Full Description
Lessons Learned gives unprecedented access to the university president's office, providing a unique set of reflections on the challenges involved in leading both research universities and liberal arts colleges. In this landmark book, William Bowen, former president of Princeton University and of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and coauthor of the acclaimed best-seller The Shape of the River, takes readers behind closed faculty-room doors to discuss how today's colleges and universities serve their age-old missions. With extraordinary candor, clarity, and good humor, Bowen shares the sometimes-hard lessons he learned about working with trustees, faculty, and campus groups; building an effective administrative team; deciding when to speak out on big issues and when to insist on institutional restraint; managing dissent; cultivating alumni and raising funds; setting academic priorities; fostering inclusiveness; eventually deciding when and how to leave the president's office; and much more.
Drawing on more than four decades of experience, Bowen demonstrates how his greatest lessons often arose from the missteps he made along the way, and how, when it comes to university governance, there are important general principles but often no single right answer. Full of compelling stories, insights, and practical wisdom, Lessons Learned frames the questions that leaders of higher education will continue to confront at a complex moment in history.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE: Preamble and Context 1 CHAPTER TWO: Governing 7 The Trustees and the Resident Campus Community 8 Consultation and Decision-making on Campus 16 The ROTC Debate as an Illustrative Case of Shared Governance 21 CHAPTER THREE: Administering 24 Building an Effective Administrative Team 24 Structuring Interactions 30 Compensation--for Administrators and for the President 32 CHAPTER FOUR: The University in Society: "At a Slight Angle to the Universe" 35 Basic Principles 35 The Proposed Boycott of J. P. Stevens 42 Divestment and South Africa 44 Freedom to Speak--and to Hear 46 Handling Dissent and Invoking Discipline 53 CHAPTER FIVE: Setting Academic Priorities: Annual Budgeting 59 Process 59 Principles 61 CHAPTER SIX: Setting Academic Priorities: Strategic Decisions 66 Coeducation 67 Investing in the Life Sciences 73 Graduate Education and Professional Schools 76 Strategic Decision-making in General 81 CHAPTER SEVEN: Building the Faculty 84 Recruiting and Retaining Faculty 84 Reviewing Tenure Recommendations and Salary Proposals 91 Faculty Diversity 95 CHAPTER EIGHT: Undergraduates: Admissions, Financial Aid, and Inclusiveness 98 Diversity and Financial Aid 99 Affi rmative Action and Race 101 Socioeconomic Status 106 Athletic Recruitment 109 Religious Divides: Jewish Students 112 Residential Life 115 CHAPTER NINE: Fund-Raising and Alumni Relations 119 Knowing Your Needs--and Your Donors 120 The Robertson Foundation Saga 124 Alumni Relations in General 127 Contending with Hostile Groups 129 CHAPTER TEN: Life in a President's Offi ce--and When to Leave 133 Partners, Colleagues, and Friends 133 Deciding What Not to Do as Well as What to Do 136 On Leaving 140 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Epilogue: Why Colleges and Universities Matter So Much 144 Acknowledgments 149 References 155 Index 161
