The Woes of Being a University President
Posted on August 31st, 2006 in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Every so often, someone writes an article about how tough it is to run a university these daysâthey’ve been doing it for at least the last ten years, and probably the last 50. One interesting change is that a standard requirement for these articles is that they must now include a reference to Larry Summers.
Case in point: this Los Angeles Times piece, “PhD in Patience Required.” (Registration also required.)
The writer, Elizabeth Mehren, focuses on the case of Ralph J. Hexter, a classics professor and dean at Berkeleyâthree nouns which, combined, would give Larry Summers a coronaryâwho became president of Hampshire College. The search process, Mehren argues, is mortifying.
“It is almost incomprehensible to business people why we go through this,” said Deborah Raizes, head of the committee seeking a new president at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. “They ask me, ‘Why would you let people who are going to be working for someone have a say in who their boss will be?‘ “
Well, that’s one view of the world, isn’t it? Imagine, letting people who will be working for someone have a say in who their boss will be.
Here’s my favorite part of the article, though:
At a “meet the candidate” forum, the slender, gray-haired classicist said, he was taken aback by how brash some students were. The first student who interrogated him, Hexter said, wanted his vision for Hampshire, admonishing him not to “use any of the usual cliches, like ‘excellence,’ or ‘distinctiveness.‘ “
When I was writing Harvard Rules, trying to explain President Summers’ vision for Harvard, I grew increasingly frustrated; the man’s every speech seemed a vine-like collection of cliches. Pull the vines apart one by one, and…and…well, there just wasn’t much there at the end. And yet, every time I picked up the paper, Summers was being congratulated for his bold vision. Was I missing something? One wanted to be fairâSummers is, after all, an extremely smart guy, and he certainly had proposalsâbut there just didn’t seem to be any there, there.
I would like to have heard Summers answer this student’s question.
3 Responses
8/31/2006 12:18 pm
Richard is right on all counts.
- I’ve seen many of these searches up close and have yet to see one in which a candidate whom the institution really wanted decline to be considered because of the search process. This is not to say that the typical process cannot be improved: in general most are too open (and Harvard’s too closed).
- The job is harder than running most corporations but it is also more satisfying for the right kind of person. Again, it is significant how few qualified people turn down the chance to be considered. Fewer now than in the past actually. Most faculty say sincerely they would never want to to do the job-but most faculty would not want most of their colleagues to take the job.
- The pain of fundraising is exaggerated. It does take a lot of the president’s time, but at many institutions (especially the Ivies) the interactions are with intelligent and loyal supporters, who are eager to learn about what is going on at the institution. The presidents and deans who are most successful think of it as an extension of the educational process-sort of like teaching but about the institution and its goals.
- The talk that goes under the rubric of “vision” often does express the institution’s priorities for the time, but is almost never original with the candidate (if it is,watch out. It should never be the basis for choosing among candidates. In Summers’ case he was repeating (in more press-friendly terms) the same priorities that earlier Harvard presidents and many presidents at other universities were celebrating-life sciences, better undegraduate teaching, more access for lower income students, and so on. The real test is whether the candidate can get the faculty to follow, whether he/she knows how to manage an institution, and how to judge and maintain academic quality. Summers failed on all counts. Although I can see how a search committee at the time might have thought he could succeed, but this actual search committee paid far too much attention to his “vision” (and his critique of the College) than to his leadership ability in a university context. The best test-now the only safe test-of that ability is a record of success at a comparable institution in a high level role.
8/31/2006 7:27 pm
Another high-quality post, and one that you might promote, Richard, and you, 12:18, should send in to the Search Committee, if you haven’t done so already. The danger is that we will get another “interesting”, rather than appropriately educated and experienced, appointment.
9/2/2024 6:35 pm
Has Anybody Else Noticed…
…that ousted Harvard president, Larry Summers, appears in the television campaign advertisements for republican gubernatorial candidate, Kerry Healey? Yep. After she talks about “the issues”, she’s seen walking down a street with Larry Summers on her right (the viewers’ left). There are also, I believe, 3 other men with her.
He’s also beaming ear to ear. Funny, he never looked that happy while at Harvard.
And what an odd person to appear on screen with her considering how he was such a polarizing character.