'It's been quite a ride'

Shingles, whose official last day at the university is June 30, took some time from his packed, dawn-to-dusk schedule to reflect on his experience at CMU and what he hopes to see for its future. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

* Editor's note: This interview was conducted and recorded in May, prior to the institutional transition to the Division of University Engagement and Student Affairs.

Q: What brought you to CMU?

I was working at Northern Illinois University, and I was just minding my own business and one of my colleagues came into my office and said: “Hey, I got a phone call from the director of campus recreation (at CMU),” now University Recreation.

“They have a position open and someone mentioned ... you to him," (the colleague said.) "I don’t know if you know him, his name is (Recreational Services Director Emeritus) Tom Jones.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the name,” I said.

He said: “I think you should check into it.”

I said: “Oh no, I'm good.”

I was at (NIU) ... about an hour from Chicago, which is where I'm from. I was fine.

When I started to explore the opportunity, I was dating the person who is my wife today, Rene Shingles. She said to me: “Well, you know, Central Michigan University had the first sports medicine athletic training program in the country.” Which is now more than 50 years old. She knew all about it.

So I said: “Let me check it out.”

I flew up for an interview and walked around campus, and the friendliness, the student-centeredness and the connection that folks on campus had led me to ... when offered the position to come, I came to open the Student Activities Center.

"The best thing about your experience as a student is that it is uniquely yours. It's your DNA, it's your footprint. ... Everybody walks a different life."

- Stan Shingles, interim Vice President of Student Affairs

Q: What jobs have you had here on campus?

When I came in 1989, I started as an assistant director in campus recreation. I was responsible for our intramural sports program.  Sports recreation is my background, and I spent time as an associate director overseeing all of the programming, and what we know today as URec and the Student Activity Center.

An interesting twist, in 1997, I got a phone call from Richard Davenport, who was our provost. Our assistant vice president for institutional diversity had left the university.

(Davenport) said, “Your name has come up as someone we believe can step into this interim role for a year until we can do a search.”

So I went and did that and then went back to my campus recreation department, where Jones, the director, decided to retire.Three months later, I was the new director of campus recreation. I changed the department name to University Recreation to better reflect that it's not just on campus. 

We have events and activities that represent the university in a lot of different ways. I did that for a number of years

In 2010, I became an assistant vice president. I had our recreation, our events and our conferences area. That's when the new Event Center renovation was completed, so I had responsibilities for the Event Center, University Recreation, University events, Conference Services and the University Center. 

So, a new opportunity to kind of spread my wings. 

I did that for a number of years then we had a divisional change. I went back to now overseeing areas in student affairs, like Student Activities and Involvement and other areas.

I was going to retire in December of 2020, and Bob Davies, our (then) president, called me and said, “Hey, our vice president for institutional diversity has left the university. We would like for you to step in that role.”

I stepped back into that role, and now it's come full circle. Because that was 1997, and now it's 2020. I did that for an entire year and then went back to my assistant vice president position for ... four years.

I elected in 2024 to retire after 35 years at the university. That was in March (of 2024), and I was gone for three weeks, and my phone rang again. It was Dr. Davies saying: “I need you to come back.”

I came back in this role that I’m in today, the interim vice president for student affairs. It's been quite a ride, and (a) ride that has been very fulfilling and allowed me to meet students like you along the way. ... That's been a hallmark of my experiences. 

Q: What were some of the challenges you have faced?

Every experience that you get builds on the next experience.

When your influence increases, when you rise in organizations, when you have more responsibility, when you have more reach, you have more influence.

More importantly, you have more opportunities to engage and impact students.

That's why we work in the university setting: To engage with students, to make students during their learning experience, experiential learning, ... out of classroom experience, co-curricular experiences and community service experience.

We get a chance to help students shape their experience in a customized way. Although there is a standard, a framework, the students get to customize.

I spent almost 20 years broadcasting our football and basketball games here at CMU. Today, the technology is different. We had big bulky equipment, and today, a computer does everything. 

So, learning has been a major part of my experience and watching students learn and grow is certainly something I like to see.

Related content: 'Past Deadline': Stan Shingles on a lifetime of service to CMU

Q: As you leave CMU, what do you hope to see for its future? Specifically with the new Division of University Engagement and Student Affairs?

Well, I think it's just a continuum. We can call it, you know, garbally goop. It doesn't matter as long as it is student-centered.

Student affairs was built to provide students a platform for out-of-classroom experiences, but also their ability to sync the co-curricular experience with the curricular experience.

We talked about immersion, student immersion. How do we get students in those experiential learning opportunities that prepare them?

I know I had them when I was a young person at Illinois State University. I've had scores of out-of-classroom experiences that complemented my classroom experiences. So, I was building my tool belt, I was building my skills. I was building my leadership skills, my communication skills, my collaboration skills and my planning skills.

I want to see CMU never lose its identity. CMU does not need to be Michigan State University. It doesn't need to be the University of Michigan. It needs to be an access school. 

I remember the days during the '90s and the 2000s when CMU had at least one student from every county in the state of Michigan. That's not the case today because access is a challenge because of high cost and accessibility for those students who live in underserved communities, who may not have the resources.

CMU has done a great job of leveraging the resources that it has, whether it's in financial aid and scholarships.

You can use platforms like athletics, where individuals can earn scholarships. In student affairs, you're talking about everything from the Leadership Institute to the Multicultural Academic Student Services, (Mid-American Conference) scholars.

There are so many opportunities for students to afford college. College is about building your platform for what is going to be your career.

I'm a first-generation student from the inner city of Chicago, and I know that college and my experience at Illinois State University have shaped my life for what it is today.

Q: For my last question, what would you like to say to the colleagues and students you’ve worked with?

I kind of coined my own quote: “We are all the product of the sum total of our experiences.” That means as I sit here with you today, we're sitting in the studio, you're interviewing me, this is an experience that you have, and you might say, “It's X time at night. I could be doing something different.” 

But you're here in this place and time, and this is important. If you weren't here, then the next experience that you have would have to change.

The best thing about your experience as a student is that it is uniquely yours. It's your DNA, it's your footprint. No two DNAs, even with twins, are the same.They're similar, but everybody walks a different life.

For faculty and staff, I would offer, be present for students. Be relevant. Make sure that what students are learning and experiencing builds on what the needs are for today, not what the needs were 10 years ago, or 15 years ago, but what the needs are today. 

I think if you do that, CMU will continue to be the special place that I have spent the lion's share of my career. I just believe that CMU is a special place because there are special people.