Prelims

Half Title Page

Higher Education Leadership

Studies in Educational Administration

Series Editors: Gaëtane Jean-Marie and Ann E. Lopez

Studies in Educational Administration present monographs and edited collections along the broad themes of educational leadership, management, and administration.

The series presents research conducted across a diverse range of contexts and locations. Proposals are invited for authored or edited books from scholars in all stages of their careers for work that will help us to advance the educational administration field and will be of use to both researchers and school administrators and teachers.

Orly Shapira-Lishchinsky (ed), International Aspects of Organizational Ethics in Educational Systems

Alison Taysum and Khalid Arar (eds), Turbulence, Empowerment and Marginalized Groups in International Education Governance Systems

Izhar Oplatka and Khalid Arar (eds), Emotion Management And Feelings In Teaching And Educational Leadership

Khalid Arar, Jeffrey S. Brooks and Ira Bogotch (eds). Education, Immigration And Migration: Policy, Leadership And Praxis For A Changing World

Forthcoming Publications:

Eugenie A. Samier, Eman S. Elkaleh, Waheed Hammad (eds). Internationalisation of Educational Administration and Leadership Curriculum: Voices and Experiences from the ‘Peripheries’

Njoki Wane; Kimberly Todd; Coly Chau (eds), Decolonial and Indigenizing Visions of Educational Leadership: Global Perspectives in Charting Course

Interested in publishing in this series? Please contact Gaëtane Jean-Marie and Ann E. Lopez at sea@uni.edu

Title Page

Higher Education Leadership: Pathways and Insights

By

Sharmila Pixy Ferris

William Paterson University, USA

Kathleen Waldron

William Paterson University, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

Copyright © 2021 Sharmila Pixy Ferris and Kathleen Waldron

Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83982-231-5 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-230-8 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-232-2 (Epub)

Dedication

This book is dedicated in loving memory of Maureen Minielli, cherished friend, taken from us too soon. Maureen helped develop the ideas that shaped this book, and her life demonstrated leadership in action.

Foreword

Many books on leadership in general, and higher education leadership in particular, as well as on presidential failures and successes, are written by those reflecting on their careers. In this book, Dr. Kathy Waldron, President Emerita of William Paterson University, and Dr. Sharmila Pixy Ferris, Professor of Communication at William Paterson University, take a different approach. They are interested in examining the variety of pathways to leadership, insights from critical incidents which might benefit others, and concerns for the longer term, expressed by those profiled.

The authors composed an intentionally diverse population of presidents, vice presidents, provosts, and deans from a cross section of public and private four-year and higher colleges and universities. After confirming the participation of the invited leaders, the authors sent each a set of questions that would be explored in the interviews. In this way, the participants would be prepared to discuss the themes to be examined. The authors then produced portraits of 20 higher education leaders and reported on the “landscapes” in which they worked and grew.

The result is not only an ethnographic exploration of leadership paths, insights, and strategies by what has been called “thick description” but also an examination of both the contemporary contexts in which leadership is displayed, as well as a survey of future complexities anticipated by the leaders.

Leadership involves listening with eyes as well as ears; reading to strengthen the use of language and image; speaking and communicating in formal and informal settings in order to inspire and console; writing speeches and notes of congratulations and condolence; reflecting on incidents as well as on the purpose of the enterprise; appreciating the importance of context and culture; and fostering inquisitiveness and asking “why?” “what if?” and “what can we learn from this?” Leadership involves expressing both empathy and compassion. Above all, it requires integrity, a “moral compass,” a sense of self. To develop in these various ways usually takes time, humility, reflection, and mentors.

The stories related give examples of how those profiled developed these attributes and talents, entered higher education, and when they first were offered or took opportunities of leadership. The chapters also relate the critical incidents that proved to be particularly important in their growth as leaders. They demonstrate that we each build “wells” of experience, some from childhood, on which to draw in later times. In each case, the importance of commitment to the institution, even to the point of sacrifice, is evident.

Among the findings I found of special interest were the emphasis on the importance of campus leaders coming from the faculty, the value of scholarly credentials, the need to respect the faculty and shared governance, and the lessons learned from crossing sectors of higher education. While these are not surprising, it is good to see them presented as priorities at a time when the pressure on many academic leaders is to act like CEOs. Those interviewed fulfill what I consider the CPO role: “Chief Purpose Officer.” While CEOs tend to focus on money, markets, and personnel as labor, CPOs focus on mission, students as learners, and faculty as partners in purpose.

Institutional change is difficult, but the lessons learned from these interviews are instructive. Leaders sometimes confuse mission, which is about purpose, with tradition, which may be timebound. Too often, leaders confuse the two. Leaders must be true to the mission and respect tradition, but they also must know that new traditions can be important components in the ongoing narrative of an institution.

Being a leader can be lonely. I commend the references to not being shy about asking others for help. By asking for advice from fellow presidents or deans that one meets at conferences, the leader can learn from others' mistakes and successes. To ask for help is not a sign of weakness, but an indication of confidence. I also applaud the references to building a team. It is only with a talented team that a leader can properly delegate the day-to-day tasks and focus on the longer term.

By using tabletop exercises to help plan for dealing with a crisis, the leader can help anticipate problems and give the team experience in dealing with an issue as a unit. This is useful whether anticipating what to do with a bomb threat or discussing how your team would have handled an incident that occurred at another campus. Such training can help advance flexibility, adaptability, and innovation.

An important plus consists in the examples of present and future challenges and changes these presidents, vice presidents, provosts, and deans anticipate. Their thoughts on college costs, the use of data, remote teaching and learning, social media and the 24-hour news cycle, and the corporatization of the academy, among numerous other challenges, ring true and deserve the attention of all campus leaders, including boards of trustees. So too do their comments on changes in demographics and the economy, the need for new sources of revenue, and the perils of deferred maintenance.

Leaders are always learning, and this book is an important addition to a leader's reading list. Leaders also have opportunities to help others develop as leaders, thus becoming mentors after benefiting from being mentored. This too is an important lesson imparted by those profiled. We are all students, and students are our priority.

September 16, 2020

Dr. Robert A. Scott

President Emeritus and University Professor Emeritus, Adelphi University

President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Author, How University Boards Work, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018-Eric Hoffer Award 2019

https://www.higheredjobs.com/blog/default.cfm?BlogID=22

Acknowledgments

It has been a privilege to work with our interviewees. Leaders and mentors, their generosity in sharing their time is only matched by their trust in sharing their pathways, insights, and experiences.

Our gratitude to Mary Mino, Associate Chief Academic Officer at Pennsylvania State University-Dubois, and Joann Lee, Professor Emerita at William Paterson University, for serving as our early reviewers. Their thoughtful comments helped us write a stronger book.

Special thanks to Robert (Bob) Scott, retired President of Adelphi University, for sharing his expert perspectives on leadership and graciously writing a Foreword to our book.

We'd like to offer our particular thanks to our colleagues at William Paterson University:

• Peter Cannarozzi, for his flawless technical support. His problem-solving skills, with a fix for every problem, no matter how big or small, smoothed the interviewing process for all of us, and his cheerfulness and unfailing good humor made us look forward to seeing him.

• Donea Gomez, for her assistance with the project. She provided a wealth of support that facilitated our writing, from media research to fact-checking to formatting. Donea's attention to detail was remarkable and her proofreading skills redoubtable. As important was her positive attitude and can-do approach.

• Jennifer Owlett, for suggesting the perfect subtitle to encapsulate the themes of our book and for her expert feedback on research design.

• Kelli Smith, for informed discussions on the framework of this book, ideas for the subtitle, and her thoughts on leadership.

• Dean Daryl Moore, for his support and encouragement, and the College of the Arts and Communication Center for Creative Activity and Research for the summer grants that helped fund transcription of interviews and a summer assistant.

• Sue Godar, for her expert feedback on marketing and for serving as the beta reader of our Introduction and Conclusion.

If we took the time to thank all the friends and colleagues who supported us throughout this project we'd be writing an additional chapter just to express our gratitude. Please know that we appreciate each and every one of you – for those conversations at meals and get-togethers, on walks, at EfM, in the hallways and by the copy machine, on the phone, and on email.

Saving the best until last, we are grateful for the support our partners provided with their presence, their encouragement, and many conversations about leadership. Jon Golby listened and offered advice and thoughts about leadership to Kathy. Brian kept Pixy grounded and insisted on an ergonomic chair and regular meals, aided by Bell-the-wonder-collie who made sure she oversaw all the writing and eating.

Finally, this book wouldn't have happened without Emerald's team of professionals. We'd like to thank our editors and support staff at Emerald Publishing, with special thanks to Kimberley Chadwick. Everyone at Emerald has been helpful throughout the project, but Kim's always prompt responses and clear guidance smoothed our path to publication.