There will be an increase in the number of college and university presidencies becoming vacant due to retirements over the next several years. Since most of the incumbents, including provosts and presidents (the largest source for new presidents), are Baby Boomers, the pool of potential replacements is likely to include more candidates, such as…

One of the nicest things about being on a search committee is getting to meet people from all over the campus, some of whom one had little or no contact with before. The downside of any search, though, despite some meals in classy restaurants, is the extra meetings, endless phone calls, numerous Equal Employment Opportunity and human-resources…

Oral interviews in focus groups and written surveys were conducted with 877 men and women, including administrators, faculty members, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students, during one-day site visits to chemistry and chemical engineering departments at 28 Ph.D.-granting institutions. This report is a preliminary review of the perceptions…

Colleges and universities across the country are seeking ways to strategically position their campuses within the growingly competitive landscape of higher education. The presidents of these institutions are approaching these changes with a watchful eye on the fiscal, environmental, and human resources involved. The purpose of this study was to…

Over the coming years an increasing number of college presidencies will change hands. Choice of a new president who will effectively lead an institution is a decision of great importance to individuals within the organization and to the community the college serves. Most colleges employ a search process composed of representatives of key…

Serving as superintendent, going into his 24th year, the author has completed hundreds of applications and interviewed for nearly a hundred superintendencies. He has accepted seven superintendencies and, in more than 20 instances, have declined offers or withdrawn from consideration after being interviewed. This cumulative experience has produced…

Board of education members come and go, but the community remains. Wise candidates for a superintendent position, as well as the dedicated board members involved in fulfilling this important duty, understand this and therefore want the public to be part of the superintendent search process. As a search consultant to school boards for 20 years, the…

A topic of continuing interest in American higher education and society is the future of historically black colleges and universities, commonly referred to as HBCUs. The nation's public and private black institutions of higher education have proved their mettle, and yet they face persistent challenges to survive. A huge part of the challenge black…

There are two kinds of references in administrative hires. The most customary is the "on list" references which a candidate asks one to provide. The second kind of reference is the "off list" variety, of which there are two types. Typical is the call one receives from an acquaintance at the hiring institution asking for the "dirt" on one's…

As the new vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1971, Dr. Randolph W. Bromery had not given any thought to moving up to chancellor. But the president of the UMass system, Dr. Robert C. Wood, had contemplated the possibility. Then he made it happen. Indisputably, Wood's gamble worked out. For eight…

Trustees and presidents are in the midst of hiring the next generation of leaders for the nation's community colleges. Major leadership development initiatives are under way to address a projected shortage at the highest levels of college leadership--the result of impending presidential and senior executive officer retirements. In 2006, the…

An airport interview is an initial interview for a senior administrative position conducted at an airport hotel not too far from the campus in question. Meeting at an airport enables a search committee to interview a large number of candidates in a short period of time with a degree of confidentiality. At the conclusion of the airport interviews,…

Michael Garrison has earned his bachelor's and law degrees at West Virginia University, the state's flagship institution, where he was president of the student government. He rose rapidly to high-powered political posts, including chief of staff to a previous governor. Garrison then became a lobbyist with the longest client list in West Virginia,…

The resignation, termination, and unexpected departure of several college and university presidents over the past decade have prompted much speculation about the state of the college presidency. An alarming number of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) presidents find themselves, and the institutions they lead, at the mercy of…

This article reports a study designed to identify the factors that both hiring bodies and applicants believe are most important when making decisions about principal selection, appointment and acceptance. Based on a quantitative study involving the four main groups of players in the principal selection process, we confirmed a four-factor…