newsadvancements and initiatives - Faculty Matters

From the desk of the president
Failure is a choice
S
ome say that failure is not an option,
but I believe failure is a personal choice.
A matter of perspective
Too often, people look at failure as a terminal thing.
They think, “I failed. That’s it. I need to quit.” But failure
is not in my way of thinking. I’ve never failed in the
sense that I’ve never given up, hung my head and
walked out on something. I’ve experienced criticism
like everyone else, but I never let it define where I go
from there. Instead, I view criticism as constructive
input I can use to get even better at whatever it is
I’m doing.
Learning curve
Dr. John Sperling has embodied this same spirit
since he founded University of Phoenix in 1976. He
didn’t worry about failure. He worried about success.
And when things didn’t work out perfectly, he just
worked harder.
When we first launched our digital library in 1996, it
was highly controversial, and even the accrediting
bodies were concerned. But we took every criticism
and roadblock as an opportunity to make things
better, and we used the things that didn’t work to
make us stronger.
It would have been easy for us to say, “You’re right.
This is too hard.” But we knew we’d figure it out
because we learned something from every setback.
I welcomed our critics then, as I still do today, because
they help us get even better. Now we have a state-ofthe-art
digital library that is an amazing success, and
it’s being replicated in schools across the country and
around the world.
A clear path
Today, students want to know what they are going to
get out of their degrees, and universities are struggling
with how to provide a path to success for their
students. This is something higher education wasn’t
accountable for previously. At University of Phoenix,
we considered this a high priority from the start. For
the past four decades, we have been on a mission to
reinvigorate the middle class in America by providing
our students with an education that will give them the
skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
Along the way, many will experience setbacks and
roadblocks, just as the University has. As faculty
members, you’re in a unique position to help instill in
our students a sense of the excitement of risk-taking
and innovation, despite the occasional obstacles.
With your guidance, students set their focus not on
failure, but rather on progress and achievement,
which is something we can all be proud of, whatever
the outcome.
facultymatters.com
“ I welcome our
critics because
they help us make
ourselves better.”
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