After having served as university president for her first semester, Martha Burger remains focused on the goals she set when elected.
Burger took office July 1 as the 18th university president and the first female in the office. She was inaugurated Nov. 1. Burger is close to completing her first semester as president and recently celebrated 100 days in office.
Burger said she tries to do her best for the university in fundraising and making OCU more of a name within the community. She also said her struggle to balance time spent with students, fundraising and having a personal life has been the biggest challenge so far.
Becoming president
The formal inauguration ceremony Nov. 1 was followed by a dinner and music on the quad for the campus community. Almost 400 students attended the dinner, Burger said.
“It went great,” Burger said. “It exceeded my expectations, and it was a great, fun event.
In her inaugural speech, Burger spoke about OCU staying relevant and being attainable for more students.
“I envision an OCU available to all students who are willing to work hard,” she said.
She said she will strive to improve wages for faculty and staff. To do that, she will continue her work with fundraising and community outreach to bring in revenue for the university.
“It is important to compensate people for the work they do,” she said.
Burger said she has a positive outlook for OCU.
“The future for OCU is as bright as the brightest star,” she said.
Burger said the music at the event was a positive experience for all.
“The music was unbelievably wonderful. There was not a dry eye in the house,” she said.
Burger said she wanted people who knew her but didn’t know OCU to leave the inauguration ceremony knowing that OCU is “something special.”
“It was really just about the unbelievable inclusivity and diversity that we have here, and I love that,” Burger said. “It certainly wasn’t about me, it was just about everybody coming together.”
Being president
Burger said the job doesn’t allow her to spend as much time with students as she would like.
“I do a lot of external things that are important and need to be done, but they’re not as fun. They’re mission-driven, but it’s not the same as being around the students,” she said.
Burger said she is proud of the cohesive campus environment she has helped build so far and the way OCU is viewed by the outside community.
“I think we’ve generated and are continuing to generate a lot of excitement and interest in OCU from the community,” Burger said.
Using her time wisely and attempting to attend everything she can while still making time for herself have been the biggest challenges, Burger said.
“I haven’t been surprised by too much,” Burger said. “I’m challenged by just fitting in all of the kind of extra things that aren’t office-related.”
Burger recently judged the Homecoming Lip Sync competition and saw the spotlight musical Little Women on campus. She said living on campus in Wilson House, the university-owned house for the president, makes it easier to attend things on campus.
But her focus has been and will continue to be fundraising, Burger said.
“We have some projects that really need to be funded, and those are exciting to work on,” Burger said.
Some of Burger’s goals revolve around dorm renovations, scholarships, online learning, and laboratory reconstruction. She said a new annual fund initiative just went out, and officials are in the process of hiring a new director of alumni relations.
“That doesn’t sound exciting to other people, but it’s what makes the wheels go ’round. We’ll all be excited with the outcome,” Burger said.
Burger said she wants to attend as many Thunder games as possible, is looking forward to enjoying the Christmas holiday and would like to have some fundraising success before the end of the year.
Natalie Gregg, English/education junior, said she appreciates that Burger is involved in the campus.
“She seems like a really excellent fit for the university,” Gregg said. “She’s got a real emotional connection to OCU.”
Contributing: Associate Editor Emily Wollenberg and Web Editor Jessica Vanek.
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