Oral history interview with Jeff Collins, 2017

Brittany H: My name is Brittany Hedrick, and today is Friday, October 20th, 2017. I'm in the Jackson Library with Jeff Collins, class of 1984 to conduct an oral history interview for the UNCG Institutional Memory Collection.

Brittany H: Thank you Mr. Collins for participating in this project and sharing your experiences with me. I'd to start the interview by asking you about your childhood. Could you tell me when and where you were born?

Jeff Collins: Absolutely. I was born at Moses Cone Hospital right here in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Brittany H: Okay. What about your family and your home life?

Jeff Collins: Have a mom and dad, and two sisters and a brother that were home with us, so yeah.

Brittany H: What does your parents do?

Jeff Collins: Mom was a hairdresser, and then became a teacher. Dad was a butcher, who wound up buying a vending company and ran that.

Brittany H: So, always lived in Greensboro.

Jeff Collins: Always. I don't know any better than this. That's one of the things I always ask people that come here from other places, "What was the 00:01:00draw?" I'm curious about that, because this is all I know.

Brittany H: Okay. Where did you go to high school?

Jeff Collins: I went to Page High School.

Brittany H: All right. Any favorite subjects?

Jeff Collins: I generally liked history, was probably my favorite subject in high school.

Brittany H: Did you enjoy school?

Jeff Collins: I did. I enjoyed school. I enjoyed learning stuff, but I wasn't super active in extracurricular stuff. I kind of looked at school as a necessary evil, or a means to an end.

Brittany H: When did you graduate? What year was that?

Jeff Collins: In 1984, from UNCG.

Brittany H: What about high school?

Jeff Collins: High school, 1980.

Brittany H: Well I was going to ask you, why did you choose to attend UNCG? But I think you answered that a little earlier.

Jeff Collins: Well UNCG, really the reason that I came here, growing up in 00:02:00Greensboro, and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I've never been one of those that had a life plan, kind of thing. But everybody told me I needed to go to college, and they were probably right. I applied to, I think three schools and was able to get in all of them.

Jeff Collins: But right before school was getting ready to start, UNCG offered me a scholarship. Being the pragmatic person that I was, I said, "I can spend money and go here, or make money and go here." So, UNCG looked very good to me from that perspective.

Brittany H: Could you tell me about your first days on campus?

Jeff Collins: Yeah, I was a commuter student. I didn't get the big culture shock, college lifestyle change. Moving in with strangers in a dorm, or whatever like that; I stayed off campus. Really, other than the size, and it sounds funny to say size now compared to what it looks now. But, it wasn't a big shocker.

Jeff Collins: Rather than just the space, and figuring out how to get across campus to class. It seems as a freshman, you always have the opposite corners of the campus for your back-to-back classes. But other than that, it wasn't a big adjustment.

Brittany H: Yeah. Well, you said that you always felt high school was this necessary evil, so what made you really want to go to college?

Jeff Collins: Well, like I said, I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I think everybody around me was telling me, "You need to go to college, you need to get an education." I think that's good advice, and I took it, thankfully. Even if I didn't really know why or, what I was going to do. It's a good basis to have, and you've got more options to build off of, with a good solid base.

Brittany H: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, looking back, would you say you're happy 00:04:00about your choice? Did you enjoy your time here?

Jeff Collins: I did. Like I said, being a commuter student, and as a student, I kind of looked at my job as to spend as little time on campus as possible. As an adult, I think that was the wrong way to do it. But I was good at my job, and I came and I took my classes I learned where to park, and more importantly where not the park. And would leave school, and go to work. I didn't really have the college experience, with the social side of it.

Jeff Collins: But I didn't, I didn't know what I was missing until, really the first time I really dawned on ... I never understood where you would see people run into an old college friend, or a college roommate and run up and, "Oh gosh, it's so good to see you," and hug each other. I'm like, "What's wrong with these people? I don't know anybody from college that I had that kind of relationship with," and I didn't.

Jeff Collins: But when my daughter, she went away to school, and she would come 00:05:00home and she would tell me things that were happening in school and in class, and then in the dorm as well. That's when I realized, for the first time ever, really, there's a whole nother side to the college experience, the social aspect.

Jeff Collins: I've told her, just listening to her stories... and you try to teach your kids what to do and how to do it. But until they have to do it, it doesn't really register. But I've told her, "You're learning more in your dorm, that you're going to use the rest of your life, than you're learning in the classroom. Because, you have to..."

Jeff Collins: I came home one day, when she found out where she was living, and it looked a crime scene. There was a chalk outline in the driveway, and it was a full scale sketch of her dorm room. She's like, "Dad," she said, "All of my stuff has to fit in this space." I'm like, "No, it doesn't." I said, "All of your stuff has to fit in half of that space." She's like, "Oh no, you're right."

Jeff Collins: So, you learn how to, get along with people that you like, get along with people you don't like. Just share time, and schedules and things like that. That was the first time I ever realized that the other side of the college experience, that I never did have as a student.

Brittany H: Yeah, definitely. Well, what was it being in school, and having to work too?

Jeff Collins: It wasn't bad. It really wasn't bad, because it's just how it was, and how I had always been for me. We grew up, my grandparents had a farm, and I was working from the time I was five years old in this. I enjoyed it, I liked it. I liked having my own money, to do things with.

Jeff Collins: So really, when I came to school, to college, to UNCG, it was really better. Because, my day would be typically three hours of class, and then I would generally shoot basketball or something for a couple of hours. Then I 00:07:00could work, as opposed to coming out of high school, where I was six or eight hours in class a day. It really gave me more free time, than what I had been accustomed to on the other side.

Brittany H: Well, what was your major?

Jeff Collins: Business Administration.

Brittany H: Okay. Did you ever change majors?

Jeff Collins: I did not. I did not. Again, that was not really knowing what I wanted to do, or what direction I was going. That was a good general major to do. Now, they have a specialty majors within the concentration, within the business school. But, back when I was in it, you were either a business major or information technologies, then was computer science. That was more of a math curriculum, than a business.

Jeff Collins: But now, you can break it down and specialize in economics, or marketing, or whatever specific area you want to go. But it's a good thing they 00:08:00didn't have that when I was a student. Because like I said, I wasn't smart enough or focused enough to know which area to concentrate on.

Brittany H: Is there a particular class, that really sticks out in your mind looking back?

Jeff Collins: I had a couple of really good classes, that I did like The ones I didn't like stick out more, than the ones I did like. But I had a really good calculus professor when I was here, he was Dr. Bill Love. Calculus is one of those classes that you had to take, but you kept putting off, because everybody told you how horrible it was.

Jeff Collins: Well, Dr. Love was a NASA, literally a rocket scientist. Which he came in, and the way he taught the class was just a great method. He said, "We're going to teach just a cookbook." At the beginning of every class he would say, "Our objective for tonight is," and he would put an objective on the top of the board. "And, these are the cookbook steps you follow, to reach your 00:09:00objective. If by following these steps, you can't reach this objective, come to my office and I'll explain it further."

Jeff Collins: That's how he took every calculus concept, and broke it down into a cookbook formula. That, if you could read the formula, you could solve the problem. Love the technique, love the way he did it.

Jeff Collins: Another professor I had, he was an adjunct professor in the business department, John Young. He was an insurance professor, and he actually worked in the field. That was really interesting to me, to actually get to talk to someone who was out making a living in the business world. Then they would come in and share what they knew with the class, in a little more different technique than just the pure academic approach to it.

Brittany H: Yeah. Okay. Any other professors left an impression on you?

Jeff Collins: A lot did, and I was trying to think last night. There was an 00:10:00English professor that I had, and she was fantastic, but I can't remember her name. It was a small class, but I think part of it was just her personality, and part of it was just the size of the class. It was just a much more intimate group, and you had a good relationship.

Jeff Collins: Then I had a computer teacher, Dr. Grill that was really good. He was good at teaching us the computer language. Because at the time, computers were a new thing, and computer languages were certainly a new thing. But, he could explain it and understand it, and it was all new. We were doing Cobol, and Fortran, and Basic, and languages like that, that I don't even know if they still use anymore.

Jeff Collins: But, he could teach that to us. But he was really good, just to sit down and talk to about life in general, and life lessons; what to do and what not to do. He was really good at that, just hanging out in his office, and 00:11:00getting some good foundational stuff for the rest of life.

Jeff Collins: But back then the computer lab was, was one room in the Bryan School. At the time, the Bryan School was the Business and Economics School. Everybody said, "Did you go to the Bryan School?" I said, "Well, when I was here, it wasn't the Bryan school yet. But we actually had Joe Bryan, walking around campus."

Jeff Collins: He was over here, it was not uncommon to see him walking around campus on a regular basis. But, the school hadn't been named for him yet. But the computer lab was one room in there, and you signed up well in advance. You had assignments you had to complete, and you had one hour. A one hour block, you could get the computer. For most of us, that wasn't enough to complete an assignment.

Jeff Collins: But when your hour was up, the screen went black. If you didn't have it saved, or backed up wherever your last save was, you were starting over. Then you had to print it out, and go to another floor in the room. To get your 00:12:00output, to see if you were finished or not. And, I think there might've been 10 or 15 computers in there, that everybody on campus had to share.

Brittany H: Wow.

Jeff Collins: Yeah. Instead of having one in your pocket, you had to... it was amazing.

Brittany H: So what you're saying is, that we didn't have a big computer lab in the library, yet. [crosstalk 00:12:28]

Jeff Collins: No. No.

Brittany H: So, that's it. Yeah.

Jeff Collins: The Digital Commons and stuff that, was the basement of the library. And it was really a basement. There were, I think two computers in the library, scattered out through the stacks, that you could reserve and use. A lot of people didn't know they were here, so they were good to get.

Jeff Collins: But the way I did most of my computer assignments ... gosh, this is really old. But, you had an Atari video game console, that you plugged into your television, and you could play pong or these very low tech video games on 00:13:00your television. But, through modems you could connect to the UNCG mainframe.

Jeff Collins: So, I had a friend that I worked with, that had a baby. When her and her husband would go out to whatever, dinner or whatever, I would babysit for their baby because they had an Atari. I would go over there and babysit for them, so they could get out of the house and I could do my homework. That's how I got to do a lot of my homework.

Jeff Collins: But again, when you did that, you put the data in and then you send it to the mainframe. Then you had to come over here and pick up your printout. Nobody had printers or computers at home. You had to come over here to see if you were finished, or if you had to go babysit again the next weekend.

Brittany H: Wow. I can't imagine whenever I was younger, I remember the computers being just so big. All I remember that you could do on it, was play games.

Jeff Collins: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Brittany H: I can't imagine doing homework on those. Well, let's see. You 00:14:00weren't involved in extracurricular activities, you said?

Jeff Collins: Very little. Like I said, I did one term on the student government as a Town Student Senator. Like I said, I just did that for one term. Then there was a group on campus, called BACCHUS, about Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Among College Students, an acronym. I got involved with that, I think my sophomore or junior year. A friend of mine, who I knew, was heading that up. So, he got me involved in that.

Brittany H: What made you decide to, want to be involved in that?

Jeff Collins: Well, like I say, a friend of mine was in charge of it. He was telling me, good group of people, a solid group of people. It's just another avenue to meet people, that you may not run into otherwise. That was just probably a selfish tool, for me to meet people.

Brittany H: Nothing wrong with that. Were there any social or academic events on 00:15:00campus, that stand out in your mind? Maybe something that was just going on, on campus when you happened to walk by? Or, something that you were involved with?

Jeff Collins: The biggest thing ... it's funny. Because, as I said earlier, my goal was to spend as little time on campus as possible. I think, early freshman, sophomore year, one of the English classes I took was a play class, or play writing class. As part of that class, we had to attend the UNCG theater plays in the auditorium.

Jeff Collins: The one I remember, and I don't know why there, was a student here named Lynn Donohue. I remember she played Snoopy, in one of the Peanuts plays one year. But, we went to a lot of plays and stuff that. That was something that I didn't normally do, that I really didn't want to do. But I had to do, to pass 00:16:00this class. But once I did it, I enjoyed it and it was fun.

Brittany H: Well, do you remember anything about the political atmosphere on campus, or was there one?

Jeff Collins: It's not like it is now. I mean, like I say, we had the student government, and I was a part of that. But I really don't remember a lot of ... it seems now every time there's a political controversy, and it's controversial, and I can't agree or we're not going to agree. It's just, there's no common ground. I don't think, I don't remember anything as hostile. Or like I would describe the environment today.

Jeff Collins: Greensboro politics were, Jim Melvin I think was mayor in Greensboro. Again, local politics were not as divisive as they are. Because, 00:17:00one, they weren't broadcast on live television every week. And, you didn't have the social media. If you wanted to talk to a politician, you couldn't tweet him, or text him. You had to go sit down face-to-face, or actually take the time to write him a letter.

Jeff Collins: You know how it is now. I can send out a text, and, "Oh man, I wish I hadn't sent that." But if I take time to write it, and have to mail it and do all that. Then, I think we were a little more cordial to each other back then. Hopefully, we'll figure out how to make that happen again.

Brittany H: Yeah. I think I forgot to ask you this earlier, but you arrived in 1980?

Jeff Collins: Right.

Brittany H: Yeah. Okay. You graduated in 1984. Well, before I move on to what you did afterwards, I just wanted to ask, what did you do for fun? I know you talked about basketball, and stuff like that.

Jeff Collins: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. Yeah, I played a lot of basketball. Like I say, I would typically have my classes in the morning, and try to be done by 12:00 or 1:00. Then I would go to the gym and shoot basketball, or play a pickup game or something that. Then usually, if I had to work, I'd go to work around four, so I would do that. Then, restoring old cars, and fixing up old cars, and stuff like that was another thing I used to do for fun.

Brittany H: What did you do after you graduated?

Jeff Collins: After I graduated, and actually, I think '83, so my senior year, I started working where I work now. I work, it's a company called K&C Machine. It a local machine shop here. We do job shop, manufacturing, fabrication, that type stuff, making parts. I started working there my senior year. I was going to try 00:19:00it and see how I liked it, and I've been there ever since.

Jeff Collins: Then, as an offshoot, like I say, we used to do cars as a hobby, kind of a fun thing. About 20 years ago, that's turned into a business. Now we have both businesses, that we run here in Greensboro.

Brittany H: How have you been involved with UNCG since you graduated?

Jeff Collins: Since I graduated, long story. Like I say, I was pretty uninvolved as a student. After I graduated, I was finished. I didn't need it anymore. I was the first person in my family to go to college. I know you're working on your master's and your doctorate, and that's great. But, I never thought past that. I graduated college, I'm done.

Jeff Collins: I never really thought about, any kind of involvement. Never left 00:20:00Greensboro. But, I never came back over here. My wife actually worked here in the athletic department, late '80s, early '90s. Even when she worked here, she came here to work. But, that was pretty much the extent of our involvement.

Jeff Collins: I think '08, '09, whenever the basketball team moved to the Coliseum, that got me involved, and for all the wrong reasons. I tell people, for all the wrong reasons. Our Coliseum's always bothered me. We have this great facility here, that loses money every year. I said, "Well UNCG," as a Chancellor Gilliam's come in, I said, "I'm sick and tired of being the best kept secret in the state."

Jeff Collins: And, we are. If you're not on campus, you don't know what's happening here. I said, "That'll be a good move for UNCG." It'll be a good move 00:21:00for the Coliseum, to get more events into the Coliseum. We're playing half the ACC, so teams that I watched on television, I can go see play.

Jeff Collins: I talked to Susie, my wife, about it, and I'm like, I said, "UNCG's moving to the Coliseum. I'd to get tickets." She's like, "Well, why?" She said, "When I worked there, we got free tickets and we didn't go." So, I went through my rationale with her. Finally, I told her, I said, "Look," I said, "It'll get us out of the house, 15 nights a year." She said, "Okay, let's do it."

Jeff Collins: Came over here, and the season was getting ready to start. Went into the athletics building, and John Comer, who's the alumni house manager now, was ticket manager. I went in, and met John and I told him I wanted to get season tickets. He's like, "Really?" I'm like, "Yeah." He's like, "Okay."

Jeff Collins: He pulls out a map of the Coliseum, and he's like, "Where do you want to sit?" I'm like, "Well, where can, I sit?" "Well, you can sit pretty much anywhere you want to." I said, "Well man, if I get to pick, I want to sit on the front row." He's like, "Okay, you can." I'm like, "Okay."

Jeff Collins: He said, "If you do that, you have to join the Spartan Club." I'm like, "Well, what's the Spartan Club?" He said, "Well, that's our booster club." He said, "Hold on just a second." He goes and gets Mike Roach, who's the Head of the Spartan Club. Mike comes out and introduces himself, and John tells him I want to get tickets and join the Spartan Club.

Jeff Collins: Mike's like, "Well, okay." He said, "You got a minute?" I'm like, "Sure." I said, "Hold on." He said, "Hold on, I'll be right back." He leaves and he comes back, and he brings Kim Wrecker, who's at the time, our new athletic director. She comes in, and introduces herself, "If I can do anything for you, if you need anything, please let me know. Here's my phone number, call me."

Jeff Collins: She said, "Have you got a minute?" I'm like, "Well, sure." She's, "Well come with me." She takes me down the hall, and Mike Dement was the basketball coach ,and introduces me to Mike Dement, and meet the coaching staff. There's a couple of players in there. So, I got my tickets and I left.

Jeff Collins: We used to go to some athletic events, at some other schools in the area. I got to thinking, I said, "These guys were really trying to build up a brand, and a fan base, and an allegiance here. I've walked in here, I've been here for an hour. I've met the ticket director, the Spartan Club director, the athletic director, the basketball coach. And they all told me to call them, if I needed anything."

Jeff Collins: I said, "If, where we had been supporting, if we gave them the same amount of money, we might get a bumper sticker. We probably wouldn't, but we might," I said. So, that really made me think, "These guys are really working hard."

Jeff Collins: So, we started going to the basketball games, and we had a couple of tickets. We had kids that were 12, 15 at the time and they didn't really care 00:24:00to come. Finally, one game, one of my daughters came. We had a player on the team named Korey Van Dussen. Korey to her ... and Korey was a fine young man, but he was the cutest little fella she'd ever seen.

Jeff Collins: So, then she became a fan. Then we started bringing her, and then she started bringing her friends. Then, Like I say, I came to get off the couch, to see the ACC teams. But I got to know that UNCG players, and the UNCG kids. Just really got a connection with them, and started doing that.

Jeff Collins: From there, I really don't know, they ask me all the time, "What did we do to you? Because, you went from, from zero to very engaged. How can we do that?" And I don't really know. The next step from that, and I think it had 00:25:00to be an offshoot of that, because they had never, ever called before. But, home one night, where I work, I'm on the phone all the time. So, at home I never answer the phone.

Jeff Collins: The kids never understood it. I'm sitting there beside the phone, and it just [inaudible 00:25:20], no. Well anyway, one night the phone rings, and I answered. It was the Alumni Association. I figured they're wanting money or something, that's why they call. Jana Wagenseller called, and she said, "We'd for you to join the alumni board."

Jeff Collins: There are, I think still, three Jeff Collins' that attended UNCG. Two of them are prominent and successful, then there's me. I told Jen, I said, "Jen, you got the wrong Jeff Collins. No problem. It happens all the time. You want the other Jeff Collins." She's like, "No, we want you, to join the Alumni Association Board."

Jeff Collins: I said, "Well, what is it?" I had no idea. She explained it to me, 00:26:00and I said, "Well, let me think about it." I hung up the phone, and I was talking to Susie and she said, "Who was that?" I said, "It was the Alumni Association." She said, "Well, what did they want?" I said, They want me to serve on the Alumni Board. She's like, "Why?" I'm like, "I don't know."

Jeff Collins: I said, "I don't know. I think they called the wrong number. I really do." She said, "Well, you're not going to do it, are you?" I said, "Well, I think I might." She's like, "Well, why?" I said, "Well, it's only for a year. It's a one year term. I can just sit in a room with 25 smart people and listen, so now I can learn something." She said, "You won't do that.: I'm like, "I can do that. I can just sit in the back and listen."

Jeff Collins: That was my intention. That was my plan, and I did. I got on the board, and agreed to a one year, just filling out an unexpired term. I got on a committee, that we had our syllabus, and our directions and everything we were going to do. Our committee was horrible. We didn't do anything. We finished our 00:27:00year, and like I say, we meet four times a year, the big board. Then if you have your committee meetings, or whatever. Our committee never met.

Jeff Collins: At the end of the year, the last meeting, the president sends out a little form and says, "Evaluate your time on the board, let us know what you thought of your experience." I'm the kind of person, I don't say a lot. I haven't stopped talking since you turned on the recorder, but I don't say a lot. But, if you ask me a question I'll answer it.

Jeff Collins: So, she sent this form out to evaluate your time on the board. I said, "I had a great time on the board. I met a lot of really nice people. I got to do some things. We say we're a service organization, we're not. We're a social organization. Nothing wrong with being a social organization. But if that's what we are, let's own it, and move on, and not pretend. You fed me very 00:28:00well, I had a great time. But I didn't serve anybody." So, I turned in my sheet, and walked out and I was done.

Jeff Collins: About a week later she called me and she said, "I got your evaluation of your year." I'm like, "Yeah." She said, "Well, that was pretty harsh." I'm like, "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. It's the truth." She said, "Well, I'd to talk to you about it, if you don't mind." I'm like, "Well now I'm in trouble. Here I am just, I'm a one year term and I'm leaving. Now, I've got to come and see the president. I'm in trouble."

Jeff Collins: She's like, "No, you're not in trouble. I'd just to talk to you for a minute." She is a very smart lady, and she's much smarter than I am. She knew before she called me, what she was going to do to me, and I didn't. I didn't see it coming at all. I go to her office, and we sit down and talk, and she like, "You said you didn't accomplish anything, you didn't do anything."

Jeff Collins: I'm like, "Well, we didn't." She has our list, she said, "Well, 00:29:00let's just check off." I said, "You don't have to check off anything. We didn't do anything on that list." She just put the list down, and she looked at me and like I said, she set me up very well. She said, "You're right. You're right. This committee had a rough year, we had bad leadership in it."

Jeff Collins: She had a tough year as president, because when she was president, we had some issues going on internally. Our executive director, we had the fire and replace, and that was a very public thing. So, she had some bigger fish to fry, than then this committee. She said, "We knew this committee wasn't doing well, but it wasn't really hurting anything. We decided we would just let it go, and would fix it in the off season."

Jeff Collins: I'm like, "It makes perfect sense. I understand completely, and now you have an opportunity to fix it. I have no doubt you'll do that." She's like, "You know what? You would make a great chair for this committee." And, I 00:30:00still don't know what she's doing. I'm like, "You're right. I would be fantastic. I would, but I only had a one year term; my term's up."

Jeff Collins: She's like, "What if I could get you a full term?" I said, "Well, now I've put my foot in my mouth. I have to do it." She said, "Okay. Well, if I can get you a full term, would you chair this committee?" I'm like, "All right. I'll take that on." I did, I came back for a full term, and chaired that committee.

Jeff Collins: We did a couple things. We made a couple changes, and a few accomplishments. If you're ever get an opportunity to chair a committee, take over the worst committee. If you do anything, it looks you know what you're doing. We took that committee, and made some changes in it and got it up and running.

Jeff Collins: Then the next year they said, "Okay, this committee's not doing really well. Would you mind taking it?" I got the reputation of the, "fix the 00:31:00bad committees." But the reason it looked I could do it, was because they were the worst committees. You didn't have to do a whole lot to improve. That's how I got into that. Then I got involved with the Alumni Board, and stayed on for five years.

Brittany H: Could you break down a timeline? What year was it, whenever you started attending the basketball games? Then, what year was it, whenever you were asked to be ... could you give us a timeline?

Jeff Collins: Sure. Yeah, I think '09 is when the basketball team moved to the coliseum. That first season, we got tickets to the first season for that. Then it was '11 when the Alumni Association called, and I joined that.

Brittany H: Okay.

Jeff Collins: Or joined the board, I guess. You're a member of the Alumni Association, whether you it or not. But, I got involved with the Board in '11.

Brittany H: Okay. You did that for five years?

Jeff Collins: Five years.

Brittany H: I'm guessing your involvement ended and 2016?

Jeff Collins: '16, yes.

Brittany H: So, it'll be last year?

Jeff Collins: Yes.

Brittany H: Okay. What titles have you held, in the Alumni Association?

Jeff Collins: Pretty much all of them, at some point in time. We had, like I say, everything in there, you've got the big board, and then it works within committees.

Jeff Collins: But, I was on: the License Plate Committee, the Spartan Recruitment Committee, the Alumni Engagement Committee, the Executive Committee, the Awards and Nominations Committee, the Weatherspoon Museum Board, the UNCG Excellence Foundation, the Chancellor's Budget Sounding Board, the Chancellor Search Committee, the UNCG Strategic Planning Committee.

Jeff Collins: Then through the years I was chairs are various committees. Then, 00:33:00I wound up serving as President of the Alumni Association, and then as Chair of the Alumni Board. Then currently, I'm off of the main board, but working with the Bryan Alumni Association Board.

Brittany H: Okay. Well, you done a lot? Yeah.

Jeff Collins: Well, just totally by accident, and just happened. The timing was right, and we were able to plug in, and hopefully make a little bit of a difference, that people notice.

Brittany H: Yeah. Well, I hate to make you pick and choose, but was there any particular role that you played, that was perhaps your favorite, I don't know if that's a good way to put it, but was there a particular time that you just had the best time, in any of those positions?

Jeff Collins: I think the thing that I enjoyed the most, and I don't know if ... I liked the role of president, because it just affords you a lot of opportunities, and exposure to people in the university, that everybody doesn't 00:34:00get. What I did when I was president, I would bore people to death. I wanted everybody to experience that experience. So, I would take pictures, and when we report back to the board, I would do slideshows.

Jeff Collins: "Again, here's where I've been this quarter. Here's what we've done." These are initiatives and things, that the board has voted to support with our time and our money. But unfortunately, a lot of the board members don't get to see the events as they unfold. So, I would try to bring back the flavor of that to the board, so they could see the results of what we were doing.

Jeff Collins: But probably my favorite thing, I think was the Spartan Recruitment. Because, we would pair up alumni board people with admissions counselors and we would tour. We went all over North Carolina, we went to 00:35:00Atlanta, we went to New York, and we would meet prospective students. Or, what we really liked to meet with, was students that had been admitted, but hadn't committed yet and come and give them a flavor of UNCG.

Jeff Collins: I think the reason I that, the admissions people, the admissions team were fantastic. Just super nice people. You spend a lot of time with them, a lot of time traveling. So, a good group of people to work with and to hang out with. But, you're meeting the students, and the future of the university. And, hopefully they'll decide to come here.

Jeff Collins: But I think what I liked about that, you were meeting with students and parents, and you never knew what they were going to ask you. I spent more time researching and studying UNCG, so that when they asked me a question, I would have a good answer for them. I think I just learn more about the school, and the history, and our standings, and our ranks, and all that sort 00:36:00of thing that. That was probably my favorite part of it.

Brittany H: Have you read the big UNCG History Book?

Jeff Collins: I have not-

Brittany H: I can't remember the author, but you know what I'm talking about. It's a huge book.

Jeff Collins: I do, and I didn't even know it existed until just a couple of years ago. Our executive director, and I won't call her name since we're on tape, but she's promised me a copy of that book because I wanted to read it. But I haven't gotten it yet. I know I can go buy one, but she, she was supposed to get me one.

Brittany H: It's pretty interesting. I've flipped through it.

Jeff Collins: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brittany H: Well, let's see. Some of these questions, I hope they don't overlap with anything you've already said. But, we'll go for it. What did you most about working with the Alumni Association? You've probably touched a little on this. Maybe there's something you forgot to add.

Jeff Collins: Yeah. Well, what I really liked about it, and I told the board when I left my last meeting. I stood up there and cried a baby, which I didn't 00:37:00expect to do. But I told them, "You've become my surrogate undergrad buddies. The relationships, and the people that I've met and spent time with, you're my undergrad ... I never got that. I was able to come back later in life, and experience a little bit of it."

Jeff Collins: But what I really, really liked is meeting the people. Like I say, I got to meet a lot of people. I've met UNCG alum from as far back as 1937, to this year. That would never happen outside of the Alumni Association experience. A lot of them serve on the board. Then, a lot of them you meet at reunions, and our Alumni Awards dinner like we had last night.

Jeff Collins: The first year we did that, I had a lady that won an award, she's class of 1947. She was at my table, and she came to the Alumni Awards, and I 00:38:00don't know when we stopped, I think their late 60s, early '70s, with the class jackets. But she's class of 1947, and she comes to the Alumni Awards dinner, with her class jacket from 1947.

Jeff Collins: We sit there and talk, and talk all night. I'm being as charming as I can be, and everything. Having a great time. She's telling me about her experiences here. We talk, and the evening's over. She had a driver, so I say, "Well, I'll walk you out to your car." We leave, and we were walking out across, in front of the Elliott Center there. She just stops.

Jeff Collins: She just starts looking around, and she said, "This place has really changed. It's amazing. You know the worst thing, that ever happened here?" I'm like, "No. I'd love to know, what do you think?" She said, "When we let them dag-on boys in." So, I told her, her name was Betty, I said, "Betty, 00:39:00you know, if we hadn't left the boys in, I wouldn't be here." She said, "I'm very well aware of that, Jeff."

Jeff Collins: Then she winked at me, so I think she was kidding. But, I'm not sure. But that was funny. But, just meeting the people from across generations, and have made some great friends. That that will be lifelong friends, that I would have never had an opportunity to meet, outside that experience.

Brittany H: Yeah. Anyone who's made a really big impression on you?

Jeff Collins: Oh, there are a lot, that have made really big impressions on me. Jo Safrit. I mean, she's the consummate UNCG volunteer, class of '57, a world renown kinesiologist. Just fantastic person. Michael Garret, it's a class of '07. He was the President of the Alumni Association before me. But just a great leader, and one of the most mature responsible people that I've ever gotten to meet.

Jeff Collins: Those are a couple, that come to mind right away. But, a great group of board. That's the thing, there's 25, 28 people on the board, about a third of it turns every year. The amazing thing to me, that the people that we replace the people rolling off with, are even better than the ones that left. I probably couldn't get back on, if I wanted to. It's a good group.

Brittany H: Any challenges that you faced, in your work with the Alumni Association?

Jeff Collins: Absolutely. I mean I think anytime, if you're doing anything, you're going to face challenges. I think anytime you're dealing with an organization, that's 120 years old, with that kind of history and background, and has 120,000 members, you're going to have challenges. Like I say, if you do 00:41:00anything, if you move the ball at all.

Jeff Collins: It's easy just to steer in the center lane. But, if you make changes, and improvements and things, you're, you're going to upset the apple cart. I think that's to be expected. I think the best way to deal with that, is communication and inclusion. Let people know not only what you're doing, but why you're doing it and involve them in the decision making process.

Jeff Collins: If everybody understands, we're trying to move the whole thing forward in the same direction, it makes it easier oo to accept the change. Because, you have to change. I mean, things have to happen.

Brittany H: Yeah. Well, so I'm sure you have interacted with a lot of students within those five years. But, how do you think that the students are different, than you were when you were here through '80 to '84? How are the students different now?

Jeff Collins: The students now, really amaze me. I think they're much more focused. I mean, the popular thing to hear on the news or read in the papers, the millennials and how they don't want to do this. But, the kids that I meet here are ... because literally, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. But the kid that says, "This is what I want to do. This is what I need to do to get there." And they're doing it.

Jeff Collins: As an example, we were in Charlotte one night, we're recruiting students. They had me up there, and I told my story of, "Commuter student, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. Here's what I did and here's where I landed." Had another kid there, he was, I think graduated '09, '10, somewhere in there; a much more recent graduate. Commuter student, same beginning to the story.

Jeff Collins: Okay. He graduated, and he's telling his story. He's like, "Well, I graduated in four and a half years." I'm like, "Hah! Well, I graduated in four years." He graduated in four and a half years, he visited 27 countries and had two degrees. He said what he did, he said, "I was a commuter student. But, I treated college my job."

Jeff Collins: Whereas I came to campus, I had class from 8:00 to 12:00. 12:02, I was leaving. Okay. He said, "I came in 9:00 to 5:00. I was on campus 9:00 to 5:00 every day. If I had class, I was in class. If I didn't have class, I was in the library, or studying, or in a club or doing whatever. Or planning my next study abroad, or whatever."

Jeff Collins: He said, "I did that, at 5:00 I had all my homework done. I punched out, I put it down," and he went to work. He got up and gave his spiel, 00:44:00like I say, the same beginnings to our story. But, he had a much more well rounded college experience, than what I had. I got up again after him, and just told everybody, "Just forget everything I ever said, and do what he did. He did it right."

Jeff Collins: I mean, and that's the neat thing about UNCG, is you can make it your own. I mean, you can adapt the school to what you need as a student, wherever you're at in life. I think that's a unique quality here.

Brittany H: Yeah. Any interactions with Chancellor Brady, our new chancellor, Franklin Gilliam?

Jeff Collins: I had extensive interactions with Chancellor Brady. We traveled together, we met together monthly or quarterly. Chancellor Brady is really ... 00:45:00being chancellor's a tough job. It really is. To see ... I honestly think she's one of the most selfless leaders, I've ever seen in my life. I've sit there and talked to her, it would be so much easier for her to put somebody else out there.

Jeff Collins: But, she said, "No," She said, she would take the punch, to protect the university. I saw her do that time and time and time again. I'm like, "Chancellor Brady, if you would just go out there and say this, this would go away." She's like, "No. That would be the easy thing to do, but the damage to the university, it would be insurmountable. I'm here to take the punch, and protect the university."

Jeff Collins: I saw her do that time and time again, throughout her tenure. I know, there are people who view her well, and love her, and there are people who 00:46:00don't. But I really think, I've never seen a more selfless leader. I got to know her really well, and I really think history's going to view her tenure as a bright spot in UNCG. When we look back over it, and weigh it all in. I certainly hope so. I think she deserves it.

Jeff Collins: Chancellor Gilliam is fantastic. Don't get to spend as much time with him, because I'm off the board. But, I did serve on the Search Committee, and got to know him through that. Him and his family are just fantastic, a great addition to UNCG. Last night at the Alumni Awards dinner, he spoke. He just, he has a great vision for the university. He can share that vision with you, and you walk out excited about what's going to happen. I think that type of leadership is what we need.

Jeff Collins: Again, I think you get what you need at the time, to move you to 00:47:00the next place in history. I think he's going to be a great asset for us for today, and for moving forward. I've enjoyed working with both of them. Very different personalities, very different styles, but both of them are an asset to the school.

Brittany H: I think my last question will get back to that, but I wanted to ask, how do you encourage other alumni to get involved with the university?

Jeff Collins: Have you ever had a burr in your saddle? I'm kind of that. I mean, I don't hesitate. I call people, I try to get them involved. I nominate, and get people on the different boards and things like that. But I call people and get them involved, to come up and serve. Homecomings this week. If I know you, and I've seen you wear blue and gold once in your life, you've heard from me this 00:48:00week to get up here.

Jeff Collins: Because, I think that's the thing. I don't want people to do like I did and sit on the sidelines for 20 years. What it takes, I've heard it time and time again, "I had no idea. I had no idea." If you can get on campus, take your time, spend your time on campus, come up here and check it out. See what we've done, and see what we've got going on. You're going to want to be a part of it, because it's an infectious energy that everybody likes. But getting them here is the challenge.

Jeff Collins: Right now, we're working with a campaign. I'm helping the athletic department. We're trying to, for the first time ever... and I'll ask you after we finish here, get 1,000 season tickets. We've never had 1,000 season tickets, we're about 200 short right now. We're trying to do that to build a better environment, and a more fun game experience. For the team, for the students and for the fans as well.

Jeff Collins: Like I say, I'll call and invite you. I was on my Facebook page today, and somehow... like I say, it's homecoming and I'm sharing a lot of homecoming posts. Somehow I clicked over, and got on the Alumni Association Facebook page, and I couldn't tell the difference. The posts where the same. So, I might be a little overzealous sometimes. But, if I think there's a chance I'll get you here, you'll definitely hear from me.

Brittany H: Well, I'll have you know, I'm not a fan of basketball.

Jeff Collins: All right. You're coming to a game with me. You don't have to buy a ticket. I'll get your ticket for you.

Brittany H: Well, are there any particular accomplishments or events you've played a role in with the Alumni Association, of which you are particularly proud?

Jeff Collins: Well, the board, I don't know that I did anything. But, I think the board while I was on it, there were, there were several things that we did, that I enjoyed, that I think were important. One we started out, which we 00:50:00needed, and it helped us do some of these other things; just a comprehensive strategic plan. We didn't have that. So, we put together a strategic plan, that we can follow.

Jeff Collins: And, get continuity. A lot of times when boards switch over, and leadership changes, you get new people and you don't have the historical context. So, the strategic plan I think was a good tool for us to evaluate at the time, and for future boards to see what we were thinking. We did that.

Jeff Collins: Another thing we did, we built relationships with other departments across campus. On a university campus a lot of times, and you don't have to go far to hear people say it, they operate in silos. If you're a farmer, a silo's a great thing. If you're a university, it's terrible. "We have an idea, let's do this." Well, that's a great idea, but that's an admissions initiative, so we can't do that.

Jeff Collins: Then I found, if we went and talked to admissions, they might 00:51:00think it's a good idea too. So, we tried to do more interdepartmental, with really anybody that would partner with us and work with us, for students and for alumni as well. We started the alumni based, Spartan Recruitment Initiative, where we would pair alumni up with prospective students to steer them to UNCG, and worked with admissions doing that.

Jeff Collins: We started, the Spartan Legislative Network, which is the legislative advocacy group, for anything political that would benefit UNCG particularly, or higher education in general. That started while we were on the board. We finally were able to get the UNCG license plates on the road. That was a project that had been hot and cold, for over 17 years, and we were able to do that.

Jeff Collins: I joked, when they first started trying to get the plates made, they were making them for chariots. We finally finally got that done. Another 00:52:00thing we did, revamped Homecoming. Put more money into Homecoming, to make it a bigger celebration. What you're seeing this weekend, is a good representation of that. If you go back five years, or if you go back 10 years, you'll really see a contrast in what that is.

Jeff Collins: Then another thing we did, we just had last night, the Fourth Annual, The Alumni of Distinction Awards Dinner. Which, anybody can nominate alumni for these awards. We had Paul Chelimo, the Olympian, he won last night. Paula Short, a provost at University of Houston, she won one. Nursing people win them.

Jeff Collins: But, prior to that, the alumni awards, it was our big night, but we were paired up with the University Honors Awards, which are the university's big night. we kind of got lost in the shuffle of that. We decided if it was 00:53:00possible, if we could separate our stuff from it and do our own event... again, it was different. It was a change. But, it's really one of the more popular events on campus now. Very well received, university-wide support, and has really helped to raise our awareness.

Jeff Collins: At the end of the day, that's what it's all about, is education and awareness. We want to make friends for the university. So that, when the time comes, and if you're considering a donation, or have the means to help back. That the first time you hear from the university's, not from a development or an advancement [inaudible 00:53:40]. You have a relationship, and you want somebody else to share in that experience and have that relationship.

Jeff Collins: Again, that was a few of the things that we did just as a board, during my time on it. That I think were important and significant, and I hope somebody else will as well.

Brittany H: Certainly, yeah. How has UNCG impacted and affected your life?

Jeff Collins: You know, it's funny, I think it's impacted and changed so much, that you may not even know... I don't know anything than I do or think now, that I don't somehow tied back to UNCG, or something that happened here. I think that happened a long time, before I was aware of it. Now I think I'm consciously aware of it, and realize the impact that the people in the University of had on me. But it's, particularly in the last seven, eight years, it's just really been a big part of my life, and what I do. And, I'm thankful for it.

Brittany H: Well, we're doing these interviews as part of the 125th anniversary of the University. Which is an excellent opportunity for reflection, but it also helps us to think about where we're heading in the future. What do you think the future is for UNCG, and where do you see UNCG heading as an institution in the 00:55:00next 25 to 50 years?

Jeff Collins: When I was here, we were an 8,000 student campus. Now, we're knocking on the door for 20,000. That's over a 30 year period. I cannot imagine doubling again, and 40,000 students. But I don't doubt that it'll happen. The new millennial campus that's going across the street there, in Spartan Village. I think that's going to be an opportunity for partnerships.

Jeff Collins: I think that's important. I think with the budget constraints that we have now, with the tax dollars and things like that. The partnerships with the community, and what people from the outside might consider a tangible, measurable economic impact, is going to be more important for future growth.

Jeff Collins: I mean, UNCG has a billion dollar economic impact on the Triad right now. But, if you're not over here on campus, you're not aware of it. But 00:56:00if we have a business in your neighborhood, that impacts you on a daily basis, you'll start to see a little piece of it. Hopefully that little piece will lead you back.

Jeff Collins: I can't wrap up without seeing for the future. I'd love to see some Spartan football, I really would, I think, for a 20,000 student Division 1 university, it's just another piece of the experience that I'd to see us consider in the future.

Brittany H: I would come to a football game.

Jeff Collins: I would love to see you there.

Brittany H: I don't think I have any more formal questions for you. Did you have anything, that maybe we forgot to touch on? Anything you want to, add about your time here? Or your experiences after graduation?

Jeff Collins: I can't- [crosstalk 00:56:54] I can't really think of anything. I mean, like I say, in spite of what I've done, I'm not a real big talker. But I'll usually respond to a question, so.

Brittany H: Okay. Well, it was a great interview. Thank you so much.

Jeff Collins: Well, thank you. Appreciate you doing this.

Brittany H: Of course.

Jeff Collins: I enjoyed it.

Brittany H: Yeah.

Jeff Collins: Good to reflect.