A Day in the Life: First-year University President James P. Clements

Each morning at 6:30 a.m., James P. Clements sees his daughters Hannah and Maggie, 14, and Grace, 9, off to school.

Twins Hannah and Maggie attend Morgantown High School, and Grace is in third grade at North Elementary School.

"My children are important, so I’ll do whatever it takes to see them," Clements says. "Even if it means cutting out my workouts or getting less sleep."

Since becoming West Virginia University’s 23rd president June 30, Clements has less time to devote to his family.

"That’s why I get up so early – that might be the only time I see my girls," Clements says.

Every day, Clements drinks a cup of Flavia coffee in the morning, as well as another in the afternoon.

Jim arrives at the Student Recreation Center, greeting students and holding doors open for others as he enters.

Wearing a gold shirt and blue shorts, he runs on the treadmill for 30 minutes, approximately three miles. He doesn’t listen to his iPod. Instead, he chats with those around him.

"How was your weekend?" Jim asks, breathing slightly heavier.

"It was great, especially with that WVU win," answers a student exercising near him.

Jim smiles and continues running.

For the last couple of minutes, he runs twice as fast as his beginning speed.

"I always tell my kids that no matter what you’re doing, you’ve got to finish strong – finals, anything," Clements says. "That last part is harder, but if you can do it, you can do anything."

Jim switches to the weight-lifting machines and continues to talk with the people on either side of him.

Spending about two minutes on each machine, he begins with the lat pull-down, then moves to the tricep extension and the overhead press and finishes with his favorite, the arm curl.

A Pink song comes on through the speakers, and Jim hums to himself for a second.

"Grace loves this song," Clements says. "She loves it when the twins play it."

He finishes his workout with 10 sit-ups before heading home to shower and dress.

Jim changes at the Blaney House into a black suit and pink tie before arriving at Stewart Hall in his blue Mercury Mountaineer with a gold "Flying WV" logo on the back. He has mere minutes to greet his staff and put his suitcase in his office before walking to the Mountainlair.

Jim’s first event of the day, Mountaineer Visitation Day, an orientation for students interested in coming to WVU, is held in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

"I’ve only missed one Mountaineer Visitation Day," Clements says. "And that was because something came up. I like coming here because I think it’s important incoming students see the president. The University is big, but I’m still accessible."

He shakes everyone’s hand in the front row and chats with parents. He asks about their weekends and joins in the excitement at the mention of the Mountaineers’ 17-9 win over Louisville.

Jim gives a speech to potential incoming students about WVU and encourages the students to "strongly consider" the University.

"It’s a great place to be," Clements says. "I love it here, and I think you will, too."

The audience smiles and applauds his speech, chatting amongst themselves about deciding upon WVU.

Jim lingers in the Ballrooms for a few minutes to answer parents’ and students’ questions.

Before leaving, Jim questions the Mountaineer Visitation Day recruiters about student concerns and whether or not the recruiters could improve on his speech.

He welcomes the feedback and makes mental notes.

"It’s tough right now," Jim says. "But once I get my staff together, things should calm down."

Jim returns to his office and begins looking through a stack of papers.

His office walls are cluttered with windows, and pictures of his family sit on every available ledge. He has two bookcases – one for books he’s written and another for his personal collection. A few framed newspaper articles announcing his presidency hang on the walls.

"If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to speed read," Clements says, flipping through documents and files. "I do love to read, there’s just no time."

He checks his two phones, a Palm Treo for personal use and a BlackBerry for work. He punches a few buttons on the BlackBerry before returning them to his desk drawer.

He checks with his assistant, Sara Master, to see if there were any missed calls. Jim takes a look at his phones once more before leaving to greet his next appointment.

A reporter and photographer arrive at Jim’s office to conduct an interview.

The reporter asks about his college background in computer science and how he arrived at his current position.

"I remember it was my freshman year, my first class – 9 a.m. history. The professor walked in and a light bulb just came on," Clements says. "I knew right then I wanted to be a professor."

Master knocks on the door to remind Jim of the time. Tapping at her watch, she says "We’re about out of time." His interview wraps up, and Jim has a minute to review his e-mail.

Thirteen bolded e-mails are in his inbox. He opens them quickly, responding to some before his assistant returns for the meeting.

After briefly talking about their weekends, they go over the next day’s calendar, review mail and sign documents. He enters dates and appointments into his phone, as well.

Jim makes a call to an individual who has agreed to serve on the Advanced Energy Initiative External Advisory Board.

He thanks him and talks about future plans.

Opening a peanut butter fudge crisp Atkins bar, Clements checks a few more e-mails.

The list has grown by at least 10.

Jim peaks out his office window to see a group of students walking toward the "PRT Cram," a Mountaineer Week event that squeezes as many students as possible into a PRT.

Jim leaves his office to join a group of students on the PRT.

"It’s fun to see what the students are doing," Clements says. "I try to join in when I have time."

Greeting everyone he sees, Jim even chats with a woman carrying her taxidermic dog to the event, assuring there’s no part of the WVU community he will leave out.

Jim returns to his office to call another member of the Advanced Energy Initiative External Advisory Board.

"I look forward to working with you," Clements says to the member.

Jim leaves for a private lunch with a researcher at the Glasshouse Grille. He checks his phones once more before turning off the lights in his office.

On his way past the PRT, Jim sees a student he knows near the Funnel Cake booth outside the Mountainlair. He buys a funnel cake treat for her, as well as a hot dog for the man behind him in line.

Jim returns to his office where he returns phone calls and e-mails. His phones lay on his desk, buzzing twice. His secretary briefs him on who will be at the Student Government Association dinner tonight and goes over afternoon meetings and speeches.

"There isn’t a day that goes by where there aren’t speeches," Clements says. "In fact, dinners are usually planned out, too."

He prepares a cup of coffee to keep his energy up. One cup in the morning and one cup in the afternoon help him stay up late, he says.

"You know, it’s busier than I thought, but I like to be busy," Clements says. "They’re usually 16-hour workdays, but when you’re having fun and enjoying it, it doesn’t seem like work."

Jim takes private time to finalize his remarks for the Faculty Senate meeting.

He arrives at the Faculty Senate meeting in Assembly Rooms A&B of the NRCCE Building on the Evansdale Campus.

Taking a seat on the right side of the room in the front row, Jim listens to Faculty Senate Chair Nigel Clark speak about student absences due to the swine flu and how to handle the situation.

Jim speaks about the progress of Faculty Senate and upcoming topics to discuss.

Among his announcements was the University staff not receiving raises for the upcoming school year.

Jim, who considers himself to be cheap with the University’s money, simply restated the condition of the economy and stressed the importance of financial responsibility.

Leaving the NRCCE Building after the Faculty Senate meeting, Jim throws his water bottle in the recycling bin and swipes his hand under the automatic hand sanitizer dispenser.

"You can never be too careful," Clements says. "I didn’t get a chance to get my H1N1 shot because on that day, I was already 10 minutes late for a meeting, and I didn’t want to be any later."

He drives back to the Blaney House where there is already a crew preparing dinner and decorating Nutting Hall for the SGA dinner.

Jim goes inside to change from his suit to a more casual top and pants while guests from the Student Government Association and WVU administration arrive.

A table seating more than 30 is decorated in white fabric with blue and gold accents. Jim enters the hall and offers to give a tour of the house.

Pointing to different paintings, Jim says, "Every so often, they switch the photos out. About every six months, they change them to tie into themes. Mrs. Clements selected a few because they spoke to her."

Students, administrators and Jim sit down to eat. A buffet provides stuffed chicken, fresh broccoli and penne with tomatoes and sausage.

Jim cleans his plate, adding an apple and raisin dessert when he was finished.

Student Government Association President Jason Zuccari begins with a speech, thanking students and administrators for attending.

Students representing all grade levels speak of concerns about campus: not enough lighting around campus, more teacher-to-student interaction, transportation, advising, meal plans and internships.

Jim receives a phone call from his wife alerting him he needs to pick up Hannah and Maggie at school.

"I don’t want to rush anyone, but I do have to pick up my girls, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me," Clements says. "I’m taking all of these suggestions down."

The family goes to the Coliseum to watch the women’s soccer team to find out which seed they will be in the NCAA Tournament.

Jim and his family arrive home. Before he has time to relax, he makes last minute phone calls and responds to e-mails.

Jim reviews his appointment packet for tomorrow and works on his speech for his meeting in Charleston, W.Va., Wednesday.

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1 comments

Some pip

Wed Dec 9 2009 20:27

This is the most cloying, mundane article I've ever read in the DA. It 's so mechanical and chummy you could have had a university PR flunky write it ; I would say that's exactly how it reads except (probably) no one doing PR for the university would consider pursuing an idea so pale and functionally bankrupt.

This thing is as long as 5 articles and contains less relevant, newsworthy information than any fourth of one

Impressive low.

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