Taki-ng Control

Constantine "Taki" Papadakis, Drexel's latest president, is all business.

By Scott Farmelant

Here's the story for Drexel University: enrollment is down and fiscal pressure is up. Faculty have not received a raise since Sept. 1993. And the price of a Drexel education ($13,000 for tuition) isn't getting any cheaper.

So why is Constantine "Taki" Papadakis — university president since August — smiling, even laughing?

Perhaps because Papadakis is out to change how a university behaves. Instead of offering education, Papadakis sells "product." Instead of helping students, Papadakis provides "service." Instead of slashing budgets, Papadakis demands "fiscal accountability."

Call it the case of an academic businessman trying to make sure that everybody gets their money's worth.

From 5 a.m. meetings with office cleaners tocommunity meetings lasting well into the night, Papadakis is delighting Drexel with a high-energy approach to higher ed. While it's too early to declare victory over past ills, Papadakis seems to be making a difference.

Papadakis looks far different from former president Richard Breslin. Labeled "imperious," Breslin's six-and-a-half years were marked by intimidation of striking employees, a wage freeze, and layoffs among support staff, many of whom had worked at Drexel for 30 years.

Moreover, Drexel faced the threat of millions in state government cutbacks. A reported $12 million shortfall loomed by 1996 with nearly half of that amount due in academics.

All the while, Breslin basked in the comfort of an $87,000 expense account (complete with a chauffeured Lexus), a $210,000 salary and a $570,000 estate in Rosemont. Breslin's lifestyle raised eyebrows both within and outside the university.

Drexel's problems haven't abated. Where 1,500 frosh entered school in 1990, 1,000 enrolled this year. Where money once abounded, potential deficits loom. Still, in his first three months, Papadakis has tackled the issues, energizing the student body and the faculty along the way.

In reshaping the campus, however, Papadakis does not rule from on high. The president prefers challenging staff to utilize internal resources, indeed to brainstorm, in order to improve matters.

Take Papadakis' approach to the university's mailing and printing operation. Administration pegged the department as a money loser and thought of contracting the services. Rather than kill a department, though, Papadakis sat down with staff and issued an ultimatum: modernize, economize and come up with a way to make profits, or be gone.

Papadakis added one more thing. Come back with a plan in one week.

Nine days later, the department head promised to reduce mailing costs by 60 percent via leasing of modern machines that read bar codes.

Papadakis' response?

"I said, 'That's not good enough,'" recalls Papadakis. "I said, 'You did not hear me. I told you to make money, not save money.'"

Given an extra week, the department decided to increase Xerox charges to the university community. Prices would rise from 4.3 per copy to 4.5. The additional revenue would cover the lease for the new mailing equipment in addition to generating profit.

"[The staff] probably thought I was crazy," says Papadakis of his demand for profit, not savings. "[But] that is the spirit I want."

The anecdote falls under Papadakis'"customer" approach to education. One goal is to "service" 7,000 undergraduates with improved education and jobs in the university's cooperative education program (all Drexel undergraduates spend 18 months in a professional setting, earning an average $10, 600 over a six-month span). Another goal is improved working conditions among faculty and staff as the workforce shrinks via attrition.

Papadakis' goals mean carving leaner budgets until enrollment surges. Because Drexel obtains approximately 70 percent of its $131.2 million operating budget from tuition, the university must do more with less. Papadakis welcomes the challenge.

"A lot of companies have downsized," he smiles. "Downsizing is 'right-sizing' sometimes. It allows us to focus our programs, to better service our students. Sometimes smaller is more beautiful."

Then Papadakis grows more serious. The real issue, he stresses, "is what is the right size for Drexel?"

"It is different today than 10 years ago and different than it will be in 2000," says Papadakis. Nodding to Phil Terranova, Drexel's public relations man, Papadakis says, "The challenge is, what do you say?"

"Rolling with the punches," responds Terranova.

"That's it," laughs Papadakis. "Rolling with the punches."

Drexel is "not necessarily hurting," notes Papadakis. The university recently topped its 10-year endowment drive to raise $100 million. But the key to "the business of education," insists Papadakis, is "bottom-up management."

Here, the Papadakis administration gives departments fiscal goals and urges priorities within cash constraints. By year's end, says Papadakis, the administration hopes to reconcile goals with the bottom line to everybody's satisfaction.

"Our challenge is, 'How can we help them achieve their objectives?'" says Papadakis. "This is the bottom line."

While creating a feel-good atmosphere, Papadakis will make tough calls. He has promised faculty raises in January, but hikes will average a mere two-and-a-half percent, well below cost-of-living hikes. And raises will be "merit-based," says Papadakis. "Some will get more, some will get less." Further, Papadakis has no plans for raises after '96.

"No reasonable businessman would commit to more without the business plans in place," he says.

Following Breslin's tumultuous tenure (not to mention the days of former president Willard Gaither, who resigned in 1987 following a sexual harassment scandal), Papadakis can't help but look like an improvement. But he seems to go further than anybody would expect.

Indeed, how many university presidents are likely to blurt, "I don't have the answer to that question" during an interview?How many commit to visiting every department and actually spend a day in each learning the ropes? How many invite professors at random for breakfast and "shooting the breeze" every week?

John Gruber, editor of Drexel's student newspaper The Triangle, describes Papadakis' warm reception as "a little bit weird."

"He hasn't really done much that had not been set in motion already but he's really popular," says Gruber. "It's been a very optimistic response."

Gruber notes that the university has been "trying to sell" Papadakis "as a celebrity," a plan that seems to be working. Gruber notes that Papadakis dazzled observers in August during a whirlwind 28-day span in which the president met and/or dined with big-time Drexel alums across the East while prepping for the '95-96 school year. '

All told, Papadakis vows Drexel will benefit from his upbeat management style.

"Come back in a year and I will show you the results."