Scott Nelson, ’94, is Linfield’s new Director of Communications.

He brings with him a plethora of experience having worked for more than 10 years at the Oregonian as a reporter and business editor and most recently as a managing producer.

A graduate of Linfield, Nelson served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Linfield Review while he was a student at the college.

Nelson says he’s excited to be back, but that it’s “A little weird, but in a good way.”

He’s very much like a new student he says, mostly because he’s been getting oriented for the past two weeks with his new job.

While he’s still figuring out what he wants to do and where he thinks Linfield needs to go in terms of exposure, Nelson is determined to help the college advance itself into the next decade.

A seasoned member of the Oregonian’s staff, he’s used to doing many things throughout the course of one day, something that he says will be a definite change for him working at his new job.

Nelson is adamant that he wants to take a look at everything that his job entails and what need to be prioritized before deciding what he wants to change and what he wants to keep.

An advantage, he explained, was having a veteran staff already on hand. “The president hired me to raise the profile of the college, and that’s going to be a big priority going forward.”

The rapid pace of change in the higher education world means that Linfield cannot afford to be left behind, and so “name recognition” – the college’s reputation and how well it’s known, is at the top of Nelson’s list of priorities. “Right now I’m just listening and learning and asking a lot of questions.”

“I think it’s healthy to always be asking questions, such as ‘Why do we do that? What should we be doing? How long have we been doing that?’ and I think it’s healthy and sometimes when you’ve been doing the same job for a long time, you stop doing that,” Nelson said.

Nelson felt strongly about accepting the position at Linfield, having previously been offered a position at another institution. “Linfield is different. It’s my college, it’s my place, and I do want to be here, and I do want to find ways to make it a stronger and better place.”

One thing Nelson did find as a bit of a shock, coming from a newspaper where everything happened at a snap of the fingers, was the deliberative process in which Linfield makes its decisions. Being in eight hours of meetings “has come as a bitter surprise,” though he says it with a wry grin. His plans are to try and tone down on the number of meetings once he gets used to his new job.