Day in the Life: Jeff Frederick

By 8:30 a.m., Drury President Jeff Frederick is standing in the middle of his office, raring to go.

Two hours earlier, before the sun was up, the 62-year-old walked from the President’s House on campus to his Burnham Hall office. The heart of room 102 is a set of chairs arranged for face-to-face conversation.

In the quiet, he answers emails, reads local and national news sites, and calls Melinda, his wife of 34 years. They’d just traveled to Florida to stay goodbye to her father, Gary Wilson, and she’d stayed behind to help plan the funeral.

Tucked in his suit jacket is a piece of paper with the packed agenda for the day. Each night, he jots down the next day’s schedule because pulling out a folded sheet – or gently touching the face of his watch to check the time – are less conspicuous ways to stay on track. They help him stay present and off his cellphone.

First up was the Breech building, across Drury Lane, for an update on the university’s engineering program. He is greeted by department chair Bob Throne, who helped launch the electrical and mechanical engineering degrees in 2024.

Flanked by engineering faculty members Lori Olson and Seth Pearl, Frederick checks out student projects on display. He tours a machine shop and classrooms with long benches, where safety features – including a power kill switch – are highlighted.

Enrollment in the fledgling program hovers just under 20. It is designed to grow with demand.

“Springfield needs and deserves an engineering program that is wholly based in Springfield,” Frederick says. “It was an investment in our university, in our staff, but also in our community.”

Next up is a tour of the Benton Avenue Educational Center, a shuttered African Methodist Episcopal church under renovation for campus use. The project started before his arrival but Frederick, a student of history, has a keen interest.

The front entrance was still blocked so Frederick, joined by chief of staff Aaron Jones, enter from the back, He walks through the former kitchen and fellowship hall on the lower level that Alex Riddle, executive director of facilities, says will “be used primarily for education purposes.”

Up the stairs, the original pews are being reinstalled in the sanctuary. He gets an update on what work still remains.

“I’m usually here once a month,” Frederick says, pulling a master key out of his pocket. “What’s nice is I have a magic key and because I’m not only an employee but a resident, I can help myself to a lot of our spaces.”

After the tour, Frederick guest-lectures in Charles Taylor’s communication and civil engagement class. Up the stairs at Shewmaker Communications Center, he enters the class and immediately engages with students. He knows many by name.

“What’s going on, man. Are you good?” he asks a student athlete, who responds that he is on the mend.

Taylor introduces Frederick, noting he worked in business before entering academia.

“What you may not know is that he is also a really, really good guy. … He has really good taste in music, and he does a killer air guitar imitation of Johnny Cash,” he says.

Frederick is easygoing and attentive with students but once the lecture starts, he projects his voice, filling the space. He switches into storyteller mode, moving across the room, varying his tone and cadence to retain students’ interest.

Frederick makes a case for living a more engaged life, using examples from American history. He quotes Thomas Jefferson, author and theologian Frederick Buechner, and rock musician Warren Zevon to make his points. He says Drury students should master old-fashioned practical thinking, be people-smart and data savvy, stay hungry for change, and acquire intergenerational acumen and emotional intelligence.

Frederick says he wants to hear from students: “That’s why you see me out and about with my silly dog running around, popping into your meetings, coming to your events,” he says. “I can’t know what you need unless I’m around you, unless you feel comfortable to tell me what you think you need.”

He argues the rate of change in the world has accelerated and students must become adaptable, versatile and capable.

“Fifteen years from now, long after you’ve graduated, long after you’ve made your way in whatever your chosen calling is going to be, you’re going to pull some skill out from some class – out of the backpack you carry with you from Drury – and you’re going to deploy it,” he says.

After class, Frederick greets students while crossing Drury Lane for a meeting with Brian Fogle, executive in residence, at the O’Reilly Enterprise Center. Frederick, ending his second year, is crafting a new strategic plan with help from Fogle, former president of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. The last one is nearly a decade old.

“I thought the best thing I could do is spend a year here, gauge the temperature in the community and on campus, get to know us in terms of our students but also our balance sheet,” Frederick explains.

Drury has spent the school year surveying stakeholders and studying benchmark institutions to develop goals involving student success, talent retention and sense of place.

“We didn’t need to change the operating system, we needed to change some of the code,” Frederick says. “We have to start thinking about what does the student need for the next 25 years, the next 50 years.”

Fogle notes colleges are facing strong headwinds and some are folding.

“I would just commend this guy. He is the right person at the right time,” Fogle says.

After the meeting, Frederick stops by an employee benefits fair at Olin Library. He talks to Jennifer Baltes, director of human resources, about the value of tuition remission.

After one year, employees can receive a tuition waiver to pursue a degree or certificate. After three years in the job, the benefit is also available to their children.

“Drury is a family affair,” she says. “If you go here, you want your kids to go here.”

Frederick makes the rounds, talking with employees before departing for lunch at the Findlay Student Center. Before making a salad, he stops at a display where students were encouraging classmates to sign up as organ donors. He chats with tables of employees and students. Frederick admits he rarely sits down for lunch, especially in weeks packed with off-campus meetings, but makes it a priority to be in each campus building – except residence halls – every two weeks.

After a post-lunch break to call his wife, Frederick reports to Bay Hall for back-to-back meetings. The first was about retooling Drury GO, which stands for global and online, to make online, evening and graduate programs more accessible.

After that meeting, Frederick follows Kevin Kropf, executive vice president of enrollment, upstairs to his office for an update on fall enrollment projections. The 45-minute update includes a breakdown on current enrollment and pockets where Drury has experienced waning or waxing interest.

The university reported an uptick in traditional students this year, driven in part by more student athletes. The launch of the Drury Springfield Promise, which aims to make college more affordable for students who live in the region, has also paid off.

Drury’s data showed prospective students are significantly more likely to enroll if they visit campus during the decision-making process.

“What Kevin did last year that was really brilliant is he changed the approach to say ‘If you come visit, we’ll get you your information. We’ll get you want, you want but come see the place,’” he says. “The person who is going to be successful here is a person who wants to know everyone, who wants to be engaged…the person who wants to walk up Drury Lane and imagine four years here.”

Frederick wraps up his day working by tweaking a policy and then takes his dog, Briggs, an English Setter and Australian Shepherd mix, for a run at a Springfield park.