September 15, 2005

Ann Shaw and George Bieri have been named the interim directors of the Glen.

Antioch College called on two familiar names last week by naming George Bieri and Ann Shaw interim co-directors of the Glen Helen Ecology Institute.

Both Yellow Springs natives and GHEI employees, Shaw and Bieri have agreed to fill the position for “as long as it takes” as the college searches for a new permanent director and works to complete a draft of the Glen’s first strategic plan, Shaw said.

“We were willing and honored to serve, and they [the college] have shown a lot of faith in George and me that we’ll take care of the Glen,” Shaw said.

Rick Jurasek, the interim president at Antioch College, said he collected nominations from friends of the Glen over the summer and chose Shaw and Bieri because they complement each other well.

“Talk about insiders. They both have years and years of experience as managers of the Glen, so it was easy to ask them to serve,” he said. “The competence set that Ann brings to the job is enhanced by the competence set that George brings as the manager of the Glen as a resource.”

Shaw, who has been the assistant director of administration at the Glen since 2001, and Bieri, who has managed the Glen’s 1,000 acres for an equal number of years, said their strengths provide a good balance for the Glen. Shaw will rely on her experience dealing with the Glen’s development, personnel and finances while Bieri focuses on maintaining and managing the use of the Glen’s property and trails. They said they will work as a team, although their responsibilities are clearly divided.

The college has begun a search for a permanent director to replace former GHEI Director Bob Whyte, who resigned last month, citing difficulty relating with the community.

Shaw and Bieri plan to maintain their present duties in addition to taking on their new responsibilities. Shaw, who was working three-quarters time, has increased her hours to full-time, and Bieri, who was half-time, has moved up to three-quarters time. They will be working on using a $150,000 federal grant the Glen received this year to upgrade the electric and water systems at the Outdoor Education Center facilities, Shaw said.

While the two will focus on maintaining stability in the Glen until a new director is found, they will continue to work with the GHEI Advisory Board and Jurasek to produce a draft of the Glen’s strategic plan. They encourage community members to participate in the shaping of the Glen and provide input on things they would like to see happen in the future.

“This is an opportunity for a new process to begin and for the community to get involved with the Glen,” Bieri said.

Both Shaw and Bieri grew up in Yellow Springs and graduated from Yellow Springs High School in 1968 and ’70, respectively. Shaw lived on Hyde Road near the South Glen, where she used to ride her horse, she said. Bieri, whose father was an Antioch professor, was “in the Glen all the time,” exploring areas where most visitors didn’t go, he said.

Bieri settled here in 1974 and has raised five children in his home in the Vale. He has been a volunteer since 1990 for Tecumseh Land Trust, where he recently became a paid staff member. Shaw lived in California for many years, where she was active in protecting redwoods and in slowing coastal development. She was married at the Yellow Spring in 1994 and now lives just north of the village.

Each feels passionately about preserving the Glen, they said, and wants to build on the positive aspects of the organization instead of being held back by its limitations. They prefer to focus on the future instead of talking about the sometimes negative past, they said. But they want the community to know that communication channels are wide open and that their management style will be inclusive and collaborative with avenues for broad participation.

“A culture of scarcity is what it’s been so far, and we want to move to a culture of plenty,” Bieri said. “It’s an opportunity to pull together as a group and turn the Glen positive.”

“This is a tremendous natural asset and we should focus on what we have rather than on what we don’t have and consider ways to preserve and share that philosophy,” Shaw said.

A committee, charged with searching for a permanent director, has advertised nationally for candidates to fill the director’s position by January 2006. Once the committee, which includes Jurasek and GHEI board members David Goodwin, Gina Paget and Mark Meister, has narrowed the candidates down to two or three, Jurasek said, he will seek input and consensus from the community to choose the director.

“The final decision will rest with the president of the college, but the decision will be embedded in the consensus reached by the community,” Jurasek said.

The college also hopes to have the strategic plan completed by the time candidates come to Yellow Springs for their interviews, he said. GHEI board member Mel Fine has drafted 90 percent of the plan, which will be reviewed by the rest of the board before a version can be presented for community input by early fall, Jurasek said.

“Given my time at the Glen, I think the college is beginning to understand the Glen as an integrated dimension of the college’s mission,” he said. “The Glen is, in addition to what it’s always been, a teaching and learning resource, and we’re going to maximize the benefits for the Glen and for the college.”

Bieri said he is not interested in applying for the director’s position, and Shaw said she needed to hear more about the job description before deciding whether to apply.