Kennesaw State University President Sam Olens announced last week in a letter to the campus that he will resign Feb. 15, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Yahoo! Sports both attribute his sudden resignation to his failure to appropriately respond to cheerleaders who kneeled during the national anthem at a football game earlier this year.
If nothing else, this latest resignation is an indication that leaders in higher education should be paying closer attention to student protests and the concerns of students, faculty and staff more broadly. Ignoring them is not the answer. Suppression is not the answer. Cover-ups are not the answer. And there is no playing ignorant — in the age of social media and 24-hour connectivity, not knowing is not an excusable defense.
But more than just the issues of disconnectedness from the concerns of stakeholders and poor communication, the Olens saga points to another trend: hiring presidents who have no previous higher ed experience. This was named one of Education Dive's seven most frightening trends in higher education last year, and we are seeing that play out. Olens was appointed by the Board of Regents, who considered no other candidate for the job, in spite of concerns voiced by stakeholders over his complete lack of experience in the sector.
New road to presidency
The traditional pathway to the presidency is changing. Because of the increasing importance of technology on campus and the transformation of the role of the chief information officer from top tech guy to strategist, the CIO is now just as likely a feeder for the presidency as the provost or vice president for academic affairs. Perhaps, given the number of public resignations over student issues, the student affairs chief may soon be a more frequent pipeline to the presidency. Advancement officials are often considered. But what all of these individuals have in common is actual campus experience.
The argument for bringing in individuals from outside, whether from business or government or any other industry, is that the higher education business model is broken, and bringing in fresh talent would help “blow up the box” and infuse some innovation into the industry. This argument is valid, but ignores the fact that a campus community is unlike any other business environment.
One of my favorite things any higher ed leader has ever said to me came from Dr. Norman Francis, the now-retired president of Xavier University in Louisiana. He said the secret to his success in more than 46 years at Xavier's helm was to hire smart people, empower them to lead, and get out of their way.
So what if the winning formula is that the president comes from a campus — but perhaps from a non-traditional pathway, like student affairs or the CIO’s office — and he or she hires some cabinet members from outside to help bring other perspectives and infuse innovation, then gets out of those people’s way and lets them lead? That would allow the president to focus on campus climate and the needs of students, faculty, board members and other key stakeholders.
There obviously is not a one-size-all, or even a simple answer. But what is perhaps most evident here is the need for thorough and transparent searches for executive appointments, which consider the input of stakeholders and the needs of the campus community. Appointments as political favors, whether to the board or presidency, are neither advantageous to campuses nor higher education as an industry.
