After her first week as MSU's 20th president, Lou Anna Simon said a good assessment of her administration would come after her first month in office.

Now that the time has come, Simon says her presidency has gone relatively smoothly in the first month.

"I've been working hard to look at Michigan State through fresh eyes, and to see Michigan State through a fresh perspective," she said.

Something Simon didn't anticipate when taking over MSU's top role was the struggle between her personal and professional lives among those who have known her for years, she said.

Colleagues were used to addressing her as "Lou Anna," and now have a hard time adjusting to her formal title of President Simon.

"There's President Simon and then there's Lou Anna with a new job," Simon said. "I'm not having as much difficulty as others are having. I pretty much know who I am and what I'm about."

As part of her presidency, Simon said she wanted to increase communication between administrators and student groups.

"That dialogue is continuing," she said. "I had a chance to listen to what they had to say and their issues. We've just been going through a wide variety of external audiences to see what they have to say about Michigan State."

Last spring, as provost, Simon introduced plans to reorganize the liberal arts program, as well as move part of the College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids. Some faculty members expressed concern over a lack of involvement with the administration.

As president, Simon seems to be awaiting faculty response before moving forward with important decisions, said Grover Hudson, president of the MSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

"I'm encouraged that she doesn't seem to be pressing her liberal arts reorganization forward," Hudson said. "She's waiting for her process to go forward in Academic Governance, which is good."

Simon has adjusted nicely to the demands on her time that come with being president, MSU spokesman Terry Denbow said.

"She has risen early and worked late," Denbow said. "She's done everything that people have asked."

There are additional responsibilities that come with being president, but Simon has made the transition "seamlessly," he said.

"She has an ability to step back and to say, 'Wait, wait, how did I cram all of that into the last two hours?' and laugh about it," Denbow said. "Or when I said, OK, there's only one more call that I want you to make today,' she'll laugh because she knows that it's probably not true."

This month, Simon has met with legislators both in Lansing and in Washington, D.C., to discuss her vision for MSU, said Steve Webster, vice president for governmental affairs.

One such meeting was about two weeks ago in Washington to discuss with Michigan legislators landing the nearly $1 billion Rare Isotope Accelerator for MSU.

"What she does is, after introducing herself, she asks what they - the legislator - feels is the role of the modern land-grant university in Michigan's future, and then shares with them what her vision is for Michigan State University as a 21st century land-grant university," Webster said.

"What she's extraordinary at is telling the MSU story in ways that are understandable and make you want to be involved."