Do you want to go to graduate school? Then you're in good company: nearly 80,000 students will begin pursuing a PhD this year alone. But while almost all of new PhD students say they want to work in academia, most are destined for disappointment. The hard truth is that half will quit or fail to get their degree, and most graduates will never find…

This tool is designed for early career STEM education researchers and developers to offer tips for pursuing careers in academia. The advice largely comes from National Science Foundation-funded awardees who have graciously shared information about their own career pathways, work experiences, and perspectives.

The selection of a president is a governing board's most important responsibility, and the search process is the board's best opportunity to help guide its institution into a successful new era. This guide outlines the leadership roles during a search (those of the board, the board chair, the search committee, and others), briefs board…

This issue brief presents a meaningful strategy for how charter school boards can hire top-notch, well-suited leaders for their schools. Written by Mollie Mitchell, founder and president of The K12 Search Group, this brief is a how-to guide for managing the process of bringing on a new charter school leader. As Ms. Mitchell notes, the only thing…

In this article, the author argues that taking an aggressive approach in hiring faculty is the only way to avoid a mediocre pool of candidates. Effective recruitment takes many forms and will depend on the context, but it begins with a search committee that has a clear understanding of its role in the process. The committee's first objective is to…

According to a recent Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) survey, nearly 67 percent of four-year independent and public colleges, universities, and systems secured an executive search firm to help with their presidential search activity. This edition of the Guidelines and Directory profiles 16 North American-based…

This book offers sample documents for candidates as well as for the search committees, and includes a substantive bibliography. From her vantage point outside the institution, the author is able to provide a unique point of view and insightful comments on the complex and often daunting process of the academic executive search. Key selling points…

Important first steps in the search and selection process of presidents and chancellors are outlined by the director of the Association of Governing Boards' Presidential Search Consultation Service. Guidelines for a search, appointment of a search committee, staffing the search, timetable, and the board's charge to the committee are discussed.…

Discusses four issues for higher education institutions to consider if they employ consultants for presidential searches: (1) search consultants dominate the process; (2) they do not really expand the pool of applicants; (3) organizing the search process can be handled well by institutions themselves; and (4) consultants are inevitably placed in…

Offers candidates searching for an administrative position in higher education nine strategies for understanding the search process and for using the feedback it provides to maintain their self-efficacy. (EV)

This guide for trustees and search committee members who are involved in the process of selecting a college or university president provides background information and questions to ask when interviewing search consultants, as well as a directory of search consultants. An introductory section on selection guidelines covers how a search consultant…

This publication provides general background information and questions trustees and search committee members might ask as they interview search consultants to help in the search for presidents of institutions and it profiles search firms so that trustees and search committee members can make initial assessments as they look for consultants. A…

Offers several suggestions to help women seeking administrative posts, including to volunteer for committees and after-school jobs, join a few good professional and community organizations, apply for a special job such as director or evaluator, and publish something. (JM)

Describes how to conduct a successful effort to hire university faculty and administrators. Discusses using the school's mission statement, the search committee, the charge to the committee, involving the appropriate community, selection criteria, the position description, candidate evaluation, and making the appointment. Concludes by summarizing…

Despite the variation in fees, the actual services most superintendent search consultants provide are remarkably similar. Price differences reflect the size of a consultant's network and track record. Recommends matching fee ranges with an appropriate category of consultant and basing selection on a 10-step process of consultant services. (CJH)