Jane Miner '76
Home: Jamestown, R.I.
Work: Fiscal Management Coordinator, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island
Education: B.A., Clark University; M.P.A., University of Rhode Island
Alumni Activities: Jonas Clark Fellow; Alumni Executive Council; Chair, Alumni Association Gift Committee; Chair, Reunion Gift Committee; Host, Reception on Narragansett Bay; Co-Class Agent; Rhode Island Alumni Community;
Charter Member, Legacy Society
Statement
I am honored to be one of the candidates on this year’s Alumni-Elected Trustee ballot. After many years of participating in a variety of alumni activities, the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making processes that steer Clark’s future would truly be a privilege. Clark’s mission “to educate undergraduate and graduate students to be imaginative and contributing citizens of the world” is reinforced by its three signatures: Make a Difference, Learn through Inquiry, and Experience Diverse Cultures.
I remember listening to Provost David Angel describe inquiry-based learning and thinking of how pleased emeritus biology professor John Reynolds must be that Clark’s educational philosophy finally matches his own. Even though he wasn’t officially my faculty adviser, Dr. Reynolds took me under his wing during my undergraduate years and helped me understand why I didn’t test well. He determined that my method of learning (synthesizing after participation) did not match the then favored (as he called it) teaching for crammers. The learn-through-inquiry approach teaches students to problem solve via hands-on learning, something the real world demands for success.
My Clark experience prepared me to take on activities in my life and work that have helped me make a difference in my world. I spent 20 years as an officer of the Jamestown (R.I.) Historical Society, five as president. I also have served as chair of the Jamestown Personnel Board and secretary/treasurer of the Friends of Oceanography. This group supports the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), the college that was responsible for my choice of pursuing a biology degree with an environmental focus while at Clark. It is also where I have spent over 30 years working, first as a research assistant, and now as the senior financial officer for the college, a position I have held for 13 years. Recent experiences creatively managing ever-shrinking financial resources while maintaining quality education and research will serve me well if I am elected to serve on the Clark Board of Trustees.
Although I considered the student body at Clark during the early 1970s to be diverse, it was nothing compared to today. Each year when I return to campus for reunion or other activities, I am impressed by the cultural and ethnic diversity of people living, learning and working together. A quick glance at the alumni directory shows that Clark alumni live in virtually every state in the United States and in over 100 other nations. Many of these alums have taken the knowledge and understanding they gained at Clark back to their homelands so that they too can “challenge convention” and “change our world.”
I could not have become the person I am today without my Clark experience. I want that for future generations, and believe that I have the tools to be a valuable member of the Clark Board of Trustees. Thank you for your consideration and support.
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