Marjorie Hass - A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education

A LEADERSHIP GUIDE FOR WOMEN
IN HIGHER EDUCATION

A LEADERSHIP GUIDE FOR WOMEN
IN HIGHER EDUCATION

A

Leadership

Guide

for Women in

Higher

Education

MARJORIE HASS

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS |Baltimore

2021 Johns Hopkins University Press

All rights reserved. Published 2021

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1

Johns Hopkins University Press

2715 North Charles Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363

www.press.jhu.edu

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hass, Marjorie, 1965 author.

Title: A leadership guide for women in higher education / Marjorie Hass.

Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020033842 | ISBN 9781421441016 (paperback) | ISBN 9781421441023 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Women in higher educationVocational guidanceHandbooks, manuals, etc.

Classification: LCC LC1557 .H37 2021 | DDC 378.0082dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033842

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible.

For Peyton Randy Helm

This book is deeply grounded in my experiences as a leader. As a result, I owe a debt to all those who have supported me and my work over the past two decades.

Many extraordinary leaders believed in me and offered me opportunities to lead. And then they stood by me with support, wise counsel, and friendship. I would like to thank in particular Cary Fowler, Randy Helm, Robert Johnson, Bill Michaelcheck, Jim Steffy, and Todd Williams. Each of these men models courageous leadership and has been a strong advocate for creating opportunities for women and others.

I have been fortunate to work closely with talented senior leadership teams at Muhlenberg College, Austin College, and Rhodes College. Our work together has brought me great satisfaction and created lifelong bonds. I have learned from every one of these colleagues and count each of them as a friend and advisor.

Among the many satisfactions of academic leadership is the chance to collaborate with other people across institutions. During my service on the boards of the Council of Independent Colleges, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities, I was fortunate to work side by side with presidents and other academic leaders from all over the country from whom I learned, and continue to learn, a great deal. I thank Rich Eckman, Lynn Pasquerella, and David Warren for their transformative national leadership and for the invitation to join them in this important work.

The provosts and presidents of the Annapolis Group create a collegial community. Much of what I know about being an effective president has been gained from Annapolis conversations. The formal presentations are important, but so too are the warm companionship, the laughter, the frank disclosures over a glass of wine, and the deep friendships that are formed.

I am grateful to the women who participated in my seminars and who invited me into their lives as leaders. They have been a source of support, learning, and development. It is a joy to know them and to watch them develop as leaders. The questions and values they brought to our shared work shaped every stage of this book.

Several colleagues read versions of chapters along the way, and their advice has made this a better book. I would particularly like to thank a group of very wise women: Meredith Davis, Amy Jasperson, Sue May, Michelle Meyer, Lisa Perfetti, Randi Tanglen, and Angela Webster.

I am grateful to Johns Hopkins University Press for publishing this book. Greg Britton encouraged me to write it and has been a supportive and thoughtful editor. Barbara Kline Pope offered early enthusiastic support as well. Anonymous readers offered helpful suggestions on behalf of the press.

The faculty summer writing group at Rhodes College gave me energy to write the first draft of the manuscript. Those weekly gentle check-ins with colleagues helped me to prioritize writing.

I am fortunate to have a supportive family cheering section. The Hoit, Hass, Lee, Stuller, and Schick clans are a source of ongoing inspiration, love, and support. My husband, Larry, is a friend to my passions and the love of my life. He never doubted that this book mattered, and he never flagged in his encouragement as I wrote it. Our childrenCameron, Katie, and Jessicasupport me in my work even as they remind me that work is only one part of my life. I am so grateful to them and for them.

FOR MANY YEARS I was approached by women in higher education for advice and support as they took on leadership roles and navigated their career paths. By 2013 the number of women wanting this kind of mentoring had outpaced my ability to provide it one-on-one. I began offering online seminars so I could meet with women in small groups to answer questions and encourage them to develop mutually supportive relationships. In these seminars, I worked with women at almost every career stage and with a wide range of titles and responsibilities. Some were already vice presidents about to make the decision to pursue a presidency. Others were mid-career, ready for their first big supervisory role. Still others were at an early career stage, intrigued by the possibility of a future in academic leadership and wondering how to prepare. The participants came from every corner of higher education: academic affairs, student affairs, admissions, athletics, development, accrediting agencies, and on and on. And they brought experience in different types of institutions from large research universities to regional public universities to liberal arts colleges to community colleges. In our conversations we found that even though we differed in our career paths and sectors, we were united by common questions about how leadership works in higher education and how women lead.

From the beginning, the workshops had a unique tone driven by the concerns of the participants. Most of the current books and seminars aimed at prospective academic leaders focus on skill development. But the women who approached me for advice were not just looking for help learning how to forecast a budget or ask for a major gift. Their questions were deeper and more personal. They wanted to know what it feels like to lead, what it requires emotionally and spiritually, and what kinds of personal sacrifices are necessary. For these women, there is no neat distinction between work and life. As they contemplated whether to take up the mantle of academic leadership, they wanted to understand what it means from the inside.