When the state College Board tapped Allegra Brigham as the Mississippi University for Women”s interim president in May, the MUW alumnus said she was prepared to stay indefinitely.
And it appears she will do just that, as the College Board appears in no rush to find her permanent replacement. A private search firm hasn”t yet found a single applicant.
“I agreed to stay as long as I am needed,” Brigham said.
During the past seven months, Brigham said she has focused on recruitment, fundraising and marketing. She also has worked to ensure better communication with faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members.
Though Brigham is in no hurry to pass the torch, taking on the position permanently isn”t an option, at least for now. College Board policy now prohibits interim presidents from applying for the permanent position. The former CEO of 4-County Electric Power Association, Brigham also isn”t the traditional candidate for a university head. She doesn”t hold a doctorate, and didn”t spend her entire career in academia.
However, many colleges are reaching out to non-traditional leaders such as Brigham.
”Great stress on leadership”
More than a traditional academy candidate with a doctorate or equivalent degree, today”s universities and colleges need strong leadership, experts said.
“I think right now, in part, there is a great stress on leadership. I think that”s why people outside of the academy, the military, business, law, are good candidates,” said Susan Johnston, executive vice president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges in Washington. “From whatever the source, leadership is a big part of what universities are looking for.”
“Visionary leadership skills and significant management experience” were called for by the College Board in its most-recent searches for college leaders.
“The critical thing is to get the right person and the right match for the institution,” said Dr. Tom Richardson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at MUW.
Richardson believes the university community would embrace a good leader who understands the workings of the college, even without terminal degrees and a background in academia, though both are preferred.
“I think we, typically, prefer people come from academia, but there”s probably no good reason for that other than we are comfortable with it,” Richardson said.
At his alma mater of Davidson College in North Carolina, the most recent university presidents were a businessman and a judge, Richardson noted.
“Both are very successful and highly regarded,” he said. “I think the important thing is to have the right match for the university, rather than a specific, set of qualifications. It can work very well, if you have the right person.”
”Intangible qualities”
“It may be that there is a combo of skills and abilities that does not include a doctorate … but has those intangible qualities that make a candidate attractive, both to the faculty and the board,” Johnston said. But, “the doctorate is the coin of the realm.”
And the success of non-traditional college presidents varies as widely as the success of traditional ones.
“It really depends on the environment and how well that person establishes his or her relationship with the campus,” Johnston said.
At Mississippi State University, former president Doc Foglesong failed to garner the support of faculty and staff during his two-year tenure — evidenced through much-publicized disputes, often made public through Foglesong”s own online newsletter.
“It”s an equal-opportunity crash and burn,” Johnston said of the varying success of traditional and non-traditional university presidents.
Aside from strong leadership skills, college presidents must be able to work effectively with the faculty, which may be why 85-90 percent of the time university presidents come from the world of academia, she added.
“Because of their background, there”s credibility among faculty. If they come from military or they come from business or they come from law, they are going to have to demonstrate that they can lead a university,” Johnston said.
Understanding the economics of higher education also is key.
“How to do more with less, at a time when funds are being cut at a state level,” Johnston offered. “In an environment when there are fewer resources and big jobs to do, an entrepreneurial president is a good get.”
Brigham in no rush
Since Dr. Claudia Limbert retired seven months ago and Brigham came aboard, little movement has been made to name a permanent leader.
Criteria for the MUW president has yet to be formally outlined and released. In the past, the College Board”s request for nominations and applicants has specified a doctorate or other terminal degree, such as a law doctorate or medical degree. In its request for applicants for the Jackson State University president”s seat, the College Board also asked for candidates with “a successful record of significant administrative leadership experience in higher education.”
Requirements for MUW”s president will be similar, said Caron Blanton, director of communications for the College Board, though the particulars will vary.
The Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search firm is handling the MUW search, which, thus far, has been unfruitful. The College Board has no applicants for the job.
And a campus search advisory committee — comprised of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members — has yet to be established, though nominations are being accepted, said Blanton.
Brigham said she”s in no rush. “I love being on campus as much today as I did my first day as interim president,” she said.
Brigham said that this spring semester”s enrollment is up to more than 2,500, the highest it has been since 2000. The fall semester already showed a decade-long high in enrollment. The spring numbers, which are not yet final since there is still time to register for classes, is about a 5 percent increase over spring 2010, Brigham said.
“Mississippi University for Women is a tremendous university, and it still has a place in higher education in the state of Mississippi,” she said. “And we need to do all we can in the community as a whole to support it.”
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