University Business - March 2010 - (Page 50)

Paths to the Presidency little more risk adverse given the economy,” says Courtice. “ ey may not be quite as quick to step away from places where they are doing meaningful work.” e big picture situation is a smaller candidate pool. “If a given college or university might have attracted 90 candidates 10 years ago, there are maybe 40 to 50 today,” says Courtice. “A lot of us are very concerned about the pipeline,” sums up Storbeck. She and others anticipate a fairly signiﬁcant number of retirements coming up. It’s not just an age issue. “A lot of people got into this business to build something of substance,” she says. “With the current state of aﬀairs—budget downsizing, freezing of positions—there are some people who are simply not cut out for that activity every day of the week.” Her ﬁrm always questions just how nontraditional an institution might go. Would they consider a person from a foundation? e government? Courtice has found that trustees are typically more open to considering nontraditional candidates, compared to faculty or staﬀ on a committee. And he agrees there are certainly levels of nontraditional. He’ll probe to learn what a client institution will appreciate, tolerate, and accept. Just where are search ﬁrms and committees searching for star candidates? ey’ll start with people from similar institutions “who are at levels that typically prepare them for presidencies,” says ornburgh. “We make dozens of calls to encourage people to step forward as candidates, but more often than not to get nominations Institutions Opting In Search consultants encourage boards and committees to have an and suggestions.” An immediate interest in the job isn’t always an indication of open mind. Courtice ﬁnds that while a diverse group of candidates may be initially considered, in the end, “their hearts tend to the best ﬁt. In fact, ornburgh will be more suspicious of candigravitate toward people who bring them a stronger, deeper, ﬁrmer dates who say they’ve always aspired to the presidency, “compared understanding of the academy.” Or as ornburgh puts it, the ten- to someone who has taken a hard look at the school [and found it] really resonates with what they need and what they’d like to dency of committees is “to stay in their comfort zone.” do.” He and other search consultants say those they contact want to do their own due diligence “It’s not a slam dunk even for the most promising before moving forward. Although no to doubt internal candidates. … You have the beneﬁt that ways be qualiﬁedone seems candidatesthere will alhigher ed to consider, everybody knows you, and you have the curse that those with a for-proﬁt background can sometimes stand out. To ornburgh, that would mean everybody knows you.” —John Thornburgh, Witt/Kieffer people who have been engaged in higher ed and who already know the institution intimately (e.g., alumni, former board members). “ ey’ve tested He notes the importance of ensuring candidates are aligned with their ability to adapt and appreciate the institution,” he says. e new president may also already work there. “We’re always the institution’s mission. A research-intensive institution would be “highly unlikely” to hire a president without “a very compelling looking for evidence of people who may be internal candidates,” portfolio of personal research and scholarship accomplishments.” says Storbeck. However, as King notes, 80 percent of presidents Yet a comprehensive undergraduate liberal arts college might be have come from outside their institutions. “In private industry, a CEO grooms his or her successor,” says more open to leaders with other backgrounds in higher ed. Large public university systems tend to be most open to leaders CIC’s Hartley. “So there’s a fairly seamless transition.” When a outside of the higher ed sector, ornburgh has found. ese jobs college president leaves, the institution almost always starts from require “enormous political skills and abilities,” he says, adding that scratch, adds Ekman. “ oughtful succession planning … runs counter to the culture former congressmen, senators, or governors could be well qualiﬁed of shared governance,” points out ornburgh. Still, in a 2008 surfor the college presidency. In Storbeck’s experience, those highest on the U.S. News rank- vey of college and university presidents by Witt/Kieﬀer, 64 percent ings ladder, such as the top 10 research universities or the top 10 of the 135 respondents reported that their institutions practice sucliberal arts colleges, tend to have traditional search proﬁles. “It’s cession planning in some capacity at the president/chancellor level. ornburgh says, however, that “it’s not a slam dunk even for often about how far they perceive they need to go to be what others would perceive to be a top-tier institution,” she says of those who the most promising internal candidates. … You have the beneﬁt are more open to candidates of various backgrounds. e bios of that everybody knows you, and you have the curse that everybody knows you.” Internal candidates must get others to see them in a past presidents at an institution can also be telling, she adds. 50 | March 2010 universitybusiness.com Star Search http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - March 2010

University Business - March 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Financial Aid
Human Resources
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Community Colleges as Economic Saviors
Web Content Needs - Solved
Paths to the Presidency
What’s New
End Note

University Business - March 2010