Aspiring to the Presidency - Invitation Letter

We all have mid-level administrators or those earlier in their careers about whom we think "So-and-so might be a good college president someday." Indeed, some of the colleagues we admire most are those who have mentored their people into such eventual appointments. We hope you might have someone in mind for our June 14-16, 2009 gathering, Aspiring to the Presidency: A Symposium.

Four years ago we launched a small conference designed to help such mid-level administrators think about the path towards the presidency. Our participants have included many mid-level administrators from all segments of higher education, including senior leaders (Provosts, Academic VPs, Dean of Students, etc.) Several have now gone on to college and university presidencies. By design, we keep the conference small, allowing for the kind of intimacy, informal chats, and effective networking that past participants say they value.

We also move the conference site to serve various regions. For the first two years we met at Edgewood College in Madison, WI. Last year we were at Wells College in Aurora, NY. This year’s meeting will be on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH. We keep the cost low so participants without institutional support can attend and we put wonderful people in front of them.

This year's speakers will include Jerry Panas on fund raising and Harvard's Judy McLaughlin on what we can learn from failed presidencies. Three of our presenters have published books on the College Presidency within the past eighteen months.

Sample sessions include:

Becoming an Effective Fund Raiser;
No Boundaries: the Public and Private Lives of Presidents;
When Things Go Wrong: What Can We Learn?
Surviving and Thriving the Search Process: It's Not So Bad;
Finding a Sense of Vocation: Meaning and Motivation;
The Preparation Checklist: Do I Have To Be Good at Everything?

The goal is provide insights that help participants decide if a presidency is something to which they might someday aspire and then to help them better chart a course there. If you have someone you'd like to steer our way we suggest you send them to the symposium web site. We can then get them on the mailing list as more details become available.

As you know, we will see a lot of our colleagues retire in the next few years. The Symposium may be one way for the next generation of talented higher education leaders to find their way to the leadership challenges that come with heading up institutions such as yours and ours. Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Paul J. LeBlanc
President
Southern New Hampshire University

Dan Carey
President
Edgewood College

Lisa Marsh Ryerson
President
Wells College