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>The new college president initiates change: A qualitative inquiry into how a group of first-time college presidents of varying career backgrounds approach learning and change during their transitions into office.
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The new college president initiates change: A qualitative inquiry into how a group of first-time college presidents of varying career backgrounds approach learning and change during their transitions into office.
For someone assuming a first presidency, the position is particularly challenging. The new leader must determine priorities for action while learning the job of the presidency, often adjusting to a new institution, and sometimes, to academic administration itself. While most college presidents have previously worked in higher education, a growing number of non-traditional presidents are coming from non-higher education careers.; This study examines two important aspects of presidential succession: how new presidents learn about their new institutions and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and how they decide what changes to initiate. The study also explores how new presidents who come from within academe and from career backgrounds outside of higher education coped with these challenges. Intensive interviews with fifteen first-time college presidents of varying career backgrounds comprised data collection. Seven of these presidents had worked in higher education previously; eight had careers mostly or entirely outside of higher education prior to becoming president. New presidents coming from both career backgrounds exhibited great variation in their approaches to learning about their institutions: some engaged in extensive learning while others approached learning less deliberately. Presidents who prioritized learning employed an assortment of structured and unstructured learning methods in different settings, identifying face-to-face conversations as a particularly effective means of learning.; The study also found no significant difference between presidents from both higher education and non-higher education backgrounds concerning the amount of change initiated, or the pace in which they acted during the first year. Distinctions did exist regarding the kinds of change initiatives presidents from both career backgrounds undertook. Presidents from higher education backgrounds were more likely to initiate academic changes whereas presidents who came from outside higher education made few academic changes, and were more likely to initiate strategic planning. The study found that new presidents from outside of academe did not believe themselves unprepared, transferring skills from previous managerial and leadership experience to the college presidency.; Presidents from both career backgrounds favored initiatives meant to signify symbolic change, and often emphasized initiatives with which they had experience. The context of the institution emerged as an important factor influencing presidential action.
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