IU's president (for a day) gets taste of fast-paced schedule

Yesterday sophomore Tiffany Crowe became the president of IU. As the winner of the annual IU Student Foundation President for a Day contest, Crowe was given a view of what the day-to-day operations of IU entail.Throughout the course of her day, she was escorted by Sara McNabb, the executive assistant to President Myles Brand, to meetings with several vice presidents and other administrators.\nWhile Crowe was acting as president, Brand was keeping himself busy as well. Brand became a student for the day, and followed Crowe's regular Tuesday schedule.\nThe day started off at 8:30 a.m. with coffee at the Bryan House. From there Brand and Crowe set off for what would be a day of eye-opening experiences.\nOne of the challenges Crowe faced was that she did have very much down time. \n"The day was extremely fast paced. They kept me busy," Crowe said. \nShe was not given the opportunity to decide what her schedule would be -- characteristic of Brand's typical work day. Brand said each morning he gets a card that lists his agenda for the day.\n"I think everybody involved learned something," McNabb said. "I learned a lot about student attitudes as related to us by Tiffany."\nDuring the reception toward the end of the day in the Indiana Memorial Union, Brand and Crowe were able to reflect on how the day had gone and what they had learned. They both agreed that the day was enjoyable, and they had fun raising money for the IUSF general scholarship fund. \nCrowe's favorite aspect of the day was the way in which the administrators she met with treated her. \n"I thought it was great that the administration of such a huge University can listen to what I had to say and treat me like an adult," she said. "I think I underestimated the amount of work that the president does. It's complete interaction, working and collaborating."\nThe contest was brought to IU when Brand became president. This is the first year it has been in Bloomington for a few years because students on other campuses have gotten to participate in past years' contests.\nBecause the event has been happening annually since 1995, he said he has gotten a feel for the role of the student, and there were not any surprises.\n"I was reinforced in how good the faculty and students are. It may be more fun being a student than anything else at IU," Brand said.\nHe said he noticed, since he also teaches a course, that the viewpoint of the professor is much different than that of the student. The most challenging part of the day for Brand was finding his classes, he said. \nDuring the afternoon Crowe and McNabb were given a tour of the Theatre/Neal-Marshall Education Center. They said it was excellent and encouraged others to visit the facility.\nThe switch day gave several people a glimpse into a world they do not usually get to see. Crowe said the day has changed her outlook for the future and given her more options to consider when choosing a career. \n"I learned a lot about what IU wants for the students and what the vision is for the future," she said.