-to college for a new major that doesn't yet exist on campus.

“We're gonna be really great at maybe a dozen things,” said Sasse, officially named the school's president-elect Tuesday night.

The 37-year-old Sasse has a résumé that matches his ambition. The Fremont native is a graduate of both Harvard and Yale and is a former top assistant at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Bush administration.

He has written columns for the Wall Street Journal, worked as a consultant for the government of Iraq and served as Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's chief of staff.

Now Sasse is focusing his energy on turning around the college of his childhood. As a grade schooler, Sasse played on the Midland campus. His grandfather, Elmer Sasse, was a well-known administrator at the school for 33 years.

“We identified him, and we said he's a perfect fit for this period in time,” said Steven Bullock, chairman of Midland's board of trustees. “He really brings a lot to the table.”

A group of the school's top donors appears to have smoothed Sasse's path to the presidency, eliminating the bumps often caused when an academic outsider takes the reins of a university or college. Sasse has taught at the University of Texas' public affairs school but has never served as a higher education administrator.

Those donors have pledged an undisclosed amount of money to the school, contingent upon an extensive review to identify the school's strengths, potential areas of growth and possible new programs.

Sasse will start that review this month, studying both Midland's existing programs and top-notch programs at other colleges that could serve as models for Midland's future.

He will finish the review and take control of the school's day-to-day operations in the late spring. Stephen Fritz, who has served as Midland's interim president since 2007, will remain on campus until next spring to ease the transition, school officials said.

The new Midland president isn't inheriting the cushiest of corner office chairs.

Head count enrollment at Midland plummeted to 716 students this year, continuing a 25 percent drop since 2003. That enrollment slide is an ominous sign at a private college that brings in the vast majority of its money from tuition.

The school still bears the scars of cutting $1.1 million out of a $16 million budget in 2006, when then-leaders controversially lopped off large parts of the music, theater and journalism departments, moves that sparked student and faculty protests.

But both Sasse and Bullock said Tuesday that Midland is well-positioned for a turnaround.

The school has considerable alumni and Fremont civic support, they said, support that can produce the funds necessary to build new programs and increase Midland's enrollment.

And the new president says that several programs are already thriving on campus — he singled out the accounting, nursing, chemistry and biology departments as being among the school's best.

Sasse's health care expertise — he focused on Medicare and Medicaid while serving as the U.S. assistant secretary for health and human services — might help Midland develop its existing health care related programs and start new ones, Bullock said.

Early indications are that the Midland faculty will embrace Sasse.

Alcyone Scott, longtime English professor and chairwoman of the faculty, said in a press release that Sasse's hiring “is only the beginning of a dynamic chapter in the history of the college.”

“There's really an atmosphere of welcoming change,” Bullock said. “(Faculty) are looking for a rejuvenation. … We're perfectly situated to do some innovative things.”

Contact the writer:

444-1064, matthew.hansen@owh.com