Harper hosts program for new college presidents
Nearly four dozen higher education leaders toured Harper College recently as part of a program aimed at preparing prospective college presidents in an era of high turnover in the profession.
The leaders, representing four- and two-year colleges in the United States, South Africa and Mexico, comprise the 2010-2011 class of the American Council on Education Fellows Program.
Every year, the Fellows shadow and are mentored by current college presidents, and also engage in various training exercises that allow them to learn from each other and from other host institutions, like Harper.
Data compiled by ACE predicts America is on the verge of its most massive college presidency turnover in history. A 2007 ACE survey of the nation’s nearly 3,400 college presidents suggests the leadership shift likely will happen between 2012 and 2017, as the country’s college presidents — who have gotten older and been in their positions longer than any other time in the past 25 years — begin to step down.
Nearly half who responded, compared to 14 percent for the first such survey in 1986, were at least 60 years old. They also reported being in their jobs an average of 8.5 years, the highest recorded average since the survey was first conducted.
Another study is in the works now.
“We are all in the middle of this educational movement together. There is a lot of work to be done, and it needs to be all-hands-on-deck,” said Harper President Dr. Kenneth Ender, an alumnus of the Fellowship Program who also — 15 years later — served as a Fellow mentor.
“That’s what this stop at Harper was all about: working together to better prepare future college leaders for the very real demands they will encounter in those new roles, and working together to make sure America’s higher education system meets the needs of our 21st century students.”
At Harper, the group took an up-close look at campus facilities and talked with administrators and faculty in a series of sessions focused on the role that innovative campus design and planning can play in student success.
Founded in 1965, the program aims to increase the number of candidates who are well-prepared for a college or university presidency or other top administrative position, strengthening the overall higher education system in the process.
Since its inception, more than 300 of the roughly 1,700 Fellows have become college presidents or CEOs, and more than 1,100 have become provosts, vice presidents or deans.
“As higher education faces a wave of retirements among presidents, it is vital for the next generation of leaders to have the opportunity to see firsthand the challenges facing a wide array of institutions,” ACE Fellows Program Director Sharon A. McDade said.
“That kind of experience is why we visited Harper, and it’s a hallmark of the ACE Fellows Program. Leadership is not content that can be mastered in the span of a few days.”
The reality of a future presidential turnover yields challenges as well as opportunities, McDade and those in attendance said, and those were discussed during the Harper visit — with additional input from IBM and Capstone Companies, a firm focused on student housing — and at subsequent sessions during the Fellows’ stay in Chicago.
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