Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

College Presidents: A "Bleg"

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 don’t just mean we here on Atlanta’s 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.

Discussions - 1 Comment

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 wasn’t 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 can’t type (which is not unusual in males of a certain age) then they can be left out of the loop. Frequently people who can’t type are afraid of computers, and if they aren’t 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 didn’t answer any because he couldn’t type, and was embarassed to have people know that (as if they couldn’t guess.) As a result, people quit emailing him, or even including him in replies to other conversations going on around the campus. They certainly didn’t 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.

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