CIC’s Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission is a seminar-based program that seeks to help prospective college and university presidents—and their spouses or partners—clarify their sense of vocation, or the purpose of their life and work, and weigh it in the context of the missions of institutions they might lead in the future. Through a series of structured conversations, participants explore the ways that greater understanding and alignment of personal vocation and institutional mission can contribute to effective presidential leadership. The program, funded by a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., will include up to 20 participants and their spouses or partners.
The Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program seeks to increase the commitment across American higher education to vocation and mission as fundamentally linked concepts for building and sustaining successful presidencies in independent colleges and universities. The program rests on two premises:
- Presidential leadership is strengthened by a congruence of institutional mission and presidential vocation; and
- Carefully structured opportunities for reflection and dialogue can help potential presidents, along with their spouses or partners, envision their prospective roles.
Read more about the program, topics and readings, and leadership. Opens in new window
It is remarkable to think how much we accomplished in such a short time. The meeting helped me crystalize and further my thinking in conjunction with my spouse and the other participants. The community of participants is a great resource.”
—Susan Agre-Kippenhan, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Linfield College
Why have such a program?
Even the most successful presidents often note wistfully the lack of balance between their professional and personal lives. The alignment of vocation—a sense of calling or purpose—and mission presented in this program offers an alternative to “balance.” All too often, presidencies are cut short by a misalignment between personal vocation and institutional mission. For example, imagine a highly participatory campus culture in which a “visionary” president makes insightful but unilateral pronouncements on what needs to change as if operating in a vacuum. Or consider a troubled college steeped in tradition with a reforming president who was charged by the board of trustees to make major changes without regard for the institution’s heritage.
“Alignment” is not to be confused with “identical” or even “profoundly alike.” Some presidents of religiously affiliated colleges whose personal faith tradition differs from those of the institution have achieved long tenure and wide acclaim because they adopted the cause of the college that selected them. Many institutions have been carefully led to revise their missions and structures by thoughtful presidents who understood future needs while respecting past traditions. Alignment is about personal and educational purpose, the relationship between belief and reason, shared values, and the nature of the learning community.
This program aims to help those likely to be future presidents achieve great things for their institutions and avoid being “the right person in the wrong place.” Although occasionally participants determine that their calling is not to a presidency, a remarkable 35 percent of past participants have become college presidents.