By Marcos Pena and Ryan Allen Wight
For this article, The Westerner had the privilege of speaking to the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Kenneth M. Rickson. Mr. Rickson’s record of service to the University dates back to 1975, when he was elected by his graduating class to serve for one year as an alumni trustee.
In fact, Mr. Rickson graduated from Western New England University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He graduated cum laude, was president of Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, participated in the Student Accounting Association, and was part of the Delta Mu Delta honors society.
He began his career at Price Waterhouse & Co., where his clients included insurance and manufacturing companies, non-profits, and foundations. After leaving Price Waterhouse, Mr. Rickson began to work at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company where he spent 39 years. He retired from MassMutual at the conclusion of 2017.
During his sit down with The Westerner, he described being appointed chairman of the Board of Trustees one of his “biggest honors.” The Board of trustees at Western New England University is the executive board whose role is an oversight and advisory capacity of the institution. The fiduciary responsibility borne by each trustee – and the Board collectively – encapsulates much more than financial investment in and accountability for this institution.
Indeed, the board has a moral investment in the University, and perhaps there is no better example of this than Rickson himself, who is “tremendously proud” of this institution.
Chairman Rickson tells us that the Board is responsible for ensuring that University operations adhere to a process. This is done by electing a governing body, and checking that the policies put in place are being honored.
It is crucial to note that the Board neither runs nor decides the actual operations at the university. Rather, the work of the sitting president, and his administration and staff, directly shapes and effects the university.
As an overseeing, advisory and invested body, the Board does approve both the annual list of graduates who have satisfied their degree requirements, and the budget that the administration has proposed. Hopefully, these two functions of Board oversight give a better idea of how our Trustees interact with the system of governance at WNE.
In terms of governance and policies, the Board is responsible for hiring the president, which was done not-so-long-ago – this was the search that chose Dr. Johnson to be the next president of the university.
One of Rickson’s most significant services to the University, its direction, and the life of its students, was presiding over the search committee for a new University President. The search committee would find and vet candidates, then recommend a candidate to the Board of Trustees, whose responsibility at that point was either to approve or reject that candidate.
The committee had been tasked with a very consequential process, complicated by the global pandemic, which had shut the world down right when the committee would have begun to meet with candidates.
Most interviews had to occur via zoom, but in the final stages of the recommendation process, Rickson and the rest of the committee could not be comfortable recommending a candidate with whom they had not interacted in person. So, the committee met with Dr. Johnson in the Golden Bear Garden by the Campus Center, and the rest became quick history.
In his over twenty years of service on the Board of Trustees, Rickson notes that it has been “amazing to watch the university change.” He continued by saying that in 1971 when he started his higher education, making phone calls could only happen via the closest payphone! He claimed that technology and resources have changed education.
He used science as an example, stating that while technology is advancing science rapidly, and it is great for society, higher learning institutions must work diligently to provide students with the most updated information in burgeoning fields.
Rickson was a first generation student, like many of the students today at Western New England University. During his time, however, commuters were the overwhelming population on campus.
He recalls that college was the best four years of his life in terms of growth. He did all of this by working a full time job while going to school, and shared that while many things have changed, many college students still have similar experiences.
An aspect of Western New England that has not changed has been the faculty support of the students. What has changed has been the amount of resources that are available to students now. By comparison to the past, WNE offers exceedingly robust resources and student support.
At the conclusion of our conversation, Rickson shared a mnemonic that he uses to outline the most important duties of being a trustee: work, wealth, wisdom. The long, hard work he’s done brought President Johnson to the University; with what he has, Chairman Rickson does sponsor an endowed scholarship here at WNE; and though quite unwilling to proclaim himself any kind of sage, Rickson wishes in earnest to benefit the institution through all he has seen and experienced over the years.
