Cool, calm, collected...changing Miami, one warm smile at a time

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MIAMI UNIVERSITY
BY SEEMA A. CHOUDHARY
NOV. 20,2007

He gets dressed every morning in his business attire always looking professional yet still managing to keep a friendly and welcoming demeanor to those he greets throughout the day. Today his agenda is quite packed as Ms. Kimberly Sue Sens tries to keep as much order as she can to his busy schedule. “Your 9:30AM appointment is here”, she says with a smile as she peaks her head around the corner to the office in 109 Kreger Hall. Dr. Richard Nault swivels in his chair away from the papers he was reading on the desk and smiles up at her, “Send her in”. The office appears somewhat plain. One painting hangs on the wall behind his desk in the corner. A large dry erase board rests on the adjacent wall with many numbers scribbled in black ink signifying work to be done and budgets to be scrutinized over. A bookshelf stacked to the top rests to the left of the desk for easy convenience with a leather chair sitting in front of it. Across the chair rests a comfy couch, warm and inviting for the many students that have entered his office. He greets you with an engulfing hug, and through your conversation you realize that this “cool, calm, and collective” man comes to work everyday, not for the paycheck, but for the purpose of the goals that drive him, and the commitment he has to making sure justice exists when it comes to including students. So who is this man? He is the Vice President of Student Affairs to Miami University.

His job is a “very mixed experience.” Today he will be attending some meetings, with an emphasis on budgets, “figuring fiscally how to do things.” Lunch and dinner don’t allow any lee way for a quiet meal at home, for both will be held with students to discuss specific issues. Yesterday wasn’t a vacation either. Nault had to deal with numerous parent complaints about a single case of meningitis found on campus. He then had to talk with the Health Center to make sure enough medications were available in case of an outbreak. Later in the evening he went to support the students participating in the Miami production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, which in Nault’s opinion was “off the charts, incredible!” Throughout all of the policy issues, long term goals, and crisis management he deals with from day to day, he always tries to make time for students.

He grew up in a very small working class town in Northern Indiana where most every family was supported by jobs in the steel mill or oil refinery. His father was a steel worker and his mother an elementary school teacher. Three years separated Richard and his sister. They were “sometimes very close and sometimes very hostile.” “As our parents became ill, we became very close, because only your sibling can understand [you].

The Methodist family had strong inclinations of young Richard going to college. By the time his senior year of high school rolled around, Richard was ready to take the plunge set to attend DePauw University in Indiana. It wasn’t until the “beautiful yet imperious” homecoming queen announced her bossy self would also be attending DePauw. Richard said to himself “We’ll I’ll be damned if I am going to be bossed around by Lenore Colins for four more years,” so he marched right into the guidance counselor’s office and demanded the next school east. The counselor told him, “Ohio Wesleyan University.”

Dr. Nault received his Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University with concentrations in history and education. From there, he attributed his success to the Methodist university which put a lot of emphasis on community service for Nault, “so the notion of giving to others was very important.” He was also significantly shaped by his working class family “where you were expected to do well or people wanted you to do well.”

He then went on to teach public elementary schools in Maryland. “In all those experiences,” sitting back and reflecting, “it was most joyful for me when you set an environment where people can be successful and then you can fade in the background.” Later he decided to get his doctorate from the University of Chicago while working as a staff associate at the Midwest Administration Center. Following his time spent there, he went to St. Louis to work at the Washington University where he resided both as the Assistant Dean and the Assistant Professor of Education of the college. From 1983-1992 Nault worked as the University Director of the University Honors Program at Miami, at which time he helped to create the Harrison program and the Scholar Leaders program. Nault then went on to become the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, which led into 2002 when he became Vice President of Student Affairs.

At the end of this year, Nault will be retiring from his beloved Miami University, but will not quite be leaving it behind just yet. By state law he must be away for two months until he can return working part time. So what will he do for two months? Nault has a great love for gardening and holds no real interest in seeing any exotic places while retired. He’d rather spend his time tending to his bougainvilleas in a soon to be world class garden while visiting friends he has made over the years. After that time, Nault will return to help with Miami’s Honesty and Integrity program. He modestly states that he isn’t coming back for the money but for the things that are joyful to him. “When it comes to academic dishonesty and integrity, the students here at Miami are no worse, but they are no better either.” This program will also reach further into the university scrutinizing the sorority/fraternity selection process which at times is not as fair as it seems. Even student organizations need to be looked at in relation to how they spend their funds.

“My relationship with the students are the richest part of my experience here,” he says with a smile. “I think when students come to college they are young adults but they seem to develop more over the course of four years. So one of the richest things for me is seeing them take on increasing responsibility growing as a person, that is joyful…what is wonderful about that is I stay connected with several after graduation, so I can see them get married, have kids, and that is what is truly wonderful.” Today when students explain to him how they created charts, and did so much research to end up at Miami, Dr. Nault just chuckles and recalls, “all you had to do was look where the homecoming queen was going and go somewhere else.”

A familiar face pops in very often. Meeting formally once a week with Nault, he stops in once a day usually nagging him about outrageous tangents. Jens Sutmoller has known Dr. Nault since his freshmen year and now in his senior year as student body president to the university, has acquired Nault as a formal advisor to the Associated Student Government. Jens claims, “Most of the time we are completely on the same page,” the grinning blonde remarks. “Dr. Nault has the personality I envy because he can take two people who are completely different and highly argumentative, and sit them down and bring them together into consensus within minutes…he makes people want to work together.”

ASG has always been a growing seed in Richard’s garden. Back when he was a formal advisor, he made “colossal” mistakes. Earlier this year Dr. Denny Roberts stepped down from the position to fulfill other career goals, while Nault stepped back into the role. ASG this year has been wonderful for him, he knows how things are structured and [this year] ASG is at its best with very strong senators and a great cabinet. A strong student government is one where people can have arguments with each other but still can remain friends and respect one another. “I want ASG to be successful,” Nault humbly states, “I don’t want any of my fingerprints on it, I just want them to feel supported in making a difference”. For meetings with the ASG cabinet at night, you can find him in shorts and sandals. The cabinet has had two different retreats at his house, where he has baked cookies and demonstrates how relaxed he is. In Dr. Nault’s mind, getting away from campus or going on retreats are very beneficial to leaders and groups working together. It allows you to “let down your guard, and peel back some of those layers.”

Laura Walaszek knows of this support first hand. Currently she serves as Vice President of Campus Activities Council (CAC) and frequently uses Dr. Nault as a significant aid. This year he has worked with her for homecoming and other multicultural concerts and lectures which they are bringing next year, such as the Harlem Gospel Choir. “He is someone always giving constructive criticism, he even signs his emails “I appreciate you, or thank you for your hard work…he is just very appreciative of what we do.” Laura, like other students who have been advised by Dr. Nault, admires the fact that he gives advice without trying to steer you in one direction. He will give you his opinion, and you can take it or leave it. He really stresses that students should be leading and not managing, doing the “bureaucracy type stuff,” and that we should really be trying to challenge, going beyond the status quo and reinventing the wheel.

Dr. Nault is unlike any other administrator on campus. “We have interactions with a lot of the Vice Presidents on campus, but he is just very welcoming,” Walaszek beams “He is someone who you wouldn’t think of in such a high position which is really neat that you can go into his office and talk to him…I don’t even know if you can do that at other universities.”

Throughout his life, there remain no regrets. “I think you can look back at the time and say well I wish I had made a different decision, but at the time you didn’t have that knowledge. So I have always felt, I have never spent a lot of time regretting things because I think I made the best decision I could make at that time.”

“Well, Dr. Nault, is there anything else you would like to add?” “No, Not really, other than you are terrific!” he says with a warm smile and another hug, a phrase he hasn’t once forgotten to say, but still feels just as comforting as the first time the words left his mouth.
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