Presidential Candidate Michael Sonntag

Dr. Michael Sonntag is more familiar with Lyndon State College than the average candidate.

Sonntag was a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation team that recently gave LSC reaccreditation last year, so he knows the ins and outs of the school better than most.

"It strikes me as an institution that's poised for very positive growth," he said. "It is clearly very consciously doing the kind of reflective work to figure out what it wants to be and implementing that. That is exciting to me. The next president will have to be a major part of that, understanding what the stakeholders are needing and wanting."

The stakeholders Sonntag is referring to are students, faculty, staff, the community, business people, and legislators.

He is currently the vice president at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and is relatively young for the position.

"I'm 44 years old," said Sonntag. "Some might say that is early in your career. I've done things a little bit early. I took the vice president position a little bit early. I do things early because I like the challenge."

He sees why that might cause some to pause.

"So if there is a downside it's that I'm young and inexperienced at this kind of stuff," said Sonntag. "Of course the flip side is I'm early in my career. I can't afford to mess this up. I'm going to work hard. If I mess this up I'm not going to get another presidency. That motivates me. I have a very strong work ethic. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to be successful."

Sonntag's background in psychology can help him as an administrator when it comes to conflict.

"I bring my background all the time to deescalate those kinds of things," he said. "In higher education people have a lot of very deeply, very dearly held ideas and they are incredibly bright people who are trained to articulate and argue their point. So confrontation is going to happen all the time. It is what higher education is about, wrestling with ideas and conflicting ideas, but we have to do it civilly."

Communication is going to be a top priority for Sonntag.

"You have to listen," he said. "You have to listen very genuinely. You have to ask questions. You have to ask questions that put people at ease and invite them to talk. I would find as many ways to communicate as I can and just informal walking around campus, having lunch with the students, stopping by faculty offices, staff offices, checking in."

If offered the position, he also plans to meet with every faculty member individually. Sonntag also plans to stick around for at least six years if not 10 because his children will be entering high school soon and he does not want to have to move while they are in school.

"It meshes perfectly with this time in my life and this presidency," he said. "You wouldn't want someone to commit for less than six years and ideally 10 years. You can see a lot of stuff brought to fruition in 10 years. It matches my personal life almost perfectly."

Although Sonntag was born and raised in Texas, he finds Vermont to be to his liking.

"My wife and I have fallen in love with New England and the style of life and political climate, the cultural climate suits us in ways that where we came from in the south," he said.