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‘Who’s Going to Want These Jobs?’: How the Role of College President is Changing

Duties of modern college president extend far beyond keeping their institutions viable

Author

Steve Ulrich
July 31, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes

JULY 31, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH
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🗓️  The Last Day of ‘Summer’. The 10-month employees return to the office and students will be right behind them. The new year draws closer. 

🗞️ In Today’s Edition. The Role of a College President. Shue Named Academic All-American of Year. How Near-Death Experience Shaped MLB All-Star Career. Conference Hires. Leadership quartet selected. Lots of transactions.

TOP STORY
1. ‘Who’s Going to Want These Jobs?’: How the Role of College President is Changing 

Milwaukee School of Engineering

by Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive

“The duties of the modern college president extend far beyond keeping their institutions viable. For decades, how the head of a college is selected and who fills the position has been steadily shifting. Now, whoever assumes the role will likely take vitriol from both the public and policymakers.

James Finkelstein, professor emeritus at George Mason University’s public policy school, researches leadership in higher education. We spoke with him about the changing role of the college president, the increased influence a presidency faces from both the political and private sectors and what that means for higher ed in the long run.”

» Becoming a President. “The most common path was to go from provost to president. For now, that’s still the most common path, but it’s on the decline. The problem is, provosts don’t fundraise. Deans do. And the No. 1 qualification that a board now looks for in a university president is their ability to raise money.”

» How Is a President Selected? “We found that only 2% or 3% of presidential classified ads mentioned a search firm in 1975. Today, it’s almost 100%. Search firms do the initial screening and determine for the board which candidates are really viable. But very few of the search firm senior executives have any real experience in higher education and their No. 1 responsibility as fiduciaries is to return profit to investors.”

» What Do They Look For? “People tend to look for candidates who look like them. And boards are not primarily made up of academics. If boards expect university presidents to behave more like corporate executives than leaders of an educational, social and cultural institution — someone who serves the public — then the next generation of university leadership is going to look very different.”

ALUMNI
2. Shue Selected as DIII Overall Academic All-American® of the Year

Hope Shue, Middlebury

“Middlebury women’s lacrosse attacker Hope Shue was named the DIII overall 2024-25 Academic All-American® of the Year, as selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC).

The Division III Academic All-American® of the Year honor adds to a crowded trophy case for Shue. A senior from Dover, Mass., Shue graduated with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a perfect 4.00 GPA this spring. She helped Middlebury win the 2025 NCAA Division III national championship in lacrosse, the Panthers’ fourth consecutive NCAA crown, and won her second IWLCA National Player and Attacker of the Year award.”

» The Key Stat. “Shue is the second women’s lacrosse player across all NCAA divisions to earn the Elite 90 Award three times. She joined former North Dakota State and NFL quarterback Carson Wentz as the only athletes to win that honor three times and help their teams claim four consecutive NCAA Championships. Shue also helped Middlebury win a pair of NESCAC titles and post an 89-2 recordand ended her career as the program’s all-time leader in goals (306) and points (391).”

FINANCES
3. Mason Miller’s Path From D3 to MLB: How a Near-Death Experience Shaped His Career

Mason Miller

by Tyler O’Shea

“He should be in a coma — or dead.”

Instead, he’s firing 100-mile-per-hour fastballs past Major League hitters.

Growing up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Athletics’ pitcher Mason Miller dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. But it wasn’t his main focus.”

» Field Awareness. ““I had dreams to compete at the highest collegiate level during high school,” Miller told The Almanac. “But [I] quickly realized my talents then lined up better with D3.” As a small, private college with less than 2,000 students, [Waynesburg] wasn’t exactly a hub for professional scouts. And Miller’s early struggles didn’t help his case.”

» Reality Check. “After his sophomore year – like most college students – Mason Miller was preparing for a summer internship. The only thing that stood in the way of becoming a finance intern at Jefferson Hospital was a simple drug test. But Miller’s test revealed troubling results. His blood sugar levels were off the charts. Normal levels fall between 80 and 120 mg/dL, and his were around 700 mg/dL.”

» The Bottom Line. “It’s been quite the journey for Miller – from struggling in Division III to dominating Major League Baseball. As he continues to defy the odds, the sky is the limit. “Guys are bigger, faster, stronger up here. Everybody is really good,” Miller said. “It takes work to get them out, but at the same time, baseball is still baseball at any level. The bases are still 90 feet apart, and the field is the same. Some things don’t change.””

» Career MLB Stats. 3.16 ERA, 136 2/3 IP, 201 K, 13.24 K/9, fastest pitch 104.1 MPH

NEWS YOU CAN USE
4. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Conferences. “The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced that Andrea Palmen has been hired as the conference’s next Assistant Commissioner. Palmen will officially begin in the conference office on August 1, and is expected to hold the position for two years, made possible by the NCAA Division III Pathways to Excellence Internship Grant.”

» Conferences II. “The Landmark Conference has announced the hiring of Olivia Clough as its new Director of Championships and Special Events. Clough will officially begin her duties on August 1 and becomes the third full-time member of the conference office.”

» Leadership. “The NCAA has selected four DIII athletics administrators to take part in the Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute, a program that aims to elevate participants' leadership skills to accelerate their professional growth while enhancing their ability to excel within their current roles - Christina Epps-Chiazor (Swarthmore) and Reava Potter (St. Mary’s, Md.) in Year One and Stephanie Johnson (Goucher) and Olivia Winkfield (RIT) in Year Two.

TRANSACTIONS
5. Comings and Goings 

1 THING
6. Get Ready to Treat Yourself

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