Grand Rapids Community College held an open forum for the Vice President of Finance and Administration at the Applied Technology Center on April 16, with candidate John Globoker. The position is currently held by interim president of GRCC Lisa Freiburger, who is retiring at the end of May.
Globoker currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer at Jackson College and has previous experience as the director of administration and finance and Chief Financial Officer at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, as well as eight years at Purdue University with several notable roles. That being said, Globoker has over 18 years of leadership experience in higher education.
Globoker began the forum by mentioning Miranda Lambert’s song “The House that Built Me,” and then went on to explain what “built him.”
“When I think about what has built me in my career, it really started years ago in the grocery retail business…,” he said. “And I thought about what really was important to me at that time. It was really about the customer, (and) the customer experience.”
Throughout the forum, Globoker referenced his belief in “the customer,” and explained what this means in higher education and for GRCC.
“Really the centerpiece of anything that I do is around the customer,” he said. “And for a higher education institution, customers are each other…we’re each other’s customers, as we’re having conversations and having specific needs. Our students are our customers, our faculty, our staff, our community, with Grand Rapids, it’s just really a customer approach.”
Globoker brought attention to the improvement and efficiency he brought to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) at Jackson College by explaining a before and after of the system. He said improving visibility, removing manual steps “without ERP leverage,” and using the “significant” investment they received to the fullest was the most important to him.
“So the update state improves visibility for those involved in reviews, how they can look back to their history of originating an invoice and when it was paid, there’s the digital routing and stamping and signatures collected. We leveraged the ERP more fully,” he said.
When asked how Globoker balances the financial stability of the institution with the need to invest in resources that directly support student success and academic excellence, he talked about the importance of communication and why student success is crucial.
“If you don’t align the resources so that the financial arm, the apparatus, has to be in connection with the academic side or really the student services side as well. So that they’re all speaking together, that all these strategic plans have bridges. They’re not in silos. They talk to each other,” he said. “And so it’s important that you are guiding your financial resources to the programs that are important for the success of GRCC and (current students) and future students. Ultimately, that’ll help institutions stay healthy as well as the community as a whole. GRCC is critical to the future of Grand Rapids’ growth.”
Toward the end of the forum, Globoker again referenced “The House that Built Me” saying, “What built me is that customer-centric approach in developing outcomes that help improve the customer experience.”
Globoker declined to comment on the record when asked questions by a Collegiate reporter after the forum.
Lyndsie Post, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, stated Globoker was the “only applicant invited to campus,” and “The position will remain open until filled.”
