The Leadership Skills Presidents Need Right Now: The Key

As college presidents face increasing scrutiny from state and national lawmakers, building a strong cabinet-level team is critical, according to Jorge Burmicky, assistant professor in education leadership and policy studies in the School of Education at Howard University.

Burmicky is one of three researchers who identified the core competencies of the modern college presidency. In a recent episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, Burmicky noted, “There’s always been a lot of pressure to be a college president, but it really has become an impossible job.” 

A new leader’s ability to assemble a strong team as soon as they start the job will help fill gaps in their individual skill sets, he said. “It’s not if an emergency happens—it’s when it happens, and you have to have a good team that is going to have your back that you trust and can help you in those areas where you don’t feel as confident.”

College presidents rated trustworthiness as the most important competency for effective leadership in higher education; however, students surveyed for Inside Higher Ed’s annual Student Voice survey ranked presidents among the least trusted people on their campus. 

Burmicky isn’t surprised by this gap between presidents’ intentions and students’ perceptions. “Presidents work really hard to build trust, and you would think that because they’re working so hard and they value it so greatly that we would see a narrower difference,” he said. “But the reality is that so much of the communication that goes to different constituents varies. We’re in an era when students really want to understand what’s happening right now.” 

Blame for structural issues that are beyond the president’s control—like the botched FAFSA rollout—often falls at the feet of presidents and other institutional leaders, Burmicky added. “There’s clearly a lot of resentment.” 

Students are just one group of constituents college presidents must build trust with, however. Declining trust in higher education in general is one of Burmicky’s biggest concerns for the sector. Better communicating how institutions operate would help address public distrust, he said. 

“We like to point fingers at the president, but the reality is there are [more people] than just the president who make decisions at a university—there’s also the Board of Trustees or the Board of Regents.”

Listen to the full interview between Jorge Burmicky and Sara Custer, editor in chief at Inside Higher Ed, and find more episodes of The Key here.