What misconceptions do people have about the position of university president?

We now text each other about 7,000 times a day, and we will continue to be equal friends, so we decided to use our initials in this column. Gordon’s full name is Ebenezer or a name starting with E. Rachel was born without a middle name, and in college, as a preppy kid, she decided to give herself an S.

Recovery time: Is this okay with you?

Egg: Do I have a choice? I would have preferred His Highness, but that’s unlikely to fly.

Recovery time: That’s what my phone calls me. I like to think of you as an egg. Maybe you’ll put on a lot of pounds around your waist, and then I’ll knock you out.

Egg: That’s cruel. You have no respect for the elderly.

Recovery time: Whatever, man. Within minutes of our first column being published, I heard people telling me how I should attack you.

Egg: Rachel, one of the things we agreed on is that it’s not about saying what other people want to hear. This is us unfiltered—

Recovery time: ——Well, I always do it without filter. That’s why you want to work for me, because you’re always polite and prim.

Egg: -The reason we decided to do this together was so we could ask each other the hard questions without having each other turn to pablum. To be honest, it’s a bit scary for me to have people hold their breath for 45 years about what I have to say, but you insist on my honesty and say out loud the things I mutter under my breath.

Recovery time: Well, we promise our readers that we’ll get into it, go there, and talk it out. We have a list of important topics and we are excited and energized about this project. We even started writing a column called “Professionals Are Stupid.”

Egg: Procedural problem: It’s not that professionalism is stupid, it’s that the structures that require professionalism are outdated. The structure of the university places faculty and students in a stratified and siled system. Yes, students need to learn and understand a topic deeply, but they should not be pressured into learning more of this and less of that. Only when we move away from departments and schools and organize around centres, institutes and working groups can real creativity be generated and curiosity stimulated.

Recovery time: Can’t wait to get involved. But first, I want to ask about some of the things I’ve learned over the past three years in secret conversations with Sandbox Presidents. They all said everyone wanted to tell them how to do their jobs. What is it that people like me don’t understand about the presidency?

Egg: Everyone “knows” how to run a college better than I do. I always feel like the people who are second-guessing me would make the same decisions if they had the same amount of information as I do. For example, at West Virginia University, when we considered the need for reorganization, we took a fact-based approach. We found that we had 28 world language teachers teaching 21 majors. What the hell! This is a better faculty-student ratio than the Department of Surgery. However, when we decided to abolish the department, I was accused of being an absolute heretic. We continue to teach languages ​​based on student needs. I know it’s a strange concept to ask students to vote with their feet, but that’s the reality.

Recovery time: What if a student suddenly wants to learn Klingon? Would you create a department to teach this? Don’t tastes and trends change? I mean, just a few years ago, students were recommended to major in computer science. oops. I mean we’ll have this conversation later.

Egg: Not the Klingon department, but I would respond by further reducing the language program where there is no demand, and if the demand persists, hire Professor Spock and a few other professors.

Recovery time: How much is cultural appropriation? Dr. Spock is a Vulcan, Gordon (you ignorant slut!). squirrel! We are all easily distracted, which is part of why working with you is so troublesome.

Egg: Despite your unfiltered mouth, I had a great time. I will gracefully take your slings and arrows…and strike back at you.

Recovery time: Back to topic, every president I’ve talked to – and to be clear, my circle is large but probably not representative because everything in the sandbox is anonymous and I’m not doing anything to promote them or feed their egos – has said that no one understands the job until they sit in the chair. You sat in that seat seven different times. Was your learning curve still steep even after you returned home?

Egg: Rachel, there is no script for the presidency. Every place is different and has its own values ​​and culture. When I returned to OSU and WVU, I had to completely reinvent myself and relearn these institutions because they had changed. If I had tried the old script in both places it would have been a disaster.

Recovery time: Because you can’t step into the same river twice, although some colleges are more like scum-covered ponds. This fall, one of your old colleagues asked me if I thought the presidency had changed in the past five years. NoI said. I think something has changed in the past two years. Now, when a former president spoutes off telling people who are still in office what they should do, it does damage, and I’m not going to allow you to do that, Gordon, so don’t get any ideas. The only thing worse is when presidents are told how to do their jobs by people who haven’t spent meaningful time on campus since they were students and view higher education as monolithic. What do you think about all these calls for the president to stand up, to fight back, to make a statement?

Egg: They are fools. If some of these people were at a public university in a red state and did what people are calling for, their asses would be fired in two minutes. You will learn how to dance with the partner who brings you.

Recovery time: You’re talking about wooden boards. You have public and private university boards, and if my sources are correct, you can make good money serving on corporate boards (can you get me a cushy job like that?). What don’t people know about college boards?

Egg: College boards are the current challenge. They are often appointed because of political connections or are large donors to governors or universities. Sometimes they are even elected. I have a lot of great board members who want to learn and support the university, but when you get a rogue board member or cabal, it makes the president’s life miserable and you end up fighting on two fronts – the board and/or the faculty or the Legislature – so you fall into obscurity. In fact, tender loving care for the board is the president’s first duty and ultimate lifeline.

Recovery time: I don’t know which one is Scylla and which one is Charybdis, but only one of them has real power. Many presidents are paid by boards of directors to do something, but don’t support them when they fire the football coach or make some stupid attack on the Little Sisters of the Poor. They are not accountable to anyone. So how to solve this problem?

Egg: As president, you have to do your homework. Many people accept a job without doing their due diligence. I decided to go to Brown University, and I’m a prime example of that. You also need to have a clear understanding of the ground rules. As much as I hate this, I do think the president needs to be represented by a good attorney before accepting a job. Ambiguity is the enemy of a successful presidency. But ultimately, a lot of circumstances can derail a presidency that are beyond your control. When it’s time to exit, exit gracefully.

Recovery time: It’s not always easy. I wish I could remind faculty that if we cast a vote of no confidence in a president (in the mistaken belief that it would have any impact other than worsening relationships that need to be maintained), the next person the board brings in could be even worse.

Egg: I just had a great conversation with a distinguished president who has presided over large public institutions and large private institutions. We decided to form a chairperson’s group called FNC (Faculty No Confidence) members. Currently, the popular way for teachers to voice concerns is through a vote of no confidence, but confident leaders often see these as a sign of greatness. If they are doing the right thing, they should do it. If they are stupid then they deserve a vote like this [to be] Back to their first love: teaching.

Recovery time: This will be a rude awakening, because while being a tenured faculty member is the most privileged position in the country, today’s students are horses of a different color and not easily penned.

Egg: The cultural gap between Millennials and Generation Z is huge. Our tendency to educate the last generation rather than the current generation is one of the many reasons why higher education has lost so much trust. Meeting students where they are rather than where we want them to be…getting back to the old problem with majors is a silly idea for many students today.

Recovery time: You’re known for sending handwritten notes to reporters (for the record, since I’m not a journalist, I never received one). What are some misconceptions about the presidency and/or higher education in the media?

Egg: OMG. press. I feel like I’m getting a colonoscopy from the media almost every day. With few exceptions (and they know who they are), the media knows very little about the university or the presidency. They look at the issue from a very progressive perspective and listen to voices that confirm what they want to hear. The old adage “if it bleeds, it bleeds” is accurate. If you can make a college president bleed, you’re “brave”—and often inaccurate, if not dishonest.

Recovery time: When I first started The Sandbox, a former president of a large university wanted to write an article called “Why We Can’t All Be Gordon Gee.” I told you this when you first contacted me and said I had a feeling that sometimes even you couldn’t be the Gordon Gee we thought we were. You began your career working for Chief Justice Warren Burger, and now, 45 years later, you finally have another boss to teach you: me. Now let’s start looking at majors and departments.

Egg: Yes, ma’am.