The first of three candidates for the dean position in the College of Veterinary Medicine presented her views on scholarship at a land grant university to a group of about 50 faculty members and students Wednesday.

Eleanor Myers Green, professor and chairwoman of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Florida, promoted scholarship and the importance of improving the quality of knowledge and learning shown by a student.

This aspect of the land grant university is just as important as research and extension, she said. Scholarship benefits the public as well as students, she said.

“The first step to promoting scholarship is that you must decide to do so,” Green said.

“Higher learning exists to promote scholarship.”

In her speech, Green emphasized the importance of Iowa State being the first land grant university in the country.

As a land grant university, the institution must be open to all, and practical subjects must be taught, Green said. In the end, the university gives its information and technology back to the community.

Knowledge gained must be shared with people throughout the state; knowledge is not static, she said. It flows from the laboratory to the classroom and then to industry and finally to the public.

This passage of knowledge makes scholarship vital to the land grant university mission, she said.

“The student is central to what we do,” Green said.

“A student ought to feel good about being here and [know] that we are invested in their education. It is important for us to guide them.”

When asked to comment on how she would direct staff, she said, “I am very comfortable by delegating.”

She said she believes the key to successful administration is to surround oneself with better people and let them do their work.

Green described her leadership methods with the term “servant leadership.” She said she would try to excite faculty and students about their programs and then give them freedom to complete them.

“I believe you should give everyone the opportunity to be great, and if someone chooses not to be good, they need to be held accountable for that,” Green said. “They have to have high standards and they have to meet them.”

At the University of Florida, Green was the first woman in the nation named chairwoman of a large animal department.

The next College of Veterinary Medicine open forum will feature Warwick Arden, professor and head of veterinary clinical medicine from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The third dean candidate is Dr. Laura Jill McCutcheon, acting associate vice president for academic affairs at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.