• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HBCU Lifestyle – Black College Living

  • HBCUs
    • What is an HBCU?
    • History
    • List of HBCUs
    • Notable Graduates
  • Jobs
  • Parents
    • HBCU Rankings
    • Black College Tours
    • College Admissions
    • Financing
    • College Scholarships
    • College Planning
  • Current Students
    • College Life
      • Greek Life
      • Sports
      • Dorm Living
      • College Survival
    • Careers
      • HBCU Career Hub
      • Internships
      • Career Profiles
      • Entrepreneur
    • Research Paper Resources
      • Research Paper Topics: 50 Ideas to Get Started
      • How To Write An Annotated Bibliography
      • Journalism Research Paper Resources
  • Alumni
    • HBCU Shirts
    • Podcast
    • Alumni Spotlight
    • HBCU Merch
    • Jobs
  • Shop

You are here: Home / HBCUs / Failure Is Not an Option: Setting HBCU Presidents Up For Success

HBCUs

Failure Is Not an Option: Setting HBCU Presidents Up For Success

A typography design is displaying the words "Failure Is Not an Option: Setting HBCU Presidents Up For Success" in yellow and black letters.

Extensive newspaper and television coverage, along with social media chatter about recent leadership changes at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCUs, led me to reach out to a dozen or so of my former administrative colleagues to get their sense of what can be done to increase the probability of presidential success, irrespective of the length of a president’s tenure. Collectively, my colleagues asserted, and I agree, that care must be taken not to conflate the length of a president’s tenure with his or her success.

In emphasizing caution, they pointed to numerous examples of HBCU presidents who succeeded in a relatively short period in repositioning their universities for success by challenging and changing academic and administrative practices that stymied student academic success and institutional effectiveness. In fact, those decisions may have significantly impacted the length of the president’s tenure.

Related Post – Musings of a Retired HBCU Chancellor

Acknowledging that university cultures vary significantly across the diverse and expansive HBCU sector, and one-size does not fit all, my colleagues and I came up with a list of ten things we believe can and must be done to stem the tide of presidential turn over while setting them up for success. As you review our list, I suggest that you develop your own and do your best to assist the president of your alma mater in having a successful presidency.

  1. Increase support for the leadership transition by involving key stakeholders in the presidential search process, especially alumni, students, faculty and staff. The challenge for the Board is to ensure constituent engagement without turning the search process into a popularity contest or relinquishing to the search committee its authority to hire and retain a president.
  2. Related Post – Students’ Response to HBCU Presidents Meeting with Donald Trump
  3. In developing the Position Profile to be shared with prospective candidates, the Board must be just as forthcoming in identifying challenges and threats as they are in extolling the institution’s virtues and their aspirations for it. A new president should not be left to “discover” the dire financial, enrollment or accreditation issues facing the institution once they arrive on campus.
  4. Recognizing that not all institutional challenges and opportunities merit equal attention, the Board should convey to the President a manageable list of priorities without resorting to telling the president how to do his or her job. These priorities should serve as the framework for the president’s annual assessment.
  5. Prior to commencing his/her duties the newly appointed president should embark upon an intensive and comprehensive review of the history, values, culture and traditions of the university they are privileged to serve. Such a review is not a once and done undertaking; it continues throughout a president’s tenure and is reinforced through conversations with alumni, long-serving employees, retirees, and donors.
  6. Related Post – HL 046: How An HBCU Experience Lead to a Job Offer from Google
  7. The Board should include two key provisions in the president’s contract. The first of these include funds to enable the president to cover the cost of attending the New President’s Academy sponsored by one of several national higher education associations. The second includes making funds available for the president to retain the services of an Executive Coach for up to twelve to eighteen months, which is typically the time when many presidents begin to experience difficulty.
  8. To ensure optimal success, once the Board appoints a president, whether it’s the choice of all stakeholders or not, it is critical that the person is embraced, encouraged and supported.
  9. It’s not enough for the Board to appoint a talented university chief executive; the appointee must be empowered to lead—beginning with the assembly of a team of colleagues to assist them without being micromanaged by the Board.
  10. Members of the Board should make a commitment to evaluating their individual and collective performance, and to participating in ongoing professional development activities.
  11. Newly appointed presidents must resist the temptation of trying to be all things to all constituents by making more commitments than they can keep.
  12. Newly appointed presidents—and continuing ones too— must assume a posture of humility and gratitude while considering leadership as an opportunity for service rather than personal aggrandizement.

We all know–yet it’s worth repeating–that the conditions necessary for presidential success at all types of universities are complex and defy a simple list of things to do, and things not to do. Based on chancellorships at two PWIs and an HBCU, and based on my observations of presidential dynamics at many other HBCUs, I’m well aware of the distractions with which many HBCU leaders must contend in their effort to help their institutions compete for students and resources in today’s marketplace. The suggestions referenced in this blog posting are financially neutral acts that HBCUs can undertake to halt high rates of presidential turnover and the need to start over every few years. The opportunity costs, indeed the price of failure, are too high for these patterns of turnover to go unchecked and addressed.

August 2, 2017 by Charlie Nelms

About Charlie Nelms

Charlie Nelms, Ed.D., is a passionate advocate for college access and student success. He has held chancellor positions at Indiana University East, the University of Michigan-Flint, and North Carolina Central University. In retirement, he is a full-time advocate for HBCUs.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Quick Links

  • Newsletter
  • Jobs and Internships
  • Shop
  • HBCU Colleges List: 107 Great Education Options to Consider
  • HBCU Rankings 2022
  • HBCU College Tours
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

HBCU History

  • The First HBCU in South
  • Oldest HBCUs In the Nation
  • The First Black Owned and Operated HBCU
  • The First and Only Black Catholic HBCU
  • 10 Powerful Black History Movies HBCU Students Should Watch

Popular Posts

  • Happy female college student working on research paper topics. Research Paper Topics: 50 Ideas to Get Started
  • HBCU Sororities and Fraternities to Consider The Divine Nine: Sororities and Fraternities on HBCU Campuses
  • A female African American HBCU student poses while smiling and holding her book in her arms. HBCU Rankings 2023: The Top 25 Black Colleges from U.S. News
  • Bowie State's nursing program students check a patient in class simulation. Top 10 HBCU Nursing Schools Rankings for 2022 by RN to BSN
  • The oldest HBCUs: Cheyney University students pictured from the early 1800s. Cheyney is one of the first five Historically Balck Colleges established in the Nation. The First HBCU: Remembering The Oldest Black Colleges In the Nation

Before Footer

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive weekly HBCU news, jobs, and advice in your inbox.

Sign Me Up

Footer

About HBCU Lifestyle

The spirit and camaraderie of black college living is a lifestyle - the HBCU lifestyle! We're committed to keeping you connected to the black college living experience, bringing you the latest on everything, from scholarships and dorm living to Greek life and alumni giving.


Contact Us

Latest from the Blog

  • NBCU Academy: 3 HBCUs Added to NBC’s Journalism Program
  • JSU Student Success Awarded $9 Million
  • PVAMU’s College of Nursing Helping to Cultivate Inclusive Classrooms
  • HBCU Go Partners With Award-Winning Movie ‘Freedom’s Path’
  • Newsletter
  • Jobs & Internships
  • Shop
  • List of HBCUs
  • HBCU Rankings
  • HBCU Scholarships
Copyright © 2010-2022 HBCU Lifestyle, LLC. All rights reserved.
Contact Us | Sitemap | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Get the best of the Black college experience delivered to your inbox.
Your email address:*
Name:*
Subscribe to (select all that apply):*





Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz