“It takes more than brains, good will, and charm to be an effective chief academic officer,” said Mary Patterson McPherson, vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and president emeritus of Bryn Mawr College, in her remarks at the CAO Institute.

“It is harder to be an effective administrator today: CAOs must be adept at handling demanding parents and students, thinking strategically, and conquering the subtleties of a shared governance structure,” McPherson said. “As a consequence of financial stresses, administrators often feel more pressure to focus on the bottom line and on pleasing students to keep admissions numbers healthy, rather than on assessing the benefits of the education the students are receiving.”

Yet, she noted, “CAOs have the best job in the academy—they are ideally positioned to seize opportunities for change.” To do so, provosts at small colleges must understand that a small institution cannot “do it all.” “CAOs need to know with whom they can collaborate and to what extent, they need the courage to choose, and they need to be empowered by the administration to be partners in making the right choices for their institution.”

McPherson offered a variety of suggestions on instituting or dealing with change:

Finally, McPherson emphasized, “the most successful provosts who make things happen are those who remember who they are first—good scholars and teachers.” McPherson, who has worked closely with the CAOs and presidents of literally hundreds of colleges and universities, was enthusiastically received by the audience for her useful advice.