In a recently commissioned study by Academic Search, researchers identified seven key leadership competencies as being crucial to effective presidential leadership in higher education. However, these competencies are not exclusive to presidents alone; they are equally essential for all senior leadership roles across higher education institutions. The research involved interviews with over 700 current college and university presidents, alongside the collection of additional relevant data, over the course of a comprehensive year-long study. For those interested, a free copy of the full report is available at:  https://www.academicsearch.org/blog/competencies-for-the-college-presidency/

As you work to build and strengthen your leadership team, it’s important to think about how junior members can be equipped to develop these competencies. Consider implementing mentorship programs, leadership development workshops, or other forms of continuing education to foster professional growth and ensure your team is poised to take on future leadership challenges. Reflect on your own leadership strengths and areas for improvement: Are there gaps in your skill set? What resources or opportunities can you leverage to acquire and enhance these competencies?

As a Provost many people will come to you when they have a problem or need advice. You may believe that it is your responsibility to give your opinion and advice on every issue that arises.  This is a very unwise practice and will often result in those who report to you to avoid discussing some issues in your presence. It is best to offer your opinion when it is asked for and on topics that you have expertise and/or experience.  If you give your opinion and advice on every issue that comes up, others will stop listening to you even when an issue arises where  your advice and opinion would be helpful. It is difficult to distinguish what to pay attention to when someone is always talking and providing their opinion and advice even when their opinion and advice are sound and likely to be helpful.   If you are talking a great deal, you will not be listening.  Not listening sends a message that you don't value what someone else thinks, you only value what you think. 

Listening is a hard skill to acquire.  Having done a lot of marriage counseling, I can attest to the fact that a major hallmark of a dysfunctional relationship is the failure of one or both parties to listen to each other.  They may talk a great deal, but they rarely listen to what the other person says.  When It appeared to me that the couples were not listening to each other, I would stop the conversation and ask the nonspeaking spouse to tell me what her or his spouse just said.  It was amazing how often they had no idea.  They were too busy focusing on what they were about to say and did not listen to what their spouse was saying. 

College campuses were historically viewed as safe spaces where differences were welcome and where people were educated about tolerance and accepted.  Sadly, many campus climates appear to be changing, and this has not always been the case recently.  

As states continue to mandate the closure of various diversity offices and initiatives, what can chief academic officers do to ensure that all students, faculty and staff feel welcome and supported on campus? For starters, we need to make sure that everyone is using the same definitions for diversity and inclusion.  Regulators, both governmental and nonprofit, often only ask institutions of higher education to report certain diversity data such as gender, race and ethnicity.  By only calling out these groups, it can lead to an impression that other markers of diversity may not be viewed in an equal way.  For example, data may not be kept or reported on diversity in religion, diversity in terms of physical or mental impairments, diversity based on political points of view, diversity based on sexual orientation, diversity based on socio-economic status, diversity based on citizenship status, and countless other categories of ways in which everyone is unique and different from someone else. 

For many years institutions of higher education have been emphasizing the importance of lifelong learning as an important goal for their students.  The goal is to give students the skills and knowledge for them to continue to engage in learning about things that will enhance their knowledge and capabilities in their professional and private lives.  Several years ago, I attended a celebration of the tenth anniversary of a psychological services center on the campus of a very large university.  The ceremony included talks by alumni of the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology.  One of the speakers said that he now does many things that he did not learn in graduate school.  He went on to say that his graduate education taught him how to learn those things and that he was grateful for what he had learned in his graduate program because those skills allowed him to be successful in his career.  This alumnus was clearly a lifelong learner, and his program could be credited with giving him the skills to be so.

Lifelong learning should be a goal not only for students but also for faculty members and administrators.  Faculty members teach in a specific discipline.  All disciplines increase their knowledge through research which often results in publication in professional journals. 

Introduction

Navigating the complexities of free speech and student protests is challenging for both public and private institutions. The distinction between protected speech under state constitutions and the rules of private institutions can be difficult to discern. This checklist offers practical suggestions for chief academic officers to effectively manage these issues. 

Introduction¹

Fundraising is as much of an art as it is a science. This checklist will help demystify fundraising and ensure that you have the right information BEFORE accepting a donor’s gift.  The checklist is prepared in two parts. Part two focuses on more of the fundamentals of capital campaign planning.

Introduction

To build a viable advancement program it’s important that you along with your deans and directors understand the ins and outs of fundraising, as every good development officer will tell you.  Private support offers the greatest opportunity for institutional advancement.  The better you are able to navigate these waters, the more success you can expect from your team.  You can improve your fundraising potential, and that of your staff, by ensuring that you and they are well-versed in fundraising fundamentals.  Whether your institution uses a centralized or decentralized model for fundraising, you still need to understand what makes for good implementation of a fundraising plan.

Fundraising is about building relationships and laying a solid foundation for the “Ask”.  Fundraising is as much of an art as it is a science. However, there are some fundamental rules that will help create realistic expectations in a capital campaign and when negotiating gift agreements with donors.  Chief Academic Officers are often called upon to create campaigns and approve gift proposals for colleges and programs.  This checklist will help demystify fundraising and ensure that you have the right information BEFORE accepting a donor’s gift.  The checklist is prepared in two parts. Part One focuses on the fundamentals of fundraising.  Part Two presents more in-depth information about capital campaign planning and success.

After some time as a Provost, you will get to know the personalities of those who report to you.  Some will be more enthusiastic than their colleagues and some will be more relaxed and laid back.   Some will have lots of questions for you and others will only ask questions when the need additional information.  Some will produce things you ask for quickly and some will take more time even though both meet the deadline you set.  Some of those who report to you will produce outstanding reports and some will produce reports that fill the requirement but are not outstanding. Some of those who report to you will always be present with a positive mood and attitude and others will fluctuate in their mood and attitude.  After many interactions, you will get to know how each of those who report to you do their job and how they generally present themselves to you. 

It is important that you pay attention to any change in the behavior, attitude, or mood on the part of those who report to you.  Noticeable changes in these characteristics could be a sign that something is wrong with them that needs your attention.  I had an administrator who was a very productive person.  He was hard working, enthusiastic, and his reports and other documents were among the best I had ever seen.  He had a good relationship with his peers and some close relationships with a few of his colleagues.  After several years, I noticed that he seemed to be on edge a lot.  His emails were more negative and questioning than they had ever been, and he seemed annoyed when I gave him some tasks to complete.  He seemed to have changed and not for the better.  After some time, I sent him an email asking him how he was doing.  I said that I noticed a change in his behavior and mood, and I was concerned that he may be having problems that were affecting him.  I was careful not to be accusing or punishing in what I wrote.  He responded to my email apologizing for his behavior. When I responded I said he had nothing to apologize for and that I was concerned that he might be going through something with which I could provide some support and help.  In his response, he thanked me for my concern and support and asked if he could speak to me.  He gave me a call and we discussed what I had observed.  It turns out that there were several personal issues that were weighing on him and that it was difficult for him to focus on his work and these problems were affecting his mood and attitude.  I never asked him about personal problems, but simply offered my support and help.  I told him that I didn’t want to intrude into his personal life and told him that  I was available to help in any way I could.  He said he really appreciated my concern and willingness to help but he was handling those personal issues himself and was confident he would be able to work things out.  After that interaction, I would ask him how things were going. He would tell me he was fine and that he had been dealing with his problems well and he again thanked me for my concern.  I noticed that his behavior, mood, and attitude began to return to his normal state.  I mentioned that to him on occasions.  During all of our interactions, I was careful not to get involved in his problems but reminded him that I was available for help and support when he thought he needed it.  I also was careful not to ask him how he was doing every time we interacted so that I would not be putting additional stress on him by continually bringing up the issues. As a Provost, it is important for you to be seen as a person who is supportive and helpful.  Being negative or punishing to a productive person who reports to when they make a mistake or go through a rough time in their lives only makes things worse.  It demoralizes that person and communicates to the rest of those who report to you that you are not willing to understand human fallibility when it comes to dealing with issues and problems. 

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the United States Department of Education, by virtue of its special place within the US Department of Education (ED), is the enforcer ensuring that hate has no place on college and university campuses.  OCR applies a series of laws to protect all students from discrimination on, among other things, the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition), age, disability, medical condition, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression. When it comes to religion, OCR derives authority from Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) which protects students of any religion from discrimination, including harassment, based on a student’s actual or perceived, “shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.”  

The regulation implementing Title VI, at 34 C.F.R. § 100.3, provides that no person shall, on the basis of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program to which Title VI applies.

Chief Academic Officers are used to being tied to their email inbox, and one of the things you likely read on a daily basis are compendia from the higher ed press, much of which is filled with stories related to legal complexities in some form or other on campuses nationwide. Whether it is a new high-profile lawsuit, a debate over free speech, a contract dispute with a president or coach, a governance squabble, a set of new regulations or guidance, or new proposed legislation that would require institutional compliance, the legal environment is now inextricably tied with higher education.

Our recent book, All the Campus Lawyers: Litigation, Regulation, and the New Era of Higher Education [link to https://www.amazon.com/All-Campus-Lawyers-Litigation-Regulation/dp/0674270495/] (Harvard, 2024), tells the story of the current and trending legal controversies embroiling American higher education and their evolution over the last several years. Much of the inspiration for the book came from our own lives. One of us (Jacobsen) was the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Wesleyan University before coming to Hobart and William Smith Colleges as President. The other of us (Guard) is the General Counsel at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and has spent many an hour in meetings with the CAO. Here are some points for you to consider regarding your relationship with your legal Counsel, whether inside or outside the institution. Of course, we also think you should consult our book for more advice, as well as to consider the wide range of legal and quasi-legal issues that you either already deal with or may deal with in the future!

As a Provost you have a number of people that report to you.  You will most likely have the most contact with Deans and your staff including Assistant and Associate Provosts as well as administrative assistants. You will also have some contact with faculty members who may come to you with a problem with which you can help.   It is important that you find out if the faculty member has discussed the matter with her or his chair before coming to you.  If not, you would be wise to have her or him do that before you speak to them.  

In your dealings with these people, you will often have a small number of those who report to you who continually complain about their situation.  They will often express dissatisfaction with a wide variety of issues, some of which are not in your control.  In many cases you have no basis for dismissing them either because they are good at their job, and they may make important contributions or because they have job security in the form of tenure.  

Shared governance is a concept that is valued by many in higher education. Through it, faculty, administration, and governing boards are oriented toward working together to achieve the university mission. Having been a member of various higher education institutions, I’ve had the opportunity to see all that shared governance can contribute. I’ve also seen the challenges it can present, particularly regarding organizational change.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of working on a leadership team charged with reimagining a regional comprehensive university in a rural New England town. A new president brought a unique vision; as dean, I was on the team to make that vision happen. It was an exciting and heady time during which we reworked gen ed and overhauled the curriculum to embrace an integrated, project-based approach to undergraduate education. We were on a tight timeline (4 years) to update the mission and remake the institution to enhance enrollment and meet board expectations. It was going to require the engagement of the entire community. We knew we needed to build our organizational capacity for change if we were going to succeed. We needed to find a way to be innovative while respecting past practices.

As a Chief Academic Officer, you may have handled numerous non-renewals and terminations throughout your career. However, it is always beneficial to use a checklist to ensure you have addressed all necessary aspects. This checklist highlights key issues that can help you determine whether additional assistance is required, when to consult counsel, or when further action is needed before proceeding with a non-renewal or termination. Taking the time to complete a thorough non-renewal process, supported by proper documentation, can make the process smoother for everyone involved. I hope you find this checklist helpful.

Checklist: For Terminations or Non-Renewals of Faculty or Staff¹

Faculty, staff, and administrators are trying to understand AI's potential benefits and risks to higher education. Colleagues from MIT recently published a handy guide  that provides good advice on topics ranging from “guidelines, guardrails, and governance” to “acceptable AI use.” In recent months, much has been written about the potential for AI to decrease the workload for campus administrators—from admissions to advancement and from counseling services to the registrar’s office. 

Instructors, on the other hand, have had mixed feelings at best with the arrival of ChatGPT and other large language model-based programs. Although a fair share of essays have expressed instructors’ feelings of loss and nostalgia, there is also a sizable number of professors who embrace AI in their classrooms, knowing that students will need to be AI literate for life after college. They realize AI is here for good and will change everything, including classroom instruction. We are, of course, only at the beginning of the AI revolution, and time will tell how drastic changes will be over the next decade.

Introduction

As a past board secretary and frequent speaker for the  Association of Governing Boards, I can tell you that most board members need guidance and support from institutional administrators.  After all, serving as a board member of a college or university is not their permanent job, nor should you assume that they have sufficient expertise in higher education administration.  Most board members are faithful alumni and/or major donors who have a keen interest in the success of the institution.  And although the President is primarily responsible for the care and feeding of the board, the Chief Academic Officer also has a role to play. Many Chief Academic Officers are charged with leading the discussion of the board’s academic affairs committee, and most CAO’s also provide annual reports on the state of the division or reports on accreditation issues and tenure decisions. You can help your board with careful preparation of your board materials and presentations.  The checklist below is designed to prompt your thinking about your role in educating and inspiring your public or private government board.¹

A student cannot be successful in class if they do not have the reading materials that form the basis of assignments.  Yet in more cases than one might imagine, students do not purchase the required reading due to rising costs of text, whether in print or available in electronic format for download.  This is because a growing number of students on tight budgets have housing and food insecurity and they must make survival choices that cannot prioritize expensive books.  Without the learning material, student success suffers as they fall behind, neglect to the do the work, fail to achieve a passing grade or overall required gpa to stay in their course of study, and they become another negative statistic for retention and graduation rates.  

The purchasing of textbooks is just one more “hidden” cost or fee that goes along with rising tuition rates. While students may scour the internet for deals on used books (careful to ensure they are purchasing the correct edition, translation, etc), savvy students may select courses based on the expense of the required reading materials, and they may look to see whether copies of the texts are available in the library and under what conditions they may be borrowed (e.g., a couple of weeks or a couple of hours due to reserve policies to enable maximum sharing).  Some students may also form a “collective” and purchase one set of reading materials to share amongst the group. This too limits the flexibility and sometimes focus of class preparation. 

Taking on the role of a Chief Academic Officer (CAO) is a significant responsibility, one that demands a delicate balance of strategic vision, operational oversight, and empathetic leadership. Having served as the Interim CAO at a university with three distinct colleges for the past year, I've gained invaluable insights into what it takes to succeed in this pivotal position. Here are some pieces of advice for new CAOs embarking on their journey.

When I first stepped into the role, I quickly realized that no amount of preparation can fully equip you for the breadth of responsibilities and challenges you'll face. Be prepared to learn continuously. Seek guidance from your predecessor, if possible, and don't hesitate to reach out to other experienced CAOs for advice and support. Your willingness to learn will set a positive example for your colleagues and help you navigate the complexities of your role.

In today's highly regulated and litigious business environment, which includes colleges and universities, it is crucial for provosts/chief academic officers to stay updated on legal matters relating to the delivery of academic programs. This includes ensuring the legal adequacy of policies, contracts, and compliance practices, as well as being proactive in identifying potential legal issues that could impact the institution. Your institution’s legal counsel is a vital partner in navigating these challenges, especially since most provosts are not lawyers, and even those who are do not function with responsibility of providing legal review/advice.

Sometimes audits are conducted by internal auditors or other offices, and often the provost is involved on the academic side.

According to a July 2023 report by McKinsey & Co, since 2020, the number of mergers and acquisitions in higher education has increased nearly threefold from 11 between 2001-2005 to 31 between 2016-2020. Since 2016 Higher Ed Dive has been tracking college closures and mergers.  Last updated on April 29, 2024, New York has had the most activity with 11 schools closing, merging or planning to do so. Massachusetts follow with 10 schools, 9 in Illinois and 8 in California.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research released in January 2024 reveals that there are still more than one million empty seats on college campuses as compared to five years ago, and there is still no growth among Freshman 20 years old and younger (this number is 5.3% below 2019 levels).  Further, undergraduate enrollment overall is down and remains 3.3% below pre-pandemic levels. 

There is no doubt that serving as the campus Provost is more than a full-time job.  In fact, rarely does a day finish as was initially planned in the morning, and there is an endless “to do” list that is constantly subject to reprioritization based on the continuous need to triage.  As the chief academic officer, most provosts arrive in their positions having been elevated from the ranks of the faculty (often coming from a deanship or chair position subsequent to a faculty position). While it is true that provosts must possess a range of skills including exceptional interpersonal communication and management prowess, provosts must also be creative and innovative, and they should possess entrepreneurial and business savvy.  To excel in the role, provosts must be student-centered and they should appreciate the challenges facing faculty particularly when it comes to policies and procedures, professional development and the balancing of teaching, scholarship and service responsibilities.

Keeping a foot in the classroom during the academic year is a smart way for provosts to stay connected to students.  An immediate reaction for provosts (and their presidents) may be that the provost has no time to spend in course and classroom preparation, providing formative and summative assessments throughout the semester, and being available to students for extra help, academic advising and/or career advising. However, quality academic time with students can be professionally rewarding for provosts and it is worth the extra effort to model the best practices we advocate for the rest of the faculty.