College Presidents: A "Bleg"
Posted by Joseph Knippenberg
My institution is looking for a new President.
I would like to invite readers of No Left Turns to share their views regarding what we--both on and off campus--should expect from a president. And by "we," I dont just mean we here on Atlantas north side.
And, oh yes, if anyone either wishes to apply for the position or to nominate someone else, you can find the necesaary email addresses by clicking on the link above.
4:48 PM / December 1, 2004
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This may seem trivial, but my experience has found that one of the most important talents a college president must have, is the ability to type.
In the past this skill wasnt needed as the "help" could turn the communications into print. In this day and age though, there is an incredible amount of communication that is done by email. If the leader cant type (which is not unusual in males of a certain age) then they can be left out of the loop. Frequently people who cant type are afraid of computers, and if they arent cozy with computers, they tend to leave them turned off.
I know of one case where a college president had his personal assistant screen his emails (he was busy after all) and then print off the ones she thought were important for him to read. If he got around to reading them, he usually didnt answer any because he couldnt type, and was embarassed to have people know that (as if they couldnt guess.) As a result, people quit emailing him, or even including him in replies to other conversations going on around the campus. They certainly didnt send confidential emails to a person who has someone else screen them.
I would suggest that candidates be asked for their email address, and then see if they answer questions sent to that address.