There is no singular way to prepare for the unique challenges of a college or university presidency. College and university presidents, as well as those who aspire to the position, utilize a myriad of professional experiences as they navigate the complexities of the role. The purpose of this chapter is to review the traditional and nontraditional career pathways of college and university presidents, discuss the preparation practices utilized by higher education leaders to be successful in the presidency, and offer advice for aspiring college and university presidents.
TopCareer Pathways
Since higher education’s founding at Harvard University in 1636, the role and responsibility of higher education presidential candidates has evolved primarily from the clergy to academic leaders of the19th century whose influence and authority extended well beyond the campus locally, statewide, and nationally (Beardsley, 2017; Geiger, 2015; Mrig & Sanaghan, 2015; Rabovsky & Rutherford, 2016; Shapiro, 1998; Wartell, 2016). Overtime, the roles, responsibilities, leadership qualities, skills, and path to the presidency has evolved since the inception of higher education in the US As the institutions became more complex, boards began to seek leaders to preside over the campuses. After the Second World War, there was an increase in student enrollment requiring more space (Selingo et al., 2017). The president’s primary role was building more formal and more prominent administrative structures. Funds streamed in through the student aid and federal science research, and they enabled presidents to expand the academic and physical plant to exceptional levels (Selingo et al., 2017). The economy would be affected in the last quarter of the twentieth century affecting state and federal financing of higher education. Students’ grants would change to the federal government’s loans, while small appropriations were provided by the states (Selingo et al., 2017). Presidents had to deal with a financial shortage, and they became their institutions’ financial agents. They focused on looking for partnerships, developing new streams of revenue, and fundraising.
An institutional president’s current role is multidisciplinary due to the multitude of challenges necessitating multidimensional leaders to establish and navigate outside partnerships, institutions, and academic disciplines (Selingo et al., 2017). Accordingly, the president of an institution should act on strategies dependent on the needs of the institution. And, as each institution requires its own style of leadership from their top executive, it is essential to ensure a good match, as presidents may or may not come with a traditional background.