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2008-2009 Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission: A Leadership Seminar for College and University Presidents

Seminar: July 13-16, 2008
Glendorn
Bradford, PA

Follow-up: January 7-8, 2009
Hyatt Regency Coconut Point
Bonita Springs, FL

The Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program is a series of conversations among college and university presidents—and their spouses—designed to help each think more deeply about the significance of mission in the institutions they lead, their own sense of vocation or calling, and how the connection between their personal vocation and the institution's mission fosters effective presidential leadership. Information on the program and how to apply is provided below. The application deadline is February 15, 2008.

Vocation and Mission
About the Program
Program Components
Application Information
Application Instructions
Additional Information

View the 2008-09 Vocation and Mission Brochure

Vocation and Mission

Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission is a seminar-based program designed to assist presidents—and their spouses—in affirming their own sense of vocation, and to weigh it in the context of the missions of the institutions they lead. Through a series of structured conversations, presidents and presidential spouses engage in an exploration of the ways in which the concepts of personal vocation and institutional mission can be resources for effective presidential leadership. The program, funded by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., will include up to 20 college and university presidents and their spouses. This brochure provides information about the program and how to apply.

The 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:

Presidential leadership is strengthened by a congruence of institutional mission and personal vocation.
Carefully structured occasions for reflection and dialogue can help presidents discern that congruence, and help presidential spouses discern their particular role.

Why have such a program? Even the most successful presidents often note wistfully the lack of balance between their professional and personal lives. This program offers an alternative to “balance” in the energizing alignment of vocation and mission. All too often in recent years, presidencies have teetered because of what seemed 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 makes insightful, but unilateral pronouncements on what needs to change. Imagine a church-sponsored university where the dominant theology is mainstream, but the president is very conservative (or liberal) on faith issues.

This program aims to help presidents achieve great things for their institutions and to avoid situations where they will be remembered as “the right person in the wrong place.” The styles of highly successful presidents may vary widely, so long as strong alignment in respect to mission has been discovered between the president and members of the community which he or she serves.

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About the Program

Presidential Vocation. Individuals often bring to a presidency—or discover as president—a deep sense of vocation or calling to the work of leading a specific college or university. One important dimension of a presidency is to discover ways in which personal vocation connects with—and may be animated by—institutional mission. Understood in this way, vocation 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.

Institutional Mission. A college or university’s mission springs from multiple sources. It may include a particular educational philosophy, the values of a founding religious denomination, the history of a place or a region, and characteristics of a student population. 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, highlight, and represent these facets of a lived mission. Indeed, they must refine and extend the mission through the work of their administration and, of course, through their rhetoric.

Presidential Spouses. Spouses of presidents are strongly encouraged to participate in the program. Whether or not a spouse has taken on the responsibilities that are commonly expected of the president’s wife or husband on many private college campuses, the presidency of a married person almost certainly has a profound impact on the marital relationship. Spouses, too, need to affirm their own sense of vocation in the context of the work of their partner-presidents and the mission of the institutions they lead. Such reflection on one’s own calling can contribute significantly to a sense of fulfillment, whether in the role of presidential spouse, or in any other occupation or undertaking in which community is emerging or is being built.

Final Offering. This program—offered for the third and final time in 2008–2009—provides up to 20 presidents as well as spouses the opportunity for candid, intense conversation among their peers about presidential vocation and institutional mission. Guiding the discussions will be facilitators—experienced colleagues and scholars—who have thought deeply about matters of personal vocation and institutional mission as they relate to the college or university presidency—from both secular and spiritual perspectives.

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Program Components

Before the Summer Seminar (Late Spring 2008)
Participants will be expected to read selected materials in preparation for the summer seminar. The readings emphasize vocation, with secondary attention to mission.

Summer Seminar (July 13–16, 2008)
A four-day summer seminar will be held at Glendorn, “A Lodge in the Country,” nestled between the mountains near Bradford, Pennsylvania. Please consult the outline of seminar topics, selected readings, and program leadership included in this brochure. The 2008 program, not yet fully planned, will be similar.

Between the Summer Seminar
and the Winter Follow-Up Event (Fall 2008)
During the fall, each participant will have two telephone conferences with one of the seminar facilitators. The purpose of these conversations will be to consider how the reflections on vocation and mission from the summer have influenced their presidential leadership. Participants will also read several more selections before the winter meeting.

Winter Follow-Up Event (January 7–8, 2009)
This event, held at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Florida in conjunction with CIC’s 2009 Presidents Institute, will extend the experience of the summer seminar, incorporating reflections based on the fall conversations with facilitators.

After the Follow-Up Event (Spring 2009)
Each participant will have one telephone conference with a seminar facilitator during the spring. The topics of the final consultation will be:

Changes in participants’ sense of personal vocation and understanding of institutional mission
Benefits realized from participation in the program
Future plans in light of the program

Presidents interested in participating can direct questions about the program to Harold V. Hartley III, CIC’s vice president for research and evaluation, by telephone at (202) 466-7230 or email at hhartley@cic.nche.edu.

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Application Information

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

What evidence is there of the individual’s commitment to the program’s purpose—the relationship between presidential vocation and institutional mission?
How are the institution and the individual likely to benefit from the program?
How will the individual’s participation contribute to the diversity of perspectives and experiences in the program?

Costs
Most costs of participation, including travel to the summer seminar, as well as lodging, meals, consultations, and materials during the seminar, will be covered by the program. Spouses’ expenses will also be covered. For the winter follow-up meeting, CIC will pay for the additional night’s lodging on January 7, 2009. Participants will be responsible for their transportation to the January 7–8 meeting, which takes place in conjunction with CIC’s annual Presidents Institute. There is a one-time registration fee of $250 for the president and $125 for an accompanying spouse due upon acceptance into the program.

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Application Instructions

Interested presidents should submit an application consisting of a cover sheet and personal statement. On a cover sheet, please provide the following information:

1. Name
2. Position Title
3. Name of institution
4. Mailing address
5. Telephone
6. Fax
7. Email
8. Years in current position
9. Prior positions in the past 15 years
10. Prior professional development programs
11. Marital status
12. Name of spouse, if married
13. Will your spouse participate in the program? (Yes, no, uncertain, not applicable)

Attach a personal statement of no more than two pages that discusses (a) your own sense of vocation, (b) your reflection on the role of institutional mission in higher education, and (c) the benefits you anticipate for yourself, your spouse (if applicable), and your institution from participation in this program.

The completed application should be submitted as a single package to CIC’s office by mail or express delivery to Presidential Vocation and Mission Program, Council of Independent Colleges, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 320, Washington, DC 20036; by fax to (202) 466-7238; or by email to vocationpresidents@cic.nche.edu. Applications received by February 15, 2008, will be given full consideration.

If you would like to suggest that another president be encouraged to apply to participate in the program, please feel free to do so, but at least a month before the application deadline.

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Additional Information

Sample Seminar Topics and Readings
The following information is based on past seminars. Details for the 2008–2009 program will be available in Spring 2008.

Section I. “The Vocation of a College President”
Frederick Buechner, “Vocation,” from Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC
Lee Hardy, “Balancing Commitments: Work and Vocation,” from The Fabric of This World
Selected readings from Mark R. Schwehn and Dorothy C. Bass, Leading Lives That Matter

Section II. “Vision, Mission and Saga in Institutional Life”
Burton B. Clark, “The Making of an Organizational Saga,” from The Distinctive College: Antioch, Reed & Swarthmore
Jim Collins, “Level 5 Leadership,” from Good to Great

Section III. “Facing the Challenges that Come with Vocation”
Abraham Lincoln, “The Political Religion of the Nation: Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois,” January 27, 1838
Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” Washington, D.C., March 4, 1865

Section IV. “Finding Resources in Friendship and Faith to Strengthen Vocation”
Aristotle, Ethics, Books 8–9
Richard T. Hughes, “The Vocation of a Christian College, Or, What Makes Church-Related Education Christian?” from The Vocation of a Christian Scholar: How Christian Life Can Sustain the Life of the Mind
Letters of Abigail and John Adams in 1776

Concluding Sessions
Jill Ker Conway, “Choice,” from A Woman’s Education
Plato, “Crito,” from The Last Days of Socrates

Program Facilitators
The following individuals, who have served as facilitators of previous seminars, may serve again in 2008–2009.

William V. Frame, president emeritus, Augsburg College, and CIC senior advisor (project director)
Joel Cunningham, vice chancellor and president, Sewanee: The University of the South
Trudy Cunningham, presidential spouse, Sewanee: The University of the South
Sr. Mary Ann Dillon, president, Mount Aloysius College
Anne Frame, former presidential spouse, Augsburg College
Richard T. Hughes, distinguished professor and senior fellow, The Boyer Center, Messiah College
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
Jake Schrum, president, Southwestern University
Mary Pat Seurkamp, president, College of Notre Dame of Maryland

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Questions

If you have questions about the Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission Program, please contact Harold V. Hartley III, CIC Vice President for Research and Evaluation, at (202) 466-7230 or hhartley@cic.nche.edu.