At Chronicle Forum, Talk of Presidential Choices, Roles, and Challenges

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Washington

More than 250 college presidents, chancellors, and other top officials heard advice on Monday from a host of panelists at The Chronicle Executive Leadership Forum on topics such as the presidential résumé of the future, how leaders can be more effective fund raisers, how "deep sustainability" can further the goal of conserving campus resources, and how demographic trends are shaping the future of higher education.

Following are highlights of those sessions.

Advice for the Prospective President

Would-be college presidents, listen up. Are you in shape? Do you take rejection well? Oh, and how's your marriage?

Two presidents and a top presidential-search consultant dished out advice on the "presidential résumé of the future" in one panel session. The panel members—Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Robert N. Shelton, president of the University of Arizona; and Jean A. Dowdall, a consultant who specializes in president searches—outlined some of the highs and lows of what is arguably the toughest job in academe.

A president is expected to be all things to all people, they said, and should have a personality that can always inspire and invigorate a college community, in good times and in bad. And don't expect much glory for a job well done.

"The question always is, What have you done for me lately?" said Mr. Hrabowski, adding that the task was sometimes about "keeping people minimally dissatisfied."

The panelists said that new presidents often come out of the provost's position, and that more provosts should get trained in fund raising and other development tasks. Ms. Dowdall pointed out that presidents face more-pressing questions about the cost of college and the size of endowments.

But of the many challenges that presidents face today, one of the most daunting and most pervasive is the challenge of attracting and retaining good people­—both faculty members and students, Mr. Shelton said. Additionally, he said, American society today perceives education as an individual good rather than a societal good—a perception that may hurt higher education.

The presidents were asked about their biggest mistakes. Mr. Shelton said that he had waited too long to remove someone from a position. "I have stayed with individuals too long," he said. "That is a major flaw in my fundamental character." Mr. Hrabowski said that he had gone along with decisions by others that he knew were wrong at the time, then later had to figure out how to fix the resulting problems.

Both Mr. Hrabowski and Mr. Shelton said that their wives of almost 40 years were a major source of support in their careers. One key to keeping the relationships healthy amid all the pressure is to catch whatever time together that they can. Mr. Shelton and his wife sometimes share a glass of wine on the porch at the end of the day, and he described her as his confidante. Mr. Hrabowski said that he didn't want to discuss work at the end of the day with his wife. He just wanted to enjoy her company.—Scott Carlson

Presidents of Advancement

University presidents should think of themselves as chief executives who continually think about the advancement of their organizations and how their actions further that goal, said speakers at another session.

Advancement is a major part of what today's college presidents do, and it is important to set aside time for that work, said John Lippincott, president of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Presidents must make themselves available to meet donors and develop relationships with potential donors, and they must be able to articulate their colleges' mission to show how private gifts would support their goals, rather than setting priorities based on the amount of money already on hand.

"It's setting institutional priorities and then finding the money," Mr. Lippincott said.

Many presidents are reluctant to ask directly for money because they feel as if they have their hands out, Mr. Lippincott said, but when a college sets its priorities and then seeks to raise funds to pay for them, a request for money turns into an opportunity for supporters to play a part in a college's story. College presidents are the chief storytellers for their organizations, Mr. Lippincott said.

"It's creating connections between what donors want and what an institution can deliver," Mr. Lippincott said.

Universities and colleges should build a fund-raising staff and infrastructure, the speakers said. Because demand for top fund raisers is greater than the supply of people in the field, colleges must get creative in finding their next generation of development and advancement officers.—Kathryn Masterson

The Sustainable Campus

Colleges debate how best to conserve their resources, but it's more important that they take immediate steps to cut down on waste and plan for the future, said three leaders in higher-education sustainability at another session.

"We're beginning to see the reality of tension interact with the energy of ideas," said David E. Shi, president of Furman University, in South Carolina, and one of the panelists at a talk on "deep sustainability." Mr. Shi said sustainability advocates should be cautious about a "holier-than-thou attitude" because colleges risk losing sight of their goals with the "tone and tenor of that approach."

But the risk of fragmentation within the sustainability movement is secondary to the need for colleges to take whatever steps—small or large—they decide make the most sense, said Dedee DeLongpré-Johnston, sustainability director at the University of Florida. "It only really matters that we're all doing something," she said.

Colleges that lack offices of sustainability can "socialize" rather than "institutionalize" sustainability, said Stephen P. Klass, vice president for operations at Williams College, in Massachusetts. That means better communication with students, faculty members, and other people on the campus to capture grass-roots enthusiasm for acting creatively to conserve resources.

No matter what steps colleges take toward sustainability, the sometimes "unreflective" building boom across campuses suggests that institutions should "use greater due diligence in deciding to build," Mr. Shi said, noting that Furman raises a certain percentage over the cost of constructing a building to sustain its future costs.—Kate Moser

Demographic Destiny

Changing demographics will pose one of the biggest challenges to colleges and universities in the coming years, according to speakers at another session. The number of new high-school graduates is expected to peak this year, and the next generation of college students will include fewer white and wealthy applicants and many more members of minority groups (The Chronicle, March 20).

As populations in the Sun Belt continue to grow, colleges there will struggle to serve more students in a time of constrained state budgets. Meanwhile, colleges in the Northeast and Midwest will have to come up with creative ways to fill their classes, the speakers noted.

"Higher education will have to be more nimble than we've ever been before," said Dawn Geronimo Terkla, associate provost for institutional research, assessment, and evaluation at Tufts University.

"We're still talking about moving students from the Southwest to the Northeast, and for some students, that's a great opportunity," she said. But many others prefer to remain closer to home, and not all colleges can draw large numbers of students from outside their regions, the speakers noted.

As a result, new forms of distance education will continue to spring up, Ms. Terkla said. "The way we're delivering education to individuals will change so quickly it will make our heads spin," she said.

Some colleges will have to shrink, a few small ones will close, and all colleges and universities should reassess their missions and focus on what they do well, the speakers said.—Katherine Mangan