This is the second part of a series by Times Administration Reporter and Photo Editor Tim Jagielo
Flint - Assistant Vice Chancellor for Administration Bill Webb's eyes glossed slightly as he described his 24 year old son's final moments on a hospital bed in 1998.
"The beautiful part was, the [hospital staff] said 'What we can do is take him off life support,' and with 1,000 tubes hooked up there's all these … alarms going off," he said.
"And basically with our daughter there, myself, Judy, and the nurses suggested this, [Judy] crawled into bed with him, we sort of all huddled around, and he passed away within ten minutes he was taken off life support."
Gregory Webb was disabled, and succumbed to a blood infection after an out-patient tonsillectomy surrounded by his family.
"That was the end of that. I don't know what else to say. It was tragic."
"Greggies loss and not finishing the MBA are really the only two regrets I have in life," said Webb. "I've been lucky, and luck has a hell of a lot to do with things, whether it's at work, or home!"
Because of his loss, and raising a son with disabilities, Webb looks at life through a different prism.
"It gives you a new view of the world," said Webb. "Certainly work is serious, and important, but you've got to keep it in perspective."
A few days before Halloween, he pulls out a set of plastic eyes and a nose while chatting with Terry Bigalow, Executive Secretary. It colors everything he does at UM-Flint.
"We try to have fun here," he says. He works between 48-55 hours per week, getting up at about 5:30 in the morning, arriving to UM-Flint before 9 a.m. As assistant Vice Chancellor for Administration, Webb is responsible for three main areas. He oversees the "24/7" services of The Department or Public Safety, Environmental Health and Safety, and Facilities management.
"If we're doing our job correctly, we're sort of in the background, providing a campus environment that is conducive to student learning," said Webb.
If your class is a comfortable temperature, if the lights work, and your car doesn't get broken into, Bill Webb is doing his job. He is also responsible for initiating improvements to class rooms. Webb was heavily involved in the French Hall renovations, and the White Building and the First Street Residence Hall being built.
"My role is sort of to facilitate, and work with the academic side of the house to facilitate what is needed for them to carry out and do," said Webb. "The French hall (renovations) came about because from the academic side, they were interested in improving delivery in the classroom." This idea led to the 10 million dollar project titled "Classrooms of The Future," which includes the new class rooms, offices, and study areas students use every day in French Hall.
He also does what he describes as a "Service starter-upper." Webb can create committees to address specific student faculty and staff concerns. Issues such as accessibility and school shootings have called for the formation of on campus groups that meet regularly and deal with these specific issues.
Webb went to High school in Battle Creek, graduating in 1964. He received his bachelor in economics in 1968 and completed 40 hours of an MBA. Webb served in the U.S. Navy as an electronics technician until 1972. Between 1973 and 1990, Webb worked as an administrator for a medical supply company, and even tried to get into med school in 1973, but he was waitlisted and decided to move on with a different career.
What can you tell me about your family?
"I have been married 37 years, and I want the record to show that is to one woman. Often people say, 'How many wives is that?' for 37 years, with a dog named Louie. Judy and I are empty nesters, our daughter (Alison) is in California, she's 32, enjoying it out there. We live in East Lansing; I've commuted for 18 years."
Why do we need an Assistant Vice Chancellor for Administration?
"There's a certain amount of work that needs to be done in any organization. Various organizations are created to carry out the work. Because of the nature of our work in terms of campus safety, health and how the campus looks, a position was created. This work couldn't solely be done by the Vice Chancellor, they needed someone more involved, and I was fortunate enough to be selected."
What else do you want people to know about you?
"I enjoy people. And I enjoy working with people. And I particularly like problems that you're relied upon to find a solution and not every case you can finds the perfect solution, in fact, seldom can you find the perfect solution, but if you can find a solution, other than safety, we have to be 100 percent perfect in terms of safety related issues. But most things involve people, and people of different perspectives, and sometimes you can convince folks of seeing things another way. If we wait for everybody to be happy with every decision, we would get no where." salary-$110,996.12
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