Milton Greenberg, in the article ‘You Don’t Need a Search Firm to Hire a President’ (Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2014), recently developed a list of commonly cited characteristics for a university president. Here they are:
- the ability to articulate a vision,
- a collaborative working style,
- capacity to lead and inspire diverse groups,
- a commitment to excellence,
- superb communication skills,
- distinguished scholarly and professional achievement,
- well-developed interpersonal skills,
- an ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituents, and
- a commitment to diversity.
In discussing presidential searches, Greenberg makes the point that the pool of likely candidates for major posts is quite small. He emphasizes that the finalists for a position will typically be limited to:
- leaders at colleges similar to the searching institution who are at a certain stage of their careers, and
- individuals who know about the institution and a few of its major figures
According to Greenberg, the chances for an academic leader of getting on the shortlist are enhanced by a limited and careful targeting of possibilities.
Greenberg’s observations were based on presidential searches. Do these observations apply to searches for provosts and deans? I think so.
– from the pen of Dr. Percy Trappe
The Academic Anchor 
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