What Leaders Can Learn From Teaching Undergraduates; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/24/16

Stephen C. Bahls, Chronicle of Higher Education; What Leaders Can Learn From Teaching Undergraduates:

"After the first class I realized that I had forgotten how difficult and time-consuming teaching is. My knowledge of what I taught — mainly Supreme Court cases — was sometimes a mile wide and an inch deep, and other times an inch wide and a mile deep. Experienced teachers need both depth and breadth, and that takes time, as does meeting with students outside the classroom, writing letters of recommendation, and so forth. That’s why we administrators must respect reasonable teaching loads, sabbaticals, and professional-development time. But experienced teachers also know that just because you teach it, doesn’t mean students will learn it. The hard part is cultivating learning...

But my greatest lesson directly relates to my role as president of the college. Just as I learned to encourage deep engagement and thought-provoking conversations with our students, I realized that I also needed to foster deeper and more profound discussion among our faculty, staff, trustees, and administration about how to achieve our goals...

Today’s challenges call for shared governance, which can only be accomplished with an engaged faculty and administration, and such governance cannot be effective without meaningful faculty control of academic programs. Presidents need to be effective teachers when it comes to helping the faculty understand financial realities, as well as the realities of changing demographics and increasing calls for accountability. But at times presidents need to be students, listening to the faculty concerning the academic programs...

A college president does not need to be the smartest person in the room. Instead, I aim to be the best listener in the room and a good teacher. And, just as most often the best teachers are humble, the best presidents should be also. They should be committed to helping the institution’s entire work force develop the habits of mind, heart, and soul to provide the best outcomes to our students."