Interview with Interim President Darrell Kulesza
- Skylar Raskevitz
- 17 hours ago
- 4 min read
The Dean College community has seen many years of transition and new leadership with Interim President Darrell Kulesza stepping into the role last May. After nearly two decades working at the college, Kulesza moved from his position overseeing campus operations and technology into the President’s office. The Dean Daily had the opportunity to sit down with him to discuss his transition into the role, the challenges and rewards of leadership, and his vision for the future of Dean.
Can you tell me a little bit about your position before? And then that transition period that you had here.
So, I've been at Dean now for 17 and a half years. I was the vice president of campus operations and CIO (Chief Information Officer). So, I oversaw, and still do IT facilities and campus police. So last May, the board voted me the interim president and now I've been in the role now for about 10 months. It's definitely challenging. You know, I've enjoyed it, I've been learning a lot. I really believe in the institution's mission. I believe in our faculty, our staff, and I really enjoy our students and the success of our students. There's no question that there are days that are more challenging than others, but I've learned a lot. It's been a good experience.
Is there any specific challenge that you felt you weren't aware of or weren’t expecting when transitioning into a new role?
Just being responsible for the entire campus. Responsible for all our faculty, all our staff, all of our students. I felt that in my prior role, I was responsible for faculty and staff and students, but in a different way. More so from making sure the facilities were in good order, making sure that our IT and things were working for our students and for our faculty, making sure that our faculty, staff, and students all felt safe.
Are you going to continue serving in this same role?
Right now, as the interim President, my contract goes until January 27th, and it really will be a board decision.
In this first year, it’s been more about getting your footing, figuring out how things operate. Do you now have more goals and structured planned for the future that you're focusing on?
I'd like to continue to grow our academic portfolio, potentially add some different degrees. Look at our athletic portfolio, add a couple of sports and then kind of lay out a long-term plan for our facilities and what we want to do with our facilities long term.
Looking back on this last year, what is an accomplishment that you're proud of in the role that you've had at Dean?
I'm really proud of our students, quite frankly. Just their accomplishments and I say this to everybody; our students are really talented. I love when I go to performances, I love going to athletic events and seeing our students perform both on the stage and on the field and in the classroom. Doing these various case studies, the camps, capstone projects, those are things that I'm proud of.
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How has your leadership changed in this new position?
I've had to be a little bit more disciplined. I try to be a fair and consistent leader, and that's been my mantra pretty much throughout my leadership career and my entire career as a leader. I try to be fair and consistent. I don't want people to be surprised by anything. So, I try to communicate, sometimes I'm an effective communicator, sometimes I'm not. But those are some of the things.
Did you know from a younger age or positions prior that you wanted to lead, and you were ready to lead big groups of people?
Yeah, it really kind of started in college. I was a resident director in college. In my senior year, I got voted Students Senate President and then my career just kind of evolved and I just pursued leadership roles and it just kind of grew from there.
Does any type of leadership ever scare you knowing that you have so much on your back or anything like that?
I don't think there's anything that scares me. There's no question you worry about certain things, but I wouldn't say that there's anything that really scares me. I think I've tried to get better at public speaking. All of us, when you're standing up in front of a crowd and you're looking at folks, you always are nervous. But over time, I've gotten better at that, but it's something that I have worked at and will continue to work at. I think no matter how much experience you have, you're always working at trying to become a better and more effective leader. You're always continuing to learn, trying to refine your skills, and always trying to be better at what you're doing.
What is a message to the seniors as their time comes to an end?
Dream big, work hard, lift others along the way, be kind, and never forget where you started.
What is a message to those coming to Dean for the first time, whether it's first year students, transfers, or anyone new joining us at Dean?
This school is about community. We are about student success. I think it's a great place to be. I think students will have the opportunity to grow and they'll have the opportunity, really to do whatever they choose to do, whether that's performing on the stage, performing on the athletic field, doing an internship at some business, doing some type of case study, or doing a capstone project. The world is kind of unlimited. You have a lot of opportunity, and our faculty will help you be successful. We have great faculty and they all want to help students be successful and to learn.
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