In this episode of Talk Humboldt, the hosts turn the mic inward for a rare roundtable conversation with three college presidents reflecting on leadership, people skills, and the personal paths that shape public service.
Recorded on the very first day on the job for Cal Poly Humboldt President Richard Carvajal and now-Sonoma State University President Michael Spagna, the discussion brings together Carvajal, College of the Redwoods President Keith Flamer, and outgoing Talk Humboldt co-host Michael Spagna for a conversation about humility, mobility, and succeeding in higher education.
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Ed note: This is the second part of this conversation, and here's part one. Talk Humboldt continues in its regular format with the next episode.
TRANSCRIPT:
ANNCR: Previously on Talk Humboldt.
CARVAJAL: You obviously don't go from spending your nights sleeping in the back of a car to sitting in the seat I'm sitting in now easily. And, and unfortunately, it doesn't happen often enough.
ANNCR: Talk Humboldt explores North Coast jobs and the people behind them. And today's show is a bit different. Instead of going out to someone's workplace, this is a roundtable discussion between three college presidents about their jobs. If you missed the first installment, you can hear it at khsu.org. But for now, here's part two of that conversation between Keith Flamer from College of the redwoods, Michael Spagna of Sonoma State, and Richard Carvajal, new president of Cal Poly Humboldt, recorded on January 20th, Carvajal's first day on the job.
SPAGNA: So if we could in our conversation now to turn a little bit towards what are some takeaways we have from serving in these roles? I'll kick it off here. Having been at Cal Poly Humboldt and now this is my first day at Sonoma State University … from my perspective, it all comes down to relationships. So, it comes down to relationships of being present, being engaged to actively listening. This is fundamental thing is that, a president in many ways, is the face and voice of a university. And so it matters that we're thoughtful and you treat everybody with dignity and respect. So that's an insight I lead off with.
CARVAJAL: Dr. Flamer, you want to go next?
FLAMER: I agree with everything that President Spagna talked about. I would add on to it a couple things. One is that it's not just the respect of others. Q uite frankly, it's the love that we have for the people that we work with. And I know it's hard for us to talk about that particular four letter word as we talk about our work, because, yes, it's about revenues and expenditures. But I would expand that. It's the care that we have for not just our students, but our colleagues. We can't be successful unless our colleagues are successful in the classroom and outside the classroom. Our institutions can't be healthy and moving forward unless our community is also healthy and moving forward together. So I see my job really as one of communicating the positiveness of the institution, but also leading into the collaboration that we all have to have as we move forward together.
CARVAJAL: Well, I think our listeners have gotten a sense of why I'm learning from these two great leaders. A couple things come to mind here for me. One, I very much understand that nobody ever says, ‘well, my institution is great because of my president’.
FLAMER: Yes.
CARVAJAL: Right. Like the magic of what we do happens elsewhere. It happens in the classroom. It happens with the staff that support what happens in the classroom. It happens with those mentors that we were talking about before. And the people that show the love. And, and I try never to forget that. I try to, what I see as my job. And I think our spending. You kind of reference this as being cheerleader in chief, that I get to tell the stories of the great things that are happening of the lives that are that are being changed. And then the second thing is, is that in the 15 years that I've been a president, I think I've made the worst mistakes. When I started trusting myself too much.
FLAMER: Yes.
CARVAJAL: I see you're right. Or I like I, I'm just really not that smart. I understand that I do my best work when I listen to other really, really smart people.
FLAMER: Absolutely right.
CARVAJAL: And that's, you know, so I've been very clear that I don't come in saying, hey, just get on my back here at Humboldt now and I'll get you there. I know the I know where we should be headed. No, I come in with a process where what my job is, is to ask the questions to facilitate the opportunity for people who already know and love this place to give the answers. And then what I'm doing is just listening for what are the things I say over and over again, because those are the things. And then my job can be, how do I help us all move together on that same path? Because I believe that group of people who know this place, who love this place, if you can get them moving in the same direction, there's really almost nothing you can't accomplish.
FLAMER: You know, one, one, one mentor that I had when I first got the job was just remember that you're not the smartest person in the room, nor will you ever be the smartest person in the room. But you surround yourself with super smart people, right? And that is what's what's really key is, is to remember that as I walk into any classroom, any meeting, there's so many more smart people around me and to use them. And that's what's important. Yeah. That's right. Absolutely. That's very good.
CARVAJAL: I had one of my vice presidents walk into my office one time, and the listeners will get to know you, my wife, doctor Cheryl Carvel Hall. But he walked into my office one time, and he had he had cause to interact with her on something he said. He said, Richard, I don't want to offend you, but your wife is so much smarter. You are. And I said, I know, and, surround yourself with good people. What you just said resident. And, and you're going to do. Okay.
FLAMER: Yeah, absolutely.
SPAGNA: I think the listeners can feel that the three of us love our jobs. I don't think that there's been any bigger honor in a career than serving as an educator. You know, and I think our roles are only second right behind being a parent or a family member in terms of entrusting, being entrusted with, working with young people and, people coming back to school and getting it good. Get being able to see that hope.
CARVAJAL: So, commencement is my absolute favorite. And I have every year, everyone who's ever worked with me in my past knows that I will talk to every student who goes by. We're going to work to make our commencement here. Awesome. We're getting, I think, to the end of our time here. I want to thank my two colleagues for the opportunity to get together and to do this today. Obviously. And in future episodes, we'll dive into, together with that final dive into the good work that are, again, much smarter people than us are doing. But it's been fun to get together today and just to have this conversation. I know I speak for you as well. President flamer would be remiss if we didn't give, President Spanier a huge final. Thank you. This will be the last time that, the listeners will get a chance to hear from him as he moves off and does great work now at Sonoma State. But what a difference you have made. You came in at a time of real need. So thank you for everything you've given to Humboldt County, to the North Cal region, and to this institution in particular. President flamer, I look forward very much to, our continuing partnership. If the listeners don't get this, we hit it off. We had a we had a ball the other night and, and so I, I've made a true friend and, he clearly is a difference maker, is incredibly well respected for a reason, a reason in this region. And, Keith, I hope you'll, continue to be my teacher, and I'm just starting this journey, but. But I'm starting in a place where I'm getting to come home. And I told a group, a little while ago, they were. They were asking me a was an emotional walking around on my first day as president. And the story I shared was that the night before, the world found out that I was coming to be the president. I was finally in a position where I could tell my mother when I say she ugly cried, I mean, she ugly cried. You couldn't get a sentence out. And she just said, I love Humboldt County. It is that personal to my family. And I can't wait to work with everyone here to continue to make a region that is already a place that I call home. Even better.
FLAMER: Well, then, welcome home.
CARVAJAL: Welcome home. Thank you very much.
ANNCR: That's new talk. Humboldt co-host Richard Carvajal, president of Cal Poly Humboldt, along with KR president Keith Flamer. And today marks the last episode for Michael Spano. And we wish him all the best. Don't forget to subscribe to the Talk Humboldt podcast or listen to past episodes at khsu.org. Produced at Cal Poly Humboldt.