For the past 13 years, Mike Reed was dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nevada, Reno. In July, he assumed a broader role as vice chancellor of finance and administration for the Nevada System of Higher Education. Reed, who many believe successfully transcended town/gown barriers in extending the college’s connections to the state’s business communities, hopes to do the same thing at the system level. “They have asked me to transform the vice chancellor’s position from essentially a controller position that is internally focused to more of a CFO-type position which is externally focused,” he says. “It gives me the opportunity to leverage some of my existing contacts and relationships.” Indeed, many of his former students are now running companies all over the region.

ON THE POWER OF NETWORKS

The success of business organizations is about networks. If we can help people tap into the university network and become part of that conversation, that’s great. What is fun about the Nevada System of Higher Education is that it’s open. It’s accessible and worth being engaged with. We have the obligation to be a conduit both into our own organization and into other parts of the university system because that shows people the value of what we are.

ON PRODUCING SKILLED WORKERS

The Nevada System of Higher Education is doing that to a very great extent, but we’re not doing it fully. Any growing community is always going to be behind in producing internally the number and kinds of people it needs because businesses generally move faster than educational systems. If we build relationships between the system units and the various business communities around the state, we can minimize their search costs by making sure we’re producing graduates that match current business needs.

ON MATCHING EDUCATION WITH BUSINESS NEEDS

The one contribution we can make as university systems around the country is to be much more open and relaxed about how we construct curriculum. We tend to make curriculum too rigid. When you look at the companies that are built around imagination and innovation — the tech companies, the 3M-type companies, companies that value creativity — it’s that spark that you want to give people.

ON ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Nevada has many benefits but what you are also touting is the access to education that we have with the community colleges, Nevada State College and the universities. Now you have an easier set of paths to getting a degree. Greater access to those degrees is part and parcel of what is going to attract people from other areas and also make people want to stay here.

ON ESSENTIAL MANAGEMENT SKILLS

One is absolutely essential: the ability to listen and listen well. The second is the message Warren Buffet brought to our students in January. He answered their technical questions, but he would also say, ‘It’s always about the people. Don’t ever forget that. First and foremost, it’s about the people.’

ON BOARD MEETINGS

We all allegedly hate meetings, mostly because they are not organized very well. People are willing to be in a meeting so long as it is tight and focused and has some action associated with it. So you make sure a meeting never lasts longer than it has to.

ON GLOBAL COMPETITION

We live in a world that has physical borders but very few technical ones. So even though I can’t travel to India on a daily basis, I don’t need to. I can hit a key on the keyboard and go to India. That’s what we have to deal with. That’s our reality. We’re competing in the world and we have got to locate and secure value on a continuing basis that makes Nevada a magnet for people. If I didn’t think we could help do that, if I didn’t believe in the story, there wouldn’t be any point to being in this job.