From San Diego to St. Martin's: A new leader for university

Heynderickx sets ambitious tone, will take top job Jan. 1

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published November 22, 2008

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Astolfi's announced replacement, former Oregon legislator Bryan Johnston, died a month after the board selected him from a pool of 28 candidates. His death occurred weeks before he was slated to move to Lacey.

Changes at SMU through the years

• Summer 2004: President David Spangler, who had been the head of the college since 1984, announces his retirement effective at the end of June 2005.

• February 2005: Saint Martin's College announces it will change its name to Saint Martin's University in August to reflect the growing number of graduate degrees available at the college.

• April 2005: Douglas Astolfi, a professor of history and college administrator at St. Leo University in Florida, is picked to become president upon Spangler's retirement.

• October 2007: Astolfi announces he will step down, effective at the end of June 2008.

• May 2008: The board of trustees announces its selection of Bryan Johnston, former Oregon legislator, who is slated to take the job in July.

• June 6, 2008: Johnston, 59, dies in his sleep in Salem, Ore.

• July 2008: Spangler returns as interim president as the board of trustees searches for a new replacement.

• November 2008: Roy Heynderickx, a vice president at University of San Diego, picked to be president, and is slated to start job Jan. 1.

About Heynderickx

• Background: Incoming Saint Martin's University President Roy F. Heynderickx, 55, started his career more than 28 years ago on the financial side of the administration at University of Portland, a Catholic school in Oregon. He spent most of his career there. A year ago, he became the vice president of the University of San Diego's finance and administration division, which includes endowment investments, facilities management and the budget. The University of San Diego is a Catholic school.

• Family: Heynderickx and his wife, Kathleen, have two adult children and a third child who's in high school.

• Education: Heynderickx grew up in Oregon and earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Oregon; a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Portland; and a doctorate in education administration from the University of Oregon. He also had taught accounting classes at the University of Portland.

Retired Saint Martin's President David Spangler stepped in as interim president as the board of trustees started a new search, which fielded about 30 candidates.

"It has been a bit of a challenge — finding a good candidate, and having that candidate pass away," Parsons said. "And the board was worried about how that affects the entire community."

"There was no doubt that Bryan Johnston would have been good for Saint Martin's," Bailey said.

Despite the uncertainty at the top, the small Catholic university reached milestones in the past year. It recently opened a classroom building and a residence hall to accommodate the growth at the school and is expanding its recreational and fitness facilities after a multi-million-dollar appeal for donations.

Goetz said she didn't think administrative changes were affecting the quality of her education.

Bailey said it was more important that the university make a good decision, rather than settle the matter in haste.

"The only thing that was urgent about it is that we wanted to choose the right person," he said.

Continued growth

Heynderickx said his main goals are to improve the recognition and prominence of Saint Martin's, which was founded more than 100 years ago by the monks in the order of Saint Benedict. The order has an abbey on campus.

He said it is important to make sure the university keeps improving its ability to maintain quality even as more students enroll.

"The appealing characteristics of a small student-to-faculty ratio, and the environment and the closeness," he said. "As we look at growth of the institution, it is important to fill out the strong programs we already have."

Astolfi was targeted by criticism that although the university's reach had been expanding with overseas programs and partnerships with community colleges, it wasn't hiring enough professors to address growth at the Lacey campus.

Parsons said that conflict between the administration and faculty members was a factor for the board, but members also were looking for a leader.

"We would like someone who can lead and who can grow the institution from the relationship standpoint," Parsons said. "Frankly, we had a number of candidates who could do that."

He added: "He is a very strong leader in terms of strategic planning, fiscal planning. He's a good communicator and team builder, which our community certainly wanted. He seemed to stand out in those areas."

Parsons said the board of trustees stands behind its desire to see the school grow in all areas.

Parsons said the completion of the college's strategic plan, which Astolfi had been updating before he left, would be crucial to making that happen.

"We wanted to have someone with that leadership ability and yet bringing all the constituency of the college to have a role in that. Roy has experience at doing that," Parsons said.

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.

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