The Last Semester: An Interview with Stephen L. Delaney, MUA

Professor Stephen L. Delaney has been a faculty member in the City Planning and Urban Affairs program since 2006. His expertise lies in municipal management and finance with over 40 years of experience. After eleven at Boston University, Professor Delaney says goodbye, and shares some of his experiences, lessons, and final thoughts.

Andrea: Tell me a little a bit about your background. What drove your interest in municipal management?

Delaney: My undergraduate work is in political science with minors in history and secondary education at Salem State. I was elected to the Peabody School Committee when I was 20 years old. I was the youngest ever elected. I enjoyed it, but I realized I could make more of difference in an appointed role than in an elected role. I wasn’t as comfortable as an elected official. That was kind of the start of it. My first job was an intern with the town of Danvers where I retired from. I’m a product of the sixties I guess you could say, and throughout my whole career it’s been about trying to help the people of the community we serve and that’s really been the gut feel for everything I’ve done in my career, which has been pretty neat. Not always without low points or stress points, but at the end of the day, it’s the local government that makes the difference. Then I ended up at BU, and I was looking for a graduate program because I really wanted to teach. I ended up discovering the program at MET in Urban Affairs, and not only did it provide a skill program, but it also was a thinking program, and I think that’s one of the huge pluses of the program here. Whether it’s in planning, urban affairs or criminal justice. I’ve tried to do that with my students over the past 10 years. It’s about challenging them to think about what they see. What is it that I’m seeing and hearing and how do I relate that to the community? How can I better serve the community? That’s what has driven me. I graduated from MET in 1989. The program was a lot different back then. It was a good program then, it’s a great program now. 

Andrea: Tell me a little about your teaching experiences at BU. What were some of the positives and what were some the challenges? What do you like about the City Planning and Urban Affairs Program?

Delaney: I’ve been teaching part-time at the college level for 27 years. I started in 1990 at Nichols College. I love the classroom. Over the years I’ve probably taught at ten different schools; history, political science, and ten years ago I had an opportunity to come here and it’s been great. One of the strengths of the program is the practitioners that teach because we bring our field experience into the classroom, and I’ve been doing that and it’s been wonderful. I think the students really latch onto that because we’re out in the field, we’re out in the day-to-day operations of our profession. There’s been a component of my course which students always cringe on, where I require them to bring in a news articles that are related to the course. Whether it’s finance or urban management, there’s a ton of stuff every week to talk about. The courses usually have two or three pieces. There’s the core piece that helps them understand how things works. The mechanics of an urban system and urban city. There’s the piece that say how does it work in practicality and reality. What are the things that influence it. You can think of the current political climate, one of the topics of this class this semester in urban management, was how do we respond to our community or work with our communities in a climate where racial divides are now more pronounced. Regardless of who’s in the White House, the tone of this nation is terribly divided. How can we prevent that from becoming the catastrophic fires of the 60’s that I lived through. There’s a lot more firearms out there today. There’s a lot more destructive nature out there today. That’s an example of as a manager, I’m looking ahead saying, do I need to anticipate something, and how can I best work with the community to make sure we’re not a tinder box? How can we improve the lives of the people in the community? I try to bring that stuff in.

I think the students are wonderful. Our students here at BU are a wide range of students. We have students from foreign countries who don’t have a clue as to how America works. We have students from America who have some idea, so how do you balance that out and give them all something beneficial. But they’re talented, eager, and they’re wonderful. One of the greatest joys for me is to have a student come up at some point and say can you write a recommendation for me for a school? I’m looking at going on for my masters, or I’m looking to do something else in the field for a job, or I’m looking for a job, would you serve as a reference. That really makes you feel good. The students have been great. That’s why I’m here. That’s the whole point of the program.

Andrea: Can you talk a bit about your teaching style and what you enjoy the most about teaching?

Delaney: Well it’s changed a lot over the years. Back 27 years ago we didn’t have computers, so there’s a lot more visual aids, there were a lot more overheads. A three hour class can be challenging just by the nature of the structure, so you try to mix it up a little bit. You strive for greater student involvement. You strive for variety in presentation. I think technology has been one of the biggest changes and a plus in terms of how I approach the classroom. I love technology.

Andrea: In addition to your teaching, you’re also an expert in your professional field. How do you feel your work dovetails into your teaching?

Delaney:  I’ve always strived to be the best professional I can be, and not in a type A way, but just in terms of what’s the best I can do for the community I work for. What can I learn from it. What skills can I enhance, and it’s been a life-long learning process for me in terms of how I’ve changed. At the end of the last couple semesters, the last class I’ll do something about the things I’ve learned in my career and one of the key ones is communication. Covey writes in his book about seek to understand and seek to be understood. It’s about good listening and in communities and community service you have to be a good listener. What is it they’re trying to tell you about a particular issue? What are they really upset about? I find it particularly with senior citizens who come into my office who are incredibly upset about things that are often times because the little issue has become gigantic, and if you can sort of talk them through it and listen to what they have to say, you can help them and that’s a huge skill. I try to be the best I can be, and I try to bring that into the classroom. Things are rarely black and white. The facts you and I have today may look different tomorrow. It’s always like sorting through fact and fiction. Sorting through the emotions and trying to get to the fact of the bottom line. Detective skills are part of it. 

Andrea: What is the most important lesson you want students to come away with in regards to their chosen profession? Similarly, if you could give a last lesson, what would it be?

Delaney: I was brought up in a family where work wasn’t meant to be gratifying. It was you do whatever you’re supposed to do, it doesn’t matter if you’re happy or not, and I learned early in my career that that is deadly for me, so I guess one of the lessons is be comfortable, be good with what you do, and be happy in your job. Find something that makes you feel good because you will transmit that good feeling to those that you’re trying to help. I think that’s an important lesson. Don’t do it just because it’s a job because then you’re not going to do a great job. Be happy with your profession, feel good about it, whether it’s planning or general management or finance or whatever it is. Understand who you are as a person, and bring that with you to the job. 

Andrea: What is the most important thing students have taught you?

Delaney: I wasn’t sure how to answer that one. I could flip this around a little bit. Learning didn’t come easy for me. I always struggled to stay focused. I struggled to achieve. I found it to be a tremendous struggle, so I’m very much in touch with or in tune with watching my students carefully to see how they’re doing because I can identify, and I can pick out the ones that are struggling. I try to take the stress out of the class. My goal is that after the class is done, that six months later you remember something. If I make it too stressful, you’re not going to remember anything. So if you can take the stress piece out and minimize it, then the learning component can really develop and grow. I taught a history class one time and one of the students wrote to the dean and said I never knew history could be fun, and if you think about history and having the word story in it, it’s about how you tell the story. It’s the same thing in urban management or finance, it’s about how you tell the story. How you present the material. I want them to get excited about the topic, as much as they can, about say finance. But they will understand the mechanics of it in a way they’ll retain. 

Andrea: What are your hopes for future students and practitioners?

Delaney: I think the continuation of the kind of progress I’ve seen here at BU, the department, Dan has done a wonderful job leading this group. Madhu has been a great addition. They strive, including the MET administration, which has been very supportive. The MET college approach to learning has been wonderful, and I’ve only seen it get better in the years that I’ve been here. There’s an excitement and there’s a great sense of learning and that’s what it’s all about. I’ve never lost the excitement of the start of the semester in September, and coming to campus a couple days ahead and watching the students assimilate into the programs, and watching the cook outs behind the chapel as they try to build some of that teamwork. Trying to help some of my students assimilate that come from foreign countries and are completely lost. Trying to help them understand that the university is only as large as their small dorm unit or their department. To use that as a base. Don’t get overwhelmed by the size of the place. Use your department as your family and build from there. Think of your department and your roommates as your family, and as your family unit gets stronger, you’ll branch out. It’s just like time management. If you try to solve the 30 issues on your desk, you’re going to get nothing done because you’re going to get overwhelmed. So keep it small.

Andrea: I understand that this is your last semester teaching at BU – Any future plans, projects, or initiatives you will be working on?

Delaney: No, it’s pretty flexible. I’m not sure what’s ahead. I know my photographic art is in the future. I did a big project last summer with the state of New Hampshire. I volunteered to do a photo essay of all eleven New Hampshire fairs last summer. I wanted to see if I could capture the “flavor” of New Hampshire through the fairs. The board of directors looked at me like I was crazy, and I said yes, and at the end of the day, I’ll give you copies of everything. I’m not looking to do this as a commercial thing, so I took 3 thousand images over the course of the summer. The kids are what caught me. I’d see some of the same kids at each fair through the whole summer, and you’ll recognize some of the same faces, and it’s a culture. It was an extraordinary experience for me, and I would like to do something like that, so maybe there’s something else like that that I can do this summer. I’m not sure. Is there more teaching in the future? I’m not sure.

Andrea: What currently motivates you, or is your passion?

Delaney: I want to be the best I can be in life. One of my goals is if I’m 85 and I’m lucky to live that long, and I’m sitting on my porch in my rocking chair, I want to be able to say that was pretty good. We did a good job. I’m known as a glass is full-half guy. I always try to see something good out of something. That’s just who I am. I taught at a community college several times and it’s a special environment. For many students, it’s their last stop to see if they can succeed, and whether they’ll rise to a different level of success. We had to work harder, and I remember when they would recruit for instructors, it talked about that environment where they’re trying to help those students who may have not had any college exposure and who’s writing skills might be terrible. But some of the greatest successes I’ve had have been with community college students because I had such a struggle myself trying to excel as a student. I was more sensitive to it. I understand the stress the night before an exam of thinking how am I going to get through the next day. 

Andrea: Final thoughts?

Delaney: This experience at BU over the past ten years has been an incredible gift. My experience here as a student, as a part-time instructor, it’s been a gift, and every once in awhile I’ll run into a student and it makes any instructors day when someone says I really enjoyed your class, so it’s been wonderful. It’s kind of the right time to move to something else, but it’s not without mixed feelings. I love it. I’ve loved this place. It’s been a great department with great people. The school itself and I’m going to go to graduation this spring. I try to go every couple years, but it’s always really special to see those students you’ve had making it across the stage. It’s good stuff.

You can read more about Professor Delaney’s background here.

-Andrea Ciminelli