Bethel Focus                                                                                      A Magazine for Alumni & Friends of Bethel University

Trustee Brings Corporate Expertise to Bethel

If Don Phillips is anything, he's the epitome of the Southern gentleman. Reserved, soft-spoken and deferential, this Mississippi man would be the last person to tell you much about his many accomplishments. Like his almost 30 years with International Minerals and Chemical Corporation, including serving as president of two of its four business units. And the year he spent in England reorganizing European operations for Pitman-Moore, an animal health company. Then there's his background in accounting, MBA from the University of Mississippi, experience teaching accounting on the college level, and honorary doctor of law degree from his alma mater Mississippi College. And the fact that this "board junkie," as he calls himself, recently realized he was serving on 21 boards and committees at the same time. For example, he's currently chairman of the board of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, the world's largest producer of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, and is a board member for Great Lakes Real Estate Investment Trust in Chicago. Plus, he holds positions on the Mississippi College board, the Holmes Community College Development Foundation, the Mynelle Gardens Botanical Society, the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, and the Mississippi Alternative Energy Project.

But one board that stands out above all the rest is the Bethel Board of Trustees. In fact, since 1982 when George K. Brushaber became president of Bethel University, Phillips has been associated with the institution in one way or another. He has served terms on the Bethel Board of Trustees, the Bethel Foundation Board of Governors, the Baptist General Conference Board of Overseers and on the task force charged with restructuring BGC denominational operations.

Today Phillips is retired—if you don't count all those boards—and lives with Sue, his wife, in Brandon, Miss. For 20 years, however, they were residents of Chicago and still are members of Skokie Valley Baptist Church in Wilmette.

Phillips said he considers his experience in corporate and non-profit decision-making as one of his greatest contributions to the many leadership positions he has held over the years. That and his ability to listen. "My number one gift probably is that I am a good listener to the views of others before drawing conclusions of my own," he said.

That ability served him well recently when he headed up Bethel's Trustee Task Force on Governance, charged with the task of examining the merits of a move to a university form of organization and governance (see sidebar). The group weighed input from Bethel community members and researched several models of governance before making its recommendations to the full board.

Phillips' personal vision for Christian education at Bethel would be "to bring the same strengths to the college graduate programs as are now in place in the undergraduate programs," he said. "Never before has there been such a great need for Christian leadership, not just in business, but in all organizations around us. Bethel can play a major role in bringing this about."

Bethel U? In October, the Bethel Board of Trustees appointed a task force chaired by Dr. Don Phillips to bring recommendations to the board regarding the merits of moving Bethel University to a university form of organization and governance. Bethel recently was reclassified by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education as a "University—Masters I" institution, and, as such, is being compared to and ranked alongside other institutions organized on a university model. It is anticipated that because of the existing doctorate of ministry at the seminary and with the recent addition of the college Ed.D. program, that Bethel soon will be moved to the doctoral level within Carnegie's university classification. Bethel already has many characteristics of a university, according to the task force report. Currently the residential college and seminary enjoy extensive academic and curricular autonomy while drawing heavily on central support services, it said. The task force determined that a university model would make it possible for Bethel's Center for Graduate and Continuing Studies to operate with a similar level of autonomy and that it would encourage innovation and entrepreneurship through the establishment of additional operating units. It would also strengthen the financial viability of the institution and allow for greater financial accountability, according to the report. The Board of Trustees approved the task force recommendation that Bethel establish a university organizational and governance structure and that an implementation plan be presented at the May 2003 meeting of the board. Bylaw changes related to Bethel's organization and structure will be presented for ratification to delegates of the biennial meeting of the Bethel Corporation in Fresno, Calif., in June 2004.