by Wayne M. Burton
The author congratulates the new, permanent president, Liz Russell
In mid-October 2021, I was given the opportunity to assume temporary leadership of an otherwise effective community college in Maine due to the abrupt departure of both the president and provost. An infusion of new funding recognizing their crucial role in rebuilding Maine’s workforce was about to be announced. Re-establishing campus leadership was imperative.
I accepted the interim presidency of the institution on short notice, assuming my long prior experience — thirteen years as a community college president — would stand me in good stead. While technology has advanced, the fundamental principles of effective campus leadership are timeless. The importance of being genuine in all relations with campus colleagues cannot be over stressed. Establishing trust by emphasizing I would work on their agenda, not mine, would be my first priority.
An understandably leery staff welcomed me and through many informal conversations and observations in more formal meetings, I developed an understanding of the challenges the college faced and the expectations of the faculty and staff in addressing them.
The college’s own self-study, as it underwent an accreditation review three years prior, admitted that “… members of the campus community have expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in the decision-making processes at the institution, and strains on institutional capacity have, at times, hampered communication between College leadership and faculty and staff.” The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) required a report due in spring 2022, giving emphasis to the institution’s success in addressing that concern. I had roughly three months to accomplish what normally takes at least a year or two.
The positive response to the required report the college filed in February 2022, four months into my tenure, reflects the progress the college had made in addressing NECHE’s concerns:
“The Commission commends [the institution] for its well written and thorough report. We acknowledge the progress the College has made in addressing concerns about communications by implementing the “One Student – Student First” plan, an initiative that was developed in response to the ‘most pressing leadership issues’ identified in the 2021 PACE survey and is designed to ‘restore trust, focus, and leadership at the college.'” The response also lauded the reorganization “through which the workforce training division was moved under the purview of Academic Affairs.” And they applauded the “enhanced communications strategies adopted to support the College’s inclusive governance structure.”
I knew that organizational culture — “the way we do things around here” — affects behavior more than formal documents, especially in higher education. What I came to call “the doctrine of faculty primacy” prevails at all educational institutions, from community colleges to prestigious graduate schools. Especially in higher education, any organization members affected by a decision believe they should be involved in how that decision is made.
A close second is that there can be no daylight between the values a leader professes to embrace and those revealed by actual practice. College members judge the quality of their leaders by what they do, not what they say.
An administrative reorganization and the adoption of the slogan “One Student – Student First,” our belief that all students count regardless of how they enter the college, drew praise both internally and from our accreditors. They also reflect my belief in allaying mistrust through reassuring acts consistent with the institutional values I identified from many conversations over the first weeks of my interim presidency. Both ideas were vetted by our leadership group before sharing them with the college community. Consistent with my practice, I also informally tested them on several campus leaders including those of the faculty union.
To enhance communications, I utilized a successful device I instituted in my previous presidency: sending a weekly personal email from me to all members of the college community. The Thursday Update reported on activities important to the college and spotlighted accomplishments worthy of community praise. The weekly personal update also motivated me to ensure we had accomplished something that week worth publicizing.
In my first Thursday Update, sent within two weeks of my arrival, I announced the re-elevation of Liz Russell to lead the academic area. A long-time, highly respected campus leader, her name had surfaced several times in conversations with faculty at the college. Her return to a function she had filled previously was well received. I also noted that while stabilizing the college, we could not afford to pause new initiatives while working to strengthen our core programs that comprise the heart and soul of all community colleges, professional programs, and the liberal arts. I suggested Ms. Russell’s wealth of experience and deep knowledge of the college from her long tenure in many roles ideally suited her to assume academic leadership at that time.
In my final Thursday Update, eight months later, I averred that the announcement of her appointment that day to the permanent presidency marked a significant milestone at EMCC as Liz, with her vast knowledge and appreciation for EMCC’s history and culture, took the reins. Furthermore, she will protect the values EMCC has always embraced and apply them to the daunting challenges facing the college.
This slide, developed by Dr. William Egeler of Barn Brook Consulting, who served as my invaluable assistant, depicts the process our leadership team developed and followed over the year after being publicly presented for input to groups on campus.
My mother always preached one should leave a place better than how they found it. One of the most gratifying moments of my interim presidency occurred accidentally when I was first to the auditorium’s exit door finding it impossible to keep open on its own following our commencement ceremony. Thus by holding the door open with one hand, I was able to greet everyone who attended the event — graduates and their families, faculty and staff, and trustees as they filed out. This is not to assert that all their challenges have been overcome. Yet most reassuring for me were the words of a liberal arts faculty member in an email he sent following my departure, asserting that my tenure “.. created a calming, encouraging environment that I am committed to preserving from this day forward.”
The culture of this college succeeded before I arrived and will do so long after I’m gone. It only required recognition and nurturing to assure a successful future grounded in the beliefs on which it was born.
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