Henderson resident Steve Bridges says the University of Southern Indiana was founded to serve the type of student he was.
Bridges said he didn’t have much money to go away to school, and besides, he never really wanted to leave the area anyway. USI, he said, was founded to improve southwest Indiana and the region by educating its people.
A 1984 Henderson County High School graduate, Bridges worked on average 32 hours each week at Sureway to pay his way through college, which began at Henderson Community College before moving over to USI.
On Friday, Bridges was appointed to a job—even after 35 years at the school—he never thought he’d have a chance at. He was named the interim president of USI, taking over for Dr. Ron Rochon, who has been appointed president at California State University, Fullerton. Bridges interim position takes effect on July 20.
“This is just an opportunity I never saw coming,” Bridges said Sunday in an interview with the Hendersonian.
For Bridges, USI has been the only work home he’s known since his days at Sureway. After finishing his class work for a bachelor’s degree in accounting at USI in December 1988, he stayed at the grocer until April 1989, when he took his first position at USI, as staff accountant. Because the school didn’t have a winter graduation program then, he still hadn’t officially graduated. He did that the next month, already a full-time employee at the university.
Bridges said he’s worn myriad hats at the university since he first came on and described the school as “a great place of opportunity for me.”
According to a USI release, after staff accountant he moved to bursar, chief accountant, controller and assistant business office director, assistant and associate vice president and an interim appointment for operations and assistant treasurer, and eventually to vice president for finance and administration.
He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from USI in 1995.
During his time at USI, Bridges pointed to two massive projects he oversaw. One was the implementation of the campus card identification system in 1999, when the university built residence halls and began offering meal plans.
Another big implementation was that of the university’s administrative software system, Banner. That was a three-year project that Bridges led from 2010-2013.
Bridges said he knew he was in the running for the interim position because he knew Rochon had put his name forward to the USI Board of Trustees, but there were others the board was considering, too, which provided for a little tension as he and others waited for the announcemnt. The board voted unanimously to appoint him, he said.
Rochon was appointed USI’s fourth president in 2018, and before that, he had been provost since 2010. In that position and as president, Bridges and Rochon worked closely together, Bridges said, adding he learned much about the academic side of the university while the former president learned about the financial side of things.
“He taught me some things. I taught him some things,” Bridges said.
In the year he’ll serve in the interim position, Bridges said he will follow the strategic plan that was formed by staff, faculty and students and approved by the board of trustees. It includes improving student success, including enrollment and retention; increasing visibility and reputation; strengthening financial viability; and fostering impactful engagement.
But within those, he’s interested in focusing on a capital campaign, reconnecting with the new governor of Indiana after the fall election, increasing connection to the local business community and increasing revenue.
He also said he wants to tell USI’s story, which is different than other institutions when it comes to student debt. USI students graduate with about $23,000 in debt, much lower than many other higher-learning institutions. And Bridges said he’ll continue to push USI programs already in place that teach students how to keep their debt as low as possible.
“People don’t owe the amount of money at USI that you hear about on the national news,” he said.
He didn’t say if he’d throw his hat in to be the next president.
“I’m going to serve in this role as long as the board of trustees will have me,” he said.
He said he’d continue to live at his Henderson home and not the residence the university has in place for its presidents to live. He said plans are in the works to renovate that home to be ready for the next university president.
Bridges said he’s not met with faculty and staff—he’d only been named interim late Friday morning—but he did have a pulse of what they want, which is stability, as well as increased enrollment and retention.
The official enrollment count for USI in 2023-2024 was 9,286, which was up 1.2% from the previous year, he said. He added the school is shooting for 10,000 enrollees and perhaps later even 12,000. But demographics don’t support many more students beyond that number, he said.
Bridges is married to wife, Rosemary, who works at Holy Name School. Son Cory works at Field and Main Bank, and daughter, Abby Polivick works at German American Bank. Additionally, his daughter, Emma, was named principal at HNS earlier this spring.
“It’s been a big year for the Bridges,” he said.
