A Day In The Work Life Of Dr. George A. Goodman
By Susan Caba
Dr. George A. Goodman, D.C., F.I.C.C., has spent his adult life as a faculty member and administrator at Logan College of Chiropractic and assumed the presidency of the college on Jan. 1, 1993. Dr. Goodman, 64, graduated from Logan in 1968 and has been a member of the faculty for 37 years—exactly half the school’s 74-year lifetime.
During his tenure, the school reached the 1,000-students enrolled mark (in 1996; current enrollment is 1,143); reached debt-free status in 1995; and has substantially expanded its West County campus.
The school is accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. It has 45 full-time and 44 part-time faculty members, and when combined with administrators and staff, the school has 239 employees.
Dr. Goodman is a past president of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges; is a fellow of the International College of Chiropractic; has served as a United States representative of the Australian Council on Chiropractic and Osteopathic Education, and to the Canadian Council on Chiropractic Education’s Commission on Accreditation. He was one of five chiropractic physicians on the U.S. Department of Defense Oversight Advisory Committee spearheading a law mandating chiropractic care for active duty military personnel and their families. In addition, he is active in state and local arts and education organizations.
Dr. Goodman and his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Goodman—he refers to her as “Dr. Liz”—live in St. Charles County. She is dean of the college’s university programs, which includes the new master’s degree in sports science rehabilitation.
What’s the most efficient or productive time of day for you?
“It’s a full day and it begins early with Liz and I exercising, answering our e-mails and phone calls from the night before. Office work begins at 8:30 a.m. with a normal graduate school workday. Most evenings involve fundraising activities lasting until 9 p.m.
“The days are spent administrating the day-to-day work that we do. During the day, there are constant meetings, many, many phone calls, issues in state government, and student groups to deal with—we meet with students on a very regular basis.
“The real work of a college president is between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. We are a private not-for-profit institution and fundraising is our lifeblood. Four out of the five evenings, we’re entertaining or having dinner with groups of alumni or fundraising in some other way. Three out of four weekends, we’re out on the road.”
What is the most creative aspect of
your work? What is the least creative
or least satisfying?
“It is the ability to provide a vision to the institution. It is looking at student development—that’s the most creative part of the job. Students are our most significant priority. We have a short period of time to mold individuals here into health care providers. We are creating the environment for them to reach their potential.
“We are a small campus and we are able to connect with individual students on a personal basis. We have lunches with
students, coffee meetings and even invite them to our home. Small group discussion is very vital. We have groups interested in athletics, others in research, others who are totally immersed in chiropractic. We want input from students.”
One of the big topics on campus is the nationalization of health care, both on an individual business basis and on a national basis, says Dr. Goodman.
“This question is always there. The subject of national health care has us in uncharted waters. We just met with our student doctors council, the executive council of student government, on this topic.”
He can’t identify an unsatisfying aspect of his job: “You serve and you know once you sign on and accept this responsibility, you want to do your best, you want to leave the place better than you found it. I don’t know if there is a negative. I was very fortunate to attain this appointment as president and I enjoy serving the institution.”
What motivates or inspires you?
“To serve our students and our community, and to serve the chiropractic community.”
How do you use devices and electronics—Blackberries, cell phones, etc.—to manage workflow? Are they, on balance, more often a tool or a hindrance?
“Yes! (It’s a tool and a hindrance). It’s a
hindrance when I’m out of town and it doesn’t work. Have you tried to find a pay phone recently?”
There is laughter from Dr. Liz Goodman. “We actually stay real, real current with all the options,” she says. “We take a computer with us and we have a virtual private network (VPN) set up. The advantage we have traveling together is we use different (mobile phone) systems. We seem to be able to always have a network that way—we’ve got all the bases covered.”
“We’re so dependent on technology,” says Dr. Goodman. “You need something, you get us—all the students have the president’s e-mail. They know how to reach me.”
What is the most distracting element of your workday/workweek? How do you manage it?
“It’s that when one thing happens, ten things happen. It is the apparent perceived crisis that four or five or six individuals are tugging at you to respond to. Technology causes the need for instant response. That’s when the beat of the heart goes up…and that is not a good cardio workout! I like
to have my cardio workout at 6 in
the morning.”
If there is one thing you would like to do differently in the average workday, what is it? Why don’t you do it?
“I’d like to read more. It’s difficult to take complex areas that need study and to just get my hands and arms around a topic. It’s gaining that intricacy of understanding that’s difficult to find time for.”
Do you have a Kindle
reading device?
They both laugh: “We’ve just decided that we need to buy one. We have two birthdays coming up next month and I think there will be a Kindle in our future. We have friends who have them and colleagues at other colleges, and they love them.”
What about students—are there Kindles in their futures?
“In the health care profession, the classic textbook …is fairly old world, there is great emphasis on the text book. It’s a mix of the old and the new. Maybe Kindles will be useful in the future.”
Do you work differently while
traveling than in your office?
“No, in fact sometimes the hours are longer.”
“We just got a nine-inch Dell mini-computer,” adds Dr. Liz. “We can bring our work anywhere. Technology is wonderful in that regard.”
What are some of your rules
for success?
“It sounds old fashioned, but the first one is pure hard work. The second is ethical values. Thirdly, kindness. We try to treat individuals the way we like to be treated.”
“We are sought out by many people for something that they feel they need,” Dr. Liz adds. “You can’t always give them what they feel they need, but you can always give them kind treatment.”
