2008-2009 Programs
1) AALI Leadership Lecture – November 24, 2008, Williamsburg, VA. The AALI Leadership Lecture was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in Williamsburg, VA. The lecturer was Erik R. Peterson, Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Director of the Global Strategy Institute. As director, he heads the “Seven Revolutions Initiative,” an internationally recognized effort to identify and forecast global trends out to the year 2025 and beyond. Peterson also holds the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Providing the keynote address on “Higher Education in the Global Marketplace,” the AALI Leadership Lecture explored the rapidly changing landscape of information and knowledge creation and offered strategies for higher education leaders to position their institutions competitively in the global marketplace.
2) 2009 Presidents Institute – January 4-7, 2009, Bonita Springs, Florida. AALI supported the annual Presidents Institute of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) by providing for the opening plenary speaker. The Institute’s theme was “Investing in the Future: Students, Institutions, and the Public Good.” The Presidents Institute is the largest annual conference of college and university presidents in the United States, and it included 312 presidents with approximately 700 in total attendance.
3) Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness – 2008-2009. AALI supported the work of the Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness, charged by the AASCU Board of Directors, to develop recommendations for AASCU member presidents on ways to assure that their institutions are graduating students with the knowledge and skills to be competitive in the globalized economy and society of the future. The 13-member presidential Commission began work in the summer of 2008 under the leadership of Bruce Shepard of Western Washington University and Don Betz of Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. The Commission’s deliberations were conducted through three face-to-face meetings and a series of conference calls over the period of their work.
The Commission’s report was completed in early May, 2009 and published in September, 2009. Dr. Gregory Wegner distilled the Commission’s discussions into recommendations to inform the thinking of AASCU presidents and chancellors. The report describes the rapidly changing external context as it affects higher education and the special advantages that AASCU institutions have in preparing students for participation in a multicultural, global environment. The core of the report is a series of specific recommendations on external and internal leadership strategies for presidents and chancellors to assure that their institutions meet the challenges of global competitiveness. To complement the printed report, a “Global Competitiveness Forum” on the AASCU web site is contemplated to allow presidents and other senior administrators to post their own comments and recommendations or share best practices.
4) 2008 Institute for Chief Academic Officers – November 1-4, 2008, Seattle, Washington. AALI provided a plenary speaker for CIC’s 2008 Institute for Chief Academic Officers and Chief Financial Officers on the theme, “Leading Change in Learning, Faculty, and Programs.” This is the largest annual gathering of chief academic officers in the United States: 290 academic officers and a total of over 500 total attendees participated in the 2008 Institute.
5) Seeking the Presidency – San Antonio, Texas, 2007 and Savannah, Georgia, 2008. For almost a decade, the Academic Leadership and Change Division of AASCU offered a “Seeking the Presidency” professional development session at the Association’s Academic Affairs Summer and Winter meetings. That program traditionally had a narrow focus, addressing the mechanics of a presidential search (letter of application, interview, etc.). In 2006, discussions began with AALI about an expansion of the “Seeking the Presidency” program to focus on presidential leadership. Support from AALI made it possible to address issues of presidential leadership in the expanded programs conducted in San Antonio and Savannah. The curriculum for this expanded program focused on multiple perspectives on leadership, self-awareness of the participant’s own leadership, the critical process of team building, and case studies about presidential leadership.
Three presidents served as faculty members: Dick Rush, President, California State University, Channel Islands; Ann Hasselmo, President, American Academic Leadership Institute; and Mickey Burnim, President, Bowie State University. George Mehaffy, Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change at AASCU, served as program coordinator and facilitator.
6) 2008 Division and Department Chair Workshops – April 4-5, 2008, St. Louis, Missouri. AALI supported two speakers for the CIC 2008 Division and Department Chair Workshops: one higher education attorney and one expert on using data to make effective decisions. These presenters led sessions on the topic of “Creative Leadership with Limited Resources.”
7) Your Vote, Your Voice - 2008. This program was the public component of the student voter engagement, education, and registration effort sponsored by the 50-member Washington Higher Education Secretariat, and executed on their behalf by NAICU and AASCU, for every federal election since 1996. CIC joined the leadership effort in 2008. Through the active involvement of the nation’s college presidents and their staffs and faculties, the project has become a continuing demonstration of the leadership of America’s higher education community in supporting and enhancing civic engagement. The campaign ran through Election Day, November 4, 2008, and encompassed all sectors of higher education. Elements of the 2008 AALI-supported Your Vote, Your Voice campaign were a Web site, launched in early May, as the centerpiece of the effort; a mailer with key voter registration information and promoting the Web site, sent to the president of every nonprofit U.S. institution of higher education, also distributed in early May; and Facebook advertising throughout the election season, to inform and engage college-age voters, and to point them to the Your Vote, Your Voice Web site for additional information and resources.
8) The Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI), June, 2008, Washington, D.C. AALI supported AASCU’s MLI program, a focused, annual leadership development program that provides individuals from underrepresented groups a unique opportunity. The program identifies African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and women in senior-level positions who are interested in career advancement, specifically, the presidency, and helps them achieve that goal. The program is built around an intensive four-day professional development Institute, followed by a yearlong mentoring component, linking graduates with presidents who provide counsel as they seek their first presidency.
For a decade, MLI has reinforced the vital role that diversity plays in institutional mission, assisting participants to advance in their careers and helping institutions diversify their executive leadership. Since the first MLI Class of 1999, 308 individuals have graduated from MLI. Forty percent have advanced significantly in their careers and 42 graduates have become first-time presidents or chancellors. Nine individuals have entered their second presidencies, bringing MLI’s influence to 51 presidencies. However, success is not measured in presidencies alone. The value of MLI’s influence in building a diverse senior leadership team on campuses is recognized and commended by presidents and chancellors.
9) President-Trustee Dialogues. AALI and CIC jointly cooperate in conducting seminars for presidents and board chairs to examine such topics as board governance, president-board relations, and institutional strategy. In addition to familiar topics such as trustees’ responsibilities and the board’s role in planning, participants consider other topics such as “best practices” for board meetings, the emerging role of the “committee on trustees,” and the “curriculum” necessary to develop a strategic board. There are few partnerships more important to a president than the partnership with the board, its leaders and members. The seminars are led by Ann Die Hasselmo, President of AALI.
William G. Bowen’s recent book, The Board Book, was used by Dialogue participants. William Bowen presents his unique view of board governance, having served as President of Princeton University and the Mellon Foundation – an interesting perspective of board governance from the point of view of the CEO. Bowen also served on the Board of Trustees of Denison University and on the Board of Directors of American Express and Merck. At a time when many boards of trustees wonder if they should become more like corporate boards, Bowen compares, discusses, and contrasts non-profit and for-profit boards. Bowen’s book was one of the components of the seminar’s curriculum.
The 2008 Dialogues were held at the following locations:
Utica College, Utica, NY, September 10, 2008
Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN, October 30, 2008
Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 4, 2008
Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin, June 3, 2008
10) Research Projects on the Condition of Private Higher Education. AALI supported the research and publication of CIC’s study on the career patterns of college presidents. This project is part of the initiative to reinvigorate leadership development for senior executives of CIC member colleges and universities. Using data from the American Council on Education’s (ACE) American College President surveys, CIC staff analyzed the career pathways, education, and other demographic characteristics of first-time American college and university presidents from 1986 to 2006. Comparisons were made between first-time presidents of CIC member institutions and presidents of other sub-sector groups: public BA/MA, private doctoral, public doctoral, and public two-year institutions. AALI supported researchers, data analysis, and publication. The report, entitled “Career Patterns of Private College Presidents,” was published in August, 2009.
