Presidents Institute • Chief Academic Officers Institute • Foundation Conversation • Workshops and Other Events •

Prospective Presidents Program

Seminar: August 6-9, 2006
Glendorn
Bradford, PA

Follow-up: February 26-27, 2007
Crown Plaza - Buckhead
Atlanta, GA

The Prospective Presidents Program is designed to help prospective college and university presidents clarify their own sense of personal vocation, and to weigh it in the context of the missions of institutions they lead and might lead in the future. The program, funded by a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, will include up to 20 participants and their spouses. Information on the program and how to nominate persons to participate in the program is provided below. The nomination deadline is February 15, 2006.

Brochure and Nomination Information
Vocation and Mission
Program Components
Nomination Information
Nomination Instructions
Additional Information

Vocation and Mission

This seminar-based program seeks to increase the commitment across American higher education to vocation and mission as linked, fundamental concepts for building and sustaining effective presidencies in independent colleges and universities. The program rests on two premises:

leadership is strengthened by a congruence of institutional mission and presidential vocation
carefully structured occasions for reflection and dialogue can help prospective presidents to discern that congruence

Why have such a program? Even successful presidents often note wistfully the lack of balance between their professional and personal lives. And too often in recent years, presidencies have collapsed because of what seems to be insufficient attention to the ways that personal talents and a
sense of calling connect with institutional priorities and purposes. Imagine a college where people across the campus treasure community and consensus, while the president issues brilliant edicts on what needs to change. Imagine a church-sponsored university where the dominant theology is middle-of-the-road, but the president is conservative (or liberal) on faith issues. Imagine an experienced president, accustomed to holding and expressing strong opinions, who arrives on a campus where measured responses to every difficult issue are the norm. CIC hopes to help prospective presidents avoid situations where they will be remembered as “the right person in the wrong place,” and to help them as presidents achieve great things for their institutions.

A college or university’s mission springs from multiple sources. It may include the values of a founding religious denomination, the history of a place or a region, characteristics of a student population, and a particular educational philosophy. Each institution, as a result, has a distinctive self-definition that comes to life in oft-repeated stories, beloved campus features, cherished events, and memories of respected individuals. Presidents, to a greater extent than others at the institution, must be able to understand, appreciate, and highlight these facets of a lived mission.

Presidents may also bring to a presidency a deep sense of personal vocation or calling. One important task of a presidency is to discover ways in which personal vocation connects with—and may be animated by—institutional mission. Vocation understood in this way is not about a job or a career, but about commitments that are very personal in combination with obligations that are very public. A sense of vocation is also likely to have multiple origins, representing a unique composite of an individual’s experiences and professional competence, as well as an appreciation of the kinds of endeavors that offer personal satisfaction, a sense of meaning, and in many cases a spiritually grounded belief about the importance of this work as president. Such a calling offers the promise of self-knowledge at a level that can contribute significantly to presidential success.

Spouses are strongly encouraged to participate in the program. Whether or not a spouse takes on the responsibilities that are traditional on many college campuses, the presidency of a married person will almost certainly have a profound impact on the marital relationship.

Back to top

Program Components

This program—offered for the second time in 2006—provides 20 nominees and the spouses of married nominees with the opportunity for candid, intense, small-group discussion among their peers. Guiding the discussions will be facilitators who have thought deeply about matters of personal vocation and institutional mission as they relate to the college or university presidency—from both spiritual and secular perspectives.

Before the Summer Seminar (Early Summer 2006)
Participants will be expected to read selected essays in preparation for the summer seminar. The readings emphasize vocation, with secondary attention to mission. Each participating nominee will also write two short pieces for distribution in advance to all participants:

Reflections on vocation, or your own personal statement of vocation, in 100 words or less
Observations on the significance of institutional mission in 100 words or less

Between the Summer Seminar and the Winter Follow-Up (Fall 2006)
Each participant will consult by telephone twice with one of the seminar leaders, during the fall. The purpose of the consultations for prospective presidents will be to review how the reflections on vocation and mission from the summer intersect with their evaluation of potential opportunities to serve as president. Participants will read several more selections before the winter follow-up meeting.

Winter Follow-Up Event (Winter 2007)
A reprise of the summer seminar, incorporating reflections based on the fall consultations, with a brief selection of new readings

After the Follow-up Event (Spring 2007)
Each participant will have one telephone consultation with a seminar leader during the spring. The topics of the final consultation will be:

Changes in my own sense of personal vocation and my understanding of institutional mission
Benefits realized from my participation in the program
My future plans in light of the program

Back to top

Nomination Information

Nominators and prospective participants can direct questions about the program to Frederik Ohles, CIC’s vice president for advancement, by telephone at (202) 466-7230 or e-mail at fohles@cic.nche.edu.

Nomination Procedure
Presidents who wish to nominate someone for participation should (1) follow the nomination instructions included in this announcement; (2) write a brief letter of nomination addressing how the nominee will benefit from participation in this program with its distinctive attention to presidential vocation and institutional mission; and (3) attach a reflective statement by the nominee on (a) his or her own sense of vocation, (b) the role of mission in higher education, and (c) anticipated benefits—considered in the spirit of the program—for the nominee and institutions he or she might serve.

The completed nomination materials should be submitted as a single package to CIC’s offices by mail or express delivery to One Dupont Circle, Suite 320, Washington, DC 20036; by fax to (202) 466-7238; or by e-mail to vocationprospective@cic.nche.edu. Nominations received by the deadline of February 15, 2006, will be given first consideration.

Selection Criteria
If the number of nominees exceeds the program capacity, these criteria will be used to select participants:

What evidence is there that the individual has reflected on presidential vocation and institutional mission and is prepared to engage in frank and open discussion of these matters with other program participants?
What evidence is there that the individual takes a broad view of the issues involved in fulfilling the expectations of a college or university president?
How will the individual’s participation contribute to the diversity of perspectives and experiences in the program?

Costs
Most costs, including travel to the summer seminar and to the follow-up event, lodging, meals, consultations, and materials will be covered by the program. Spouses’ travel, lodging, and meals will also be covered. The registration fee is $250 for the prospective president and $125 for an accompanying spouse.

Back to top

Nomination Instructions

The nomination must come from a nominator who is a current or retired college or university president.

On a cover sheet, please provide the following information about the nominee and nominator:

Nominee Information

1. Nominee's name
2. Position
3. Mailing address
4. Telephone
5. Fax
6. E-mail
7. Nominee's years in current position
8. Prior positions in the past 15 years
9. Prior professional development programs
10. Marital status
11. Name of spouse, if married
12. Will the nominee's spouse participate in the program?
(Yes, no, uncertain, not applicable)

Nominator Information

1. Nominator's name
2. Position
3. Mailing address
4. Telephone
5. Fax
6. E-mail

Attach a statement of nomination addressing how the nominee will benefit from participation in this program. The statement should be no more than one page long.

In addition, attach a statement of no more than two pages prepared by the nominee that includes reflections on (1) his or her own sense of personal vocation, (2) the role of institutional mission in higher education, and (3) the benefits that he or she anticipates from participation in this program, both personally and for institutions he or she might serve. Reviewers will look carefully at whether the nominee’s statement is reflective and addresses such matters as integrity, community, friendship, candor, and personal growth and change.

Please send the completed nomination to CIC for receipt by February 15, 2006.

Back to top

Additional Information

Seminar Topics
Vocation vs. Career and Profession
Our Own Statements on Vocation and Mission
The Vocation of the College President
The Role of Friendship in Vocational Discernment
Vision and Mission in Institutional Life
The Intersection of Vocation and Mission
Civility: The Hallmark of Vocation
“What I take away from this seminar is . . .”
A Conversation with a Facilitator about Follow-Up

Selected Readings
Gordon T. Smith, Thinking Vocationally
Burton R. Clark, The Making of an Organizational Saga
Lee Hardy, Work, Life, and Vocational Choice
John C. Haughey, S. J., The Three Conversions Imbedded in Personal Calling
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
Chris Lowney, An Uninterrupted Life of Heroic Deeds
Plato, Crito
Alexis de Tocqueville, How the Americans Combat Individualism by the Doctrine of Self-Interest Well Understood

Program Facilitators
William V. Frame, president, Augsburg College, and CIC senior advisor (project director)
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, director, Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University
Duncan Ferguson, director (retired), Center for Spiritual Life, Eckerd College
Anne Frame, presidential spouse, Augsburg College
Richard T. Hughes, distinguished professor of religion and founding director, Center for Faith and Learning, Pepperdine University
Douglas Jacobsen, distinguished professor of church history and theology, Messiah College
Rhonda Jacobsen, assistant dean for faculty development and professor of psychology, Messiah College
Stephen Jennings, president, University of Evansville
Melanie Morey, senior director for research and consulting, NarrowGate Consulting

This information is based on the 2005-2006 program. Details for 2006-2007 will be available in the spring of 2006.

Back to top

Questions

If you have questions about the Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission Program, please contact Fred Ohles, CIC Vice President for Advancement, at (202) 466-7230 or fohles@cic.nche.edu.