Dive Brief:
- New University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents President John Behling is seeking to hire chancellors from outside of academia, calling such hires "the latest trend," and he has announced the formation of a panel to seek ways to streamline the hiring process and make it easier to do so, The Capital Times reports.
- Though increased attention has been paid to the possibility of bringing in college administrators or leaders from beyond academia, an analyst for the American Council on Education noted that the percentage of college presidents hired from government or the private sector had remained relatively stable since 1986.
- The percentage of outside hires had actually decreased by 5% between 2011 and 2016, according to ACE — but Behling, who was hired in June, said he hopes to make the hiring process easier and not stretched out over a period of months, which he says can sometimes lead to colleges losing out on qualified applicants.
Dive Insight:
One of the potential consequences of an outside hire is that there may be a lack of longterm commitment to an institution's stability and growth, however inadvertent that could be. Turnover among the college presidency at institutions nationwide has increased, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. It reported in June that one in four of its campuses had seen leadership turnover in recent years.
Some of this is due to an increasing spate of presidents reaching the age of retirement, but increased political pressures, along with a willingness by Boards of Trustees to renege on support of a chief executive earlier in their tenure, have also contributed to the trend. An outside hire may be less tethered to the institutional and administrative history of a particular college or university, and they may also have an increased amount of options if there should be difficulties during their tenure. The Capital Times noted the controversial tenure of Timothy M. Wolfe, who had to resign amid controversy at the University of Missouri in 2015.
A task force of college presidents assembled by the Aspen Institute earlier this year stressed that college presidents currently in their tenure should work to create strong relationships with leaders from outside the academic community. Presidents are increasingly called to fulfill roles that take them off the campus grounds, but this can also be an opportunity for institutions in the long run.
College presidents nearing the end of their tenure can draw upon the contacts they have made in local, state and federal government, as well as private industry, on behalf of the school to consider potential exemplary candidates who may not have come up through academia. With the urging and support of the school, that president can also work to be a source of counsel for any individual stepping out of the private sector and into academia.