Future of Division III

[Ron Boerger]

If I understood correctly all their data comes from the Dept of Education's NCES/IPEDS database, then they draw conclusions (e.g. losing enrollment the last three years, etc.) directly from that data.

[WUPHF]

The Boston Globe has a new blog that is mostly paid, but you can do one Substack for free.  And the story about Brandeis is really interesting.

My favorite line is from the Brandeis president, hearing from others: 'You know what — I know we need to change, but I'm near the end of my tenure, let the next person do it.'"

https://globecollegetown.substack.com/p/arthur-levine-brandeis-liberal-arts

[Ralph Turner]

The Boston Globe has a new blog that is mostly paid, but you can do one Substack for free.  And the story about Brandeis is really interesting.

My favorite line is from the Brandeis president, hearing from others: 'You know what — I know we need to change, but I'm near the end of my tenure, let the next person do it.'"

https://globecollegetown.substack.com/p/arthur-levine-brandeis-liberal-arts

Okay, let the Board by him out of his contract and hire the person who needs to do the job and get on with it.

[WUPHF]

Okay, let the Board by him out of his contract and hire the person who needs to do the job and get on with it.

100%  15 or so years ago, the local public university hired a retired president for one more retirement job and he ran the institution accordingly.  Then they hired someone who had never been a president before and had something to prove.  She is retiring now, but was a transformative leader in her six years at the helm.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Okay, let the Board by him out of his contract and hire the person who needs to do the job and get on with it.

100%  15 or so years ago, the local public university hired a retired president for one more retirement job and he ran the institution accordingly.  Then they hired someone who had never been a president before and had something to prove.  She is retiring now, but was a transformative leader in her six years at the helm.

I get the wisdom in not committing to radical change you cannot see through.  That could be bad for the school as well.  The best thing a person in that situation could do, though, is to form the committees and start having the meetings about what uncomfortable change would look like so the next person isn't coming in cold and having to sell a difficult vision.  Colleges take ages to change - there's nothing wrong with starting a visioning process well before most people have any kind of vision.

[IC798891]

The Boston Globe has a new blog that is mostly paid, but you can do one Substack for free.  And the story about Brandeis is really interesting.

My favorite line is from the Brandeis president, hearing from others: 'You know what — I know we need to change, but I'm near the end of my tenure, let the next person do it.'"

https://globecollegetown.substack.com/p/arthur-levine-brandeis-liberal-arts

Okay, let the Board by him out of his contract and hire the person who needs to do the job and get on with it.

I mean, to be fair to the president, I don't think it's laziness.

As anyone who has ever worked at a college can tell you, major changes take a lot of time. And every president is going to have different goals and visions for the institution. You don't want to hire a new president and tell them they have to put their initiatives on hold because your resources are pot committed to the stuff the last guy started.

Heck, you may even turn off good possible presidents who say, "I don't agree with this prior president's vision of necessary change, and I'm not starting my tenure trying to deal with it"

[WUPHF]

I mean, to be fair to the president, I don't think it's laziness.

As anyone who has ever worked at a college can tell you, major changes take a lot of time. And every president is going to have different goals and visions for the institution. You don't want to hire a new president and tell them they have to put their initiatives on hold because your resources are pot committed to the stuff the last guy started.

Heck, you may even turn off good possible presidents who say, "I don't agree with this prior president's vision of necessary change, and I'm not starting my tenure trying to deal with it"

It is hard to generalize a college or a college president.  But some are lazy and some just want the university that existed 20 years ago to exist forever.  And some do not have the time to wait for the change.

Not that you needed another take to hammer home the obvious point, but another story from the blog that after reviewing the financials of 43 liberal arts colleges in New England, 15 would not be able to make it through the next three years with the status quo.

https://globecollegetown.substack.com/p/steven-shulman-higher-ed-finances