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Woo: I ask the question in a different way. I ask myself, “What are some of the real big problems that the world faces that Sweet Briar can provide at least partially some answers?” One of the issues has to be the problem of insufficient representa- tion of women in the dominant industries of the 21st


century. Engineering and


STEM might be one example where there is insufficient representation of women leaders. I think that Sweet Briar can be part of the solution in that sense.


VB:There aren’t many women’s colleges left. When you are asked by prospective students, “Why should I go to an all- girls school?” how do you answer that question? Woo: I think that an environment where you are constantly encouraged, empowered and can express yourself to the fullest with- out unnecessary baggage is a great thing.


VB:Are you in the process of creating a new leadership team? What do you look for in leaders? Woo:We have moved pretty fast in the past month to form a new leadership team … We merged a couple of divisions. [For example], finance and administration is now one unit. We have merged admis- sions with marketing and communica- tions so that they become one unit. I have eliminated general counsel from the cabinet portfolio so that we have fewer vice presidents, and I think that we have a much nimbler and better structure as the result of it. Normally, in a leadership position in the cabinet, I would be looking for people who are seasoned professionals. For Sweet Briar … I am also looking for people deeply committed to the institu- tion and who are passionate about the prosperity of Sweet Briar.


VB:As you look back over your career, did you have any heroes or heroines who inspired you? Woo: My heroes and heroines all come in one mold. I like people who are resilient in the face of tremendous adversity.


VB:A lot of universities are trying to recruit more foreign students. Will Sweet Briar be moving in that direction? Woo: Diversity is very important for Sweet Briar and college students. When


you look at small, liberal arts schools, it’s quite normal to have a student body that is upwards of 20 percent, even 25 percent foreign students. We definitely need to make greater effort in that regard. I do believe that Sweet Briar is very attractive if we market Sweet Briar properly to foreign students, because it is affordable, it is a women’s college in a world where women’s enrollment in college is explod- ing, it is in a safe environment, and we offer two things foreign students are often looking for: strong STEM and engineer- ing and strong arts.


VB:Are there any particular places where you would like to do more recruiting? Woo:The obvious areas would be prob- ably Southeast Asia, could be Northeast Asia and parts of Latin America.


VB:What is the percentage of foreign students now? Woo: I don’t know what we have now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if down the road that we have 15 percent to 20 percent.


VB: In terms of higher education, do we need reform in this country? Woo: I think higher education, or liberal- arts education in particular in our case, needs to become very relevant for the 21st century. It doesn’t mean that we need to focus on skills acquisition. But it does mean that we need to create the kind of curriculum where students learn how to ask the right questions or students know where to go to find part of the answer or students can figure out how to design projects, how to implement them, how to fail, how to get up, how to fail, and how to succeed again, and bring the project to the finish line. I think those attributes, which enable people to bring various aspects of knowledge together and to collaborate, are what I think one needs to do.


VB: Before you came to Sweet Briar, you were working in London with Open Society Foundations. Tell us about that experience. Woo: It was a wonderful experience. I had two offices, one in London and one in Budapest. I had a large staff and a budget of about $27 million that I could give out to higher education institutions around


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the world. We focused on providing higher education to people who were marginal- ized, oppressed and otherwise disadvan- taged. During my two-year term, I focused a great deal on providing higher education, as best we could, to the Syrian refugees in the Middle East, focusing on Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. We also focused on providing higher education to one ethnic group — arguably the most oppressed in the world — called the Rohingyas, who reside in the northwestern part of Burma. We created sort of an underground rail- road for those young women and provided a higher education experience for them. We also created the first Ph.D. program in the social sciences in Palestine, supporting Birzeit University in Ramallah, which is in the occupied West Bank.


VB:Anything else you want to tell me about that experience? Woo: It gave me a bird’s eye view of what global higher education is like, what the needs are. The enrollment of higher education around the world has exploded. The quality, however, didn’t catch up. There is a massive need around the world for really good higher education, the kind Sweet Briar provides. It also taught me that there is really great potential for innovation in higher education to provide the kind of education that people need in the 21st century …


VB:We hear a lot today about students who have taken on debt and then can’t find jobs. How important is it for a col- lege to make sure that a student with a degree can get a job? Woo:To get a good job, you have to know how to think. If you actually look at income of a business major and compare it with an English major, there is no discernable difference. People think that somehow, if you study accounting as an undergraduate, that guarantees you a really well-paying job. The evidence shows you that this isn’t true. An English major who knows how to write and knows how to think is going to earn just about practi- cally the same amount as an undergradu- ate business major.


Full disclosure:


Virginia Business Publisher Bernie Niemeier is a member of Sweet Briar’s board of directors.


VIRGINIA BUSINESS 15


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