As the new president of Missouri's flagship university system discusses his goals and vision for the future, one is reminded of one of his predecessors, Dr. James Olson, who led 01' Mizzou through some difficult times a generation ago. Dr. Manuel Pacheco, the unanimous choice of the Board of Curators to lead the four-campus university system, speaks softly yet convincingly when he outlines his strategy to foster enhanced "partnerships" with corporate businesses, agriculture, other educational institutions, faculties and the general public.

The former Arizona University president does not have an easy job as he tries to emulate the progress of his immediate predecessor, Dr. George Russell, whose textbook performance at Columbia will be the yardstick for MU administrators for decades to come. No one following George Russell can escape the understandable comparison, so the standards already set for Dr. Pacheco are extraordinarily high.

If the standards are high, so are the stakes. There may be no more challenging job in public service today than the leader of a state's flagship university system. Everything today is revolutionary, with the word evolutionary virtually dormant. Change is the order of the day, whether in education or technology or attitudes. The phrase "cutting edge" has been overused, sometimes abused, but at the university level, students and faculty both face changes that promise much for the well-prepared and failure for those who haven't been listening.

Dr. Pacheco's challenges are as great as any ever faced by previous university presidents. The first challenge is to maintain existing educational programs and services at their present levels, not always an easy task for a far-flung university system that depends on a variable of support sources, not the least being the transient personnel in the state Capitol. But no one will be satisfied with mere maintenance; there must always be improvement, since there's always room for it in even the best of institutions.

Finding ways to improve Missouri's university system will not be easy. First comes the romancing of public officials who sometimes grudgingly supply only the bare necessities. If there is to be progress, politicians must be sold on the virtues of cutting other services. Try this in Jefferson City and you can wind up with less cash than you received last time.

Next must come bold programs that win the cold-cash hearts of the state's business community. Hard-headed and hearted business people tend to look down at persons they believe occupy towers brimming with academic philosophies that are irrelevant in the corporate world. To make a sale for closer cooperation, increased monetary support and corporate enthusiasm with folks who earn a few million bucks every year is a tough act for any academician.

Even if a president hits the mother lode in Jefferson City and country clubs around the state, he has another hurdle just outside his office: deans, department chairmen and professors who have a tendency to second guess every plan and decision that affects their way of life. Anyone who believes that Ph.D. stands for Phlegmatic Descension has never been the target of an angry proclamation from a faculty senate. Academic cooperation is the dream; faculty second-guessing is the reality.

The university system has almost as many problems as students. Finding and tracking cooperation among the four campuses is difficult at best. Expanding research systems conjures up ivory towers among the cynics. Increasing admission standards is a no-no to parents of students who don't measure up. Politics is not only a way of life but a religion for those who can besmirch programs with just one political press release.

President Pacheco is soft-spoken and conveys an aura of earnest confidence. These qualities will serve him well, particularly over time. Residents of a state with a motto of Show-Me are just naturally suspicious of outsiders who profess to have all the answers and too quickly offer them before the little matter of trust and confidence is established. This new president is not likely to make that mistake; he appears to be willing to tackle the really tough problems and leave the easy answers to others. That bodes well for Manuel Pacheco, the four-campus university and, most importantly, the five and a half million of us who want the best higher educational system in America.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.