Higher Education Executive Searches: Knowing your Fit

Over the past few years, I have applied and been a finalist for a number of Dean and Provost searches. Through this experience, I have learned some things that may be insightful to others who are in the process of seeking an executive academic leadership position. First, be prepared for rejection. Each search process is unique. You can be a finalist in one search and not even make the first round cut in another search. Don’t take it personally. Depending on the search, it may draw a very strong or weak pool depending on the perceived desirability of the institution and position. As one of my mentors once shared with me, the academic search process is unscientific or highly subjective and each search has its own uniqueness. You really need to have or develop a tough skin in the executive academic leadership search process.

In this article, I am going to focus my attention on “fit.” Why? Fit is often given as the reason why you were or were not advanced or selected. What is academic fit? This is an elusive concept that few people can truly explain when you receive a call or e-mail informing you that the institution decided to go in a different direction or they found someone who was a better fit for the position. While few people on a search committee could articulate a common definition of “fit,” it is important to learn what institutions and positions are a good fit for you, given your experiences, pedigree, and accomplishments.

I have found higher education to be highly hierarchical and traditional, especially when searching for a Dean or Provost position. This is because most members of a search committee for Dean and Provost positions are composed of faculty members, a few staff, an external person, and some administrators (another Dean or executive on campus). A little less so for President and Chancellor position since search committees are less representative of the faculty and staff and more representative of a board (who are primarily composed of external business and community members). And since the board is the hiring authority, it isn’t uncommon for boards to choose someone outside of academe. Having written this, most Presidents/Chancellors still rise from within academe.

Through experience, I learn that your academic pedigree matters depending on the institution where you got your degrees. In general, institutions want to attract applicants from peer or aspirant institutions. For example, it is very unlikely that a Department Chair from a comprehensive institution would be a viable Dean candidate at a flagship R1 institution unless it was a very unusual situation. Another example is my credentials. My doctorate is a Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D.) from Arizona State University. It is highly unlikely any Ivy League or top 25 flagship R1 institutions would seriously consider my application. The theory behind this thinking is my experiences and context aren’t a good fit for those institutions. While disappointing, I have learned not to waste my time exploring opportunities where I would not be a viable applicant. Instead, I focus on finding institutions in my “sweet” spot. How does one determine what their sweet spot is? It takes being frank and honest with yourself and understanding where you are likely to be a good fit.

In looking at my professional experiences, my sweet spot are institutions that are comprehensive, R2, and lower ranked R1 institutions. Since a majority of my experience has been at large public urban R1/R2 institutions, those factors are relevant to finding your sweet spot. As noted above, determining fit is not a scientific or objective process. In fact, fit is very subjective and unique to each search. Are there exceptions to what I have shared? Absolutely. Have there been leaders from comprehensive institutions who have gone on to be at Ivy and top 25 R1 institution? I’m sure there has been, but I suspect this is very much the exception and not a common occurrence.

Unfortunately, I would like to say one’s accomplishments are invaluable no matter where they occur, but my experience has indicated that it is very contextually based. One’s accomplishment are highly relevant if they are at similar type of institution to where you are applying and much less so, if you are “out of your league.”

Since finding my sweet spot, whenever I apply for a position, my probability for success (i.e., receiving at least a first round interview) has been relatively high. In future articles, I plan to share some other tips I have learned that increase one’s success for advancing in executive academic searches.