Rowing champ hopes to help students succeed in future
Steven Estes has been named the Dean of Professional Studies and will join Western on July 1, 2007.
Estes, who is currently the coordinator of the sport management program in the department of exercise and sport science at East Carolina University, has a vast academic record and specific ideas on the nature of a university’s responsibilities.
“The first mission is to help kids – young adults – become citizens,” Estes said. “We use the ‘body of knowledge’– through reading, discussion, thinking, professional experiences
and so on. If a university does its job well, then students have the opportunity to grow, and that growth is a lot of fun to be around, and I like to help those processes. A dean develops
and distributes resources to make the above missions come alive.”
Jeanne Daffron, assistant vice president for academic and student affairs and interim graduate dean, detailed the nature of the position that Estes would be assuming.
“The dean handles the administrative responsibilities for all the programs in that college,” Daffron said. “There are seven departments in that college. The Dean has oversight responsibilities for the programs and personal and operating budgets of that college.”
Professional studies include seven departments: business; education; nursing; military science; health, physical education and recreation; engineering and technology; and criminal justice and legal studies.
Estes plans to put his skills as the coordinator of a sport management program to work in his new position.
“I like working in groups – I always have,” Estes said. “So, I tend to bring people together, and we get our work done together. I try to build teams, and my experiences as an athlete and coach seem to have really helped me here.”
Julia Schneider, director of the library and search committee chair, said that one of the considerations in hiring the new dean was the development of graduate programs at Western.
“[Estes] had a lot of experience with graduate programs – which we liked – which will certainly help us as we move toward our own graduate program, which was very exciting.” Schneider said.
While not at work, Estes is involved in sports. He took 7th place in the 1982 World Rowing championship.
“I was a rower in college and clubs, and I still row a bit,” Estes said. “I’ll head down to Kansas City occasionally and row there in the club. Rowing is a sport where you sit down, go backwards, can’t see where you’re going, and can’t remember where you’ve been.”
Estes, his wife Betty and one of their teenage daughters, Erin, will be moving to St. Joseph on May 1.
“We will visit St. Joe in the next few weeks for house hunting purposes,” Estes said. “Erin will be trying out for teams at Central High School, so she will come with us and get to see St. Joe in the next few weeks.”
In the short time that Estes had to see the community, he said he was left with a positive impression.
“I loved it,” Estes said. “One can see the horizon in St. Joe. That seems a small thing, but here one can see only to the top of the nearest pine tree! So the horizon is pretty close, and St. Joe enjoys that expansive Midwestern landscape. Most importantly, the people are very, very nice and welcoming. Betty noticed the same thing – we are people people, and the friendly atmosphere is welcoming.”
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