gavin keirans — board of trustees platform

8/13/2019 Gavin Keirans Board of Trustees Platform

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Gavin Keirans

Board of Trustees Platform

www.GavinKeirans.com

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Why Im Running for the Board of Trustees

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Our board needs a diversity of thought, age and

background which it is currently lacking. My experiencemakes me uniquely qualified to help fill this void and the

vitality to shape our university for years to come.

As a two-term Student Body President and

Executive Board Member of the Alumni

Association, I spent thousands of hours shaping the

strategic direction of our university.

Since graduating, Ive experienced success bothprofessionally as a Strategy Consulting Manager and

personally by leading two Philadelphia non-profits.

Penn State changed my life and helped shape me into the

person I am today. I will work tirelessly to ensure that

generations of Penn Staters get this same experience.

Please take a look at my detailed action plan and

partner with me to help build a better Penn State

for years to come.

Source: collegian.psu.edu

2009 speech at the Rotunda in Harrisburg Capital Building


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Spreading the Penn State Family Roots

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Graduation day with family in front of the Paterno Statue

Having grown up in the Northeast section of

Philadelphia, we always considered ourselves a PennState family. My sister Taylor and I are both proud Penn

State graduates.

From the time I could dial a phone, I would call my

grandmother to talk about Penn States weekly football

game. She always hated when they didnt play well.

Years later as a high school senior at St. Joes Prep,

the decision was a no brainer to attend Penn StatesSmeal College of Business.

When I arrived at Penn State, I found an even larger

extended family, many of whom remain lifelong friends,

colleagues and mentors to this day.

As I have now have gone on into my career, I always carry

with me that I represent dear old state and know that in

no matter what city I am in, there will be always be aPenn Stater near by.


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Track Record of SuccessGavin Keirans xperience


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Will this just be another trustee? NO

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I am running because I have the vision, experience & Penn State

connections to realize the goals of my platform.

Source: collegian.psu.edu

Source: philly.com

Source: accenture.com

Source: phillycatholics.com
http://www.collegian.psu.edu:8080/archive/2008/03/27/news-front.pdfhttp://www.collegian.psu.edu:8080/archive/2009/04/02/news-front.pdf


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Penn State Leadership & Results

6 Source: collegian.psu.eduSource: Onwardstate.com

As a trustee, I will continue to implement & realize key initiatives that

will improve the student experience and our university.


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Proven strategist across Fortune 100

companies

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Top Ranked Strategy Consulting Manager

leading engagements to driverevenue/margin growth and return on

investment (ROI), especially within sales

and marketing strategy.

Directly engaged with C-Suite & VP levels

to partner on how to define solutions thatmet their unique vision. Beyond identifying the

right strategy for clients, also enjoy getting the

opportunity to help them actually operationalize

the approach within their companies.

Deep Experience across Fortune 100 High-Tech Companies, with experience also in

Banking, Insurance and Consumer Goods.

Source: dell.com

Source: cisco.com

Source: hp.com

Source: ace.comSource: alcatel.com

Source: jpmorganchase.com


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Building Communities & Civic Leaders

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New Leaders Council (NLC)Philadelphia Catholic League

Alumni Corps

Source: bsmphilly.com

I serve as Executive Director of NLC Philadelphia,having been part of its inception in 2011.

The organization aims to promote the next

generation of civic leaders, primarily through a five

month institute where 20 top young professional

fellows are chosen for cutting edge training.

I founded the Philadelphia Catholic League AlumniCorps in the fall of 2011, with a group of Penn Staters.

The goal of the organization is to bring together those

with Catholic roots, in order to better the community

through service, job/life trainings and athletics.

It has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer,

Huffington Post & Northeast Times (above).


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Path Forward for Penn State5-Pronged Strategy Platform


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Platform: The Path Forward for Penn State

University

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Building the

Future whileHonoring ourPast

Honor the legacy ofJoe & Sue Paterno

Ensure Penn Stateremains an affordableoption and that weare attracting topstudents & faculty

Get back on the

offensive & starthighlighting the manysuccesses of our PennState community

Increasing the

role of ElectedAlumni Trustees,Students &Faculty

Greater emphasis onelected trusteessitting on theExecutive Committee

Each committee onthe Board of Trusteeswill have a student &

faculty representative

Financial

Optimization &Stability

Support theCampaign for PennState Students &Build our Endowment

Identify OpExredundancies &consolidate functionsto allow for highproductivity while

reducing costs

One University

GeographicallyDispersed

Ensure thecommonwealthcampuses have anactive voice inuniversity decisions

Visit the campusesand spend timeunderstanding theirunique successes &

opportunities

Expanded Alumni

Presence onUniversityBoards

Engage with AlumniChapters, AIGs &Societies across thecountry

Launch website withopen committee &board roles foralumni to apply

Utilizing a five pronged strategy, we will be able to say with conviction that WE

AREthe leading world class university.


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Relationships with key Penn State & State

College Officials to realize goals of Platform

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Old Main & Administration

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Board of Trustees

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Alumni Association

State College Officials

Present Student Leaders

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4

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Strong relationships with President Erickson (then Provost), VP Pangborn, VP Sims & VP Poole

Working relationship with over 80% of Presidents Council, having presented there multiple times on the

state of student life

Seat at all Board of Trustees meetings along with Faculty Senate President from 2008-2010

Familiarity with the majority of the board members, including much of the executive committee

Knowledge of how the board operates & the committee structure

Executive Board Member of Alumni Council, sitting on council for two years

Strong ties with many of the key alumni staff & alumni council including Roger Williams

Honored by borough council for work with student government in 2010

Frequent meetings with Mayor, Borough Council & Borough Manager

Continued presence in student life, deeply engaged with current Student Government Leaders

Sister was involved with Greek Life and graduated just this past May

Ive been privileged to develop relationships with many of the leaders

across the Penn State & State College community.


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Building the Future whileHonoring our pastStructure & Approach


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Build the path forward for generations of

Penn Staters to come

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Ensure Penn State applicationsnumbers continue to rise and stay

above pre-persecution levels (over

100k applicants each year).

Live up to our land-grant mission,by directly advocating for increased

state-funding and limiting tuition

hikes.

Provide academic colleges with theright funding sources & facilities in

order to attract top faculty talent.

Source: collegian.psu.edu Source: huck.psu.edu/about/news-archive/nobel-prize-winner-joins-

penn-state


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Honor the legacy of Joe & Sue Paterno

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I wholeheartedly agree with the decision to keep the Paterno name on the

library, yet more needs to be done to adequately live up the promise of

honoring the Paterno legacy.

A void & emptiness remains in the Penn State community.

Source: statecollege.com/news/local-news/mcqueary-put-on-indefinite-leave-

erickson-announces-promise-to-penn-state-community,930768/

Source: espn.go.com


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Get back on the offensive by highlighting

the successes of Penn Staters

15 Source: online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704358904575477643369663352

Promote the work of our faculty,

students & alumni whose collective

works are helping to shape a better

world.

Work with the NCAA to remove

the bowl bans for the final twoyears & give our boys the

opportunity to compete on a level

playing field.

Ensure the world knows that whenit comes to job placement, Penn

State is #1 and will continue to be.

Wall Street Journal ranks Penn State #1 for Job Recruitment


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Increasing the role of Elected AlumniTrustees, Students FacultyUniversity Governance & Board Reform


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Re-evaluate the board structure including

centricity of power in non-elected trustees

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Only one elected alumni is on the Executive Committee of the Board of

Trustees

Only 9 of the trustees are alumni voted, leaving a major majority up to

appointments

Only alumni

trustee on

Executive

Committee

Source: psu.edu/trustees


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Student President & Faculty Chair will have

dedicated weekly time at Presidents Council

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Student

Body

President

Faculty

Senate

Chair

Informed

Presidents

Council

Source: psu.edu/this-is-penn-state/leadership-and-mission/our-

administration


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Committees are where Board Decisions are

made & need a Student/Faculty Presence

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Under Chairman Peetz, student

presence was expanded to be invitedto certain committees

Go Further: Expand Ex OfficioMembership to designated studentand faculty leaders for all committees

Utilizing the Office of Student Affairs& Student Governing Bodies, identifystudents with backgrounds that alignto the board (i.e. Student BarAssociation President on theLegal/Compliance Committee)

Work with Faculty Senate & CollegeDeans to identify Facultyrepresentatives whose field of studyaligns

Source: psu.edu/trustees


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Continued focus on preventing high-risk

drinking & stigma of Party Culture

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In conjunction with Student

Affairs, develop asubcommittee to examineapproaches to prevent high-risk & excessive drinking

Partner with Student Leaders

to implement real-worldsolutions, like I did asPresident including the WhiteLoop 4:30am extension andMedical Amnesty Legislation

Work with downtownbusiness district to discusscollaborative approaches toavoid ongoing problems

Source: centredaily.comSource: onwardstate.com Source: collegian.psu.edu


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Financial Optimization StabilityEnsuring an Affordable Penn State


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Identify cost saving & options to consolidate

functions while keeping productivity

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For years Penn State has touted

doing more, with less, but thereality of this statement has nevertruly been quantified.

As a Consultant, I specialize inassessing operational spend &identifying multi-millions in savings

for some of the leading companiesin the world.

University of Indiana & other largeuniversities have conducted theseassessments, which have shown true

savings could be realized. Put the dollars in education, by

focusing spending on academicfaculty & support roles.

It's allowed us

to do more with

less

Source: campustechnology.com/Articles/2003/07/Transforming-the-

Academic-Enterprise-A-Conversation-with-Graham-Spanier.aspxc


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Support the Campaign for Penn State

Students & Build our Endowment

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As The Campaign for Penn State Students winds down, it is essential

that we evaluate the dollars raised against the goal. Additionally, we must

immediately begin looking forward to planning the timing of the next

campaign & ensure it meets our universitys fiscal needs.

I attended the kick off dinner for the Campaign for Penn

State Students, where Paterno led the fundraising charge.

Source: statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-announces-2-

billion-fundraising-goal,397496/


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One UniversityGeographically DispersedPromoting the Commonwealth


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Ensure the commonwealth campuses have

an active voice in university decisions

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The board does a wonderful job of accommodatingtrustees in conference calls who are located across

the country, we need to take a similar approachwith our commonwealth campuses.

Hold breakfast/lunch during committeemeeting sessions with Vice President of

Commonwealth Campuses Madlyn Hanesin order to hear the voice of the campuses.

Highlight the work of ourcampuses and ensure they arepart of the Presidents address

during opening comments.


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Visit the campuses and understand their

unique successes & pain points

26 Source: studentaffairs.psu.edu

Once a year, the Board of Trustees hosts their meeting at a commonwealth campus.

This is not enough and more frequent presence is needed to have deeper knowledge

of each campus. Assign Trustees to specific campuses to serve as their direct support.


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Expanded Alumni Presencein University BoardsIncrease the Alumni Voice


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Launch website with open committee &

board roles for alumni to apply

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The goal is simple, spur greater involvement from our alumni in decisionmaking and put their Penn State education to work for the good of the

university.

Career Services utilizes a great platform called Symplicity where applicants

can apply at the click of a button to a particular job.

This service is already available to alumni, and should be expanded to include

alumni committees and boards for folks to apply.

Identify relevant

committee/boardroles

Click Apply &

Have resume/biosent to listing

Notify Applicant if

they have beenselected for aninterview


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Engage with Alumni Chapters, AIGs &

Societies across the country

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Alumni Interest Groups (AIGs)give alumni a creative way to stay connected withthe people they knew during their student years at Penn State. AIGs also give alumni a

way to interact and network with folks with similar interests after they leave Penn

State.

Chaptersare created by Penn State alumni and friends in specific geographic areas

to share their Penn State pride and to meet other Penn Staters living in their area. Tofind a chapter near you, click on the appropriate link or your state on the map.

Societiesconnect alumni to an academic unit such as the College of Agricultural

Sciences, the Graduate School, and Penn State Altoona. Every college and most Penn

State locations have a society.

The Alumni Association has an amazing structure of organized alumni groups. The

trustees need to better tap into these organizations to solicit constant feedback and

engage with our alumni leaders.

Avenues to Reach Alumni

Source: alumni.psu.edu


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Next StepsThe Road to Trustee

Vote for Gavin


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Support the Campaign & Learn More

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Please request a nomination form at the Trustees website. After

filling out the form, you will receive a nominations ballot within 24hours.

Nomination Request:www.psu.edu/trustees/2014election/

(Enter Gavin Keirans 2010 for nominations after ballot is received)

Learn More about Gavin Keirans & Get Involved:

Website:www.gavinkeirans.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/693089554056551

Twitter:www.twitter.com/gavinkeirans

LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/gavinkeirans
http://www.psu.edu/trustees/2014election/http://www.gavinkeirans.com/https://www.facebook.com/groups/693089554056551http://www.twitter.com/gavinkeiranshttp://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinkeiranshttp://www.linkedin.com/in/gavinkeiranshttp://www.twitter.com/gavinkeiranshttps://www.facebook.com/groups/693089554056551https://www.facebook.com/groups/693089554056551http://www.gavinkeirans.com/http://www.psu.edu/trustees/2014election/

gavin keirans — board of trustees platform

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