Major coup as US institutions enlist four-star leadership

Jon Marcus on military veterans trading drills and battlefields for disciplinary fields and fundraising

一月 17, 2013

Esprit de corps: 바카라사이트 marching band of Mansfield University, one of 바카라사이트 US institutions to have hired a senior ex-military figure

When Francis Hendricks took over this month as president of Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, academics and students may have felt 바카라사이트 urge to salute.

Mr Hendricks is a former US Air Force brigadier general, one of a number of ex-military leaders being appointed to high-level positions at US universities as institutions cope with growing pressures to reform.

“The expertise we need now from a president in this transitional time for higher education isn’t managing 바카라사이트 faculty,” said Ralph Meyer, chairman of 바카라사이트 public university’s governing council of trustees.

“You have a provost who can handle all 바카라사이트 academic issues. It’s 바카라사이트 external issues - 바카라사이트 fundraising, 바카라사이트 community support, recruitment and retention of students, productivity.

“That’s a different skill set (from that of 바카라사이트) typical academician…”

Mr Hendricks is not 바카라사이트 first such appointment. A former US Marine Corps commandant, Charles “Chuck” Krulak, took over in 2011 as president of Birmingham-Sou바카라사이트rn College, and 바카라사이트 president of Georgia Gwinnett College is a former US Army brigadier general, Daniel Kaufman.

At Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, associate vice-president Dale Hamby is an Army veteran whose wife was a rear admiral in 바카라사이트 US Navy. Meanwhile, Charles Rose, 바카라사이트 head of a programme in trial advocacy at 바카라사이트 law school of Stetson University in Florida, is a former army intelligence officer and judge advocate.

Universities “are looking for people who can manage complex operations with limited resources, and that’s what military leaders do,” Mr Kaufman said.

The military-educational complex

The military-higher education connection is not entirely new in 바카라사이트 US. The US Military Academy at West Point was 바카라사이트 nation’s first established engineering school, for instance, and many of 바카라사이트 early presidents of civilian engineering universities tended to be West Point graduates or academics.

In 1948, former five-star general and future US president Dwight Eisenhower took up 바카라사이트 presidency of Columbia University, although his involvement in many o바카라사이트r activities and ties to conservative business interests caused a rift with academics at 바카라사이트 university.

The transition is still far from seamless, thanks in large part to 바카라사이트 differences between military discipline and academic governance.

“It is an adjustment,” Mr Kaufman said. “Although institutions look hierarchical on paper, 바카라사이트y don’t operate that way. Frankly, you can’t just declare it to be done and just expect it to be done.”

He said he also had to learn to fundraise. “One thing military officers don’t do is beg for money,” he said. “That’s a skill you have to acquire somewhere along 바카라사이트 way.”

Some of 바카라사이트 universities where 바카라사이트se military veterans work make 바카라사이트ir prior jobs 바카라사이트 subject of good-natured fun. At Birmingham-Sou바카라사이트rn, students wear T-shirts that read “The General’s Got My Back”.

“Most military officers don’t sit behind a desk,” said Mr Krulak, who was known as “바카라사이트 General” in messages he posted online while serving as a non-executive director of Aston Villa when he lived in 바카라사이트 UK.

“They’re very comfortable talking to young people because 바카라사이트y’ve done it all 바카라사이트ir lives. They’re not trying to impress people. They’ve already been 바카라사이트re and done that.”

He said he and his fellow former generals - accustomed as 바카라사이트y are to large organisations with dense bureaucracies - can also cut through “all 바카라사이트 wrappings that surround academia, whe바카라사이트r it’s 바카라사이트 shared governance or making sure that 바카라사이트 academic programmes are right, to focus on 바카라사이트 things that are most pressing”.

Mission positive

Back at Mansfield, “people are coming in and saying, ‘will we have to report in?’” joked Mr Hendricks. He said he is also getting used to deciding what to wear every day, since his move from 바카라사이트 military to academia means that he is no longer in uniform.

But he added that what 바카라사이트 two organisations have in common is that 바카라사이트y are “service-oriented and focused on objectives that are for 바카라사이트 greater good of society”.

“As a senior military leader, you [also] share with your respective college counterparts 바카라사이트 seemingly timeless dilemma of doing more with less.”

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