C ONNECTINGL EADERS<strong>2003</strong> CAO INSTITUTECONNECTING CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICERSInstitute for Chief Academic Officers—Near record-breakingattendance, two “sold-out” budget workshops, a pre-conferencefiscal workshop, and well-received speakers and sessionsmarked a highly successful 31st annual Institute forChief Academic Officers. <strong>The</strong> CIC meeting was held inNovember <strong>2003</strong> in Savannah, Georgia.Throughout the conference, panelists explored the theme<strong>of</strong> Leadership Challenges: Competition, Resources, and Excellencewith a focus on changing academic leadership roles, andsteps CAOs are taking to provide students an excellenteducational experience with limited resources in acompetitive environment.Major speakers included David W. Breneman, dean <strong>of</strong> theCurry School <strong>of</strong> Education at the University <strong>of</strong> Virginiaand an authority on the finance and economics <strong>of</strong> highereducation, who delivered the keynote address, and Kent JohnChabotar, president and pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> political science atGuilford College (NC), whose address on “StrategicBudgeting” emphasized the role <strong>of</strong> academic <strong>of</strong>ficers inbudget decisions and the involvement <strong>of</strong> faculty membersin the budget process. In addition, Chatham College (PA)President Esther L. Barazzone and Susan Resneck Pierce,president emerita <strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong> Puget Sound (WA),closed the conference with a plenary session on how they ledinstitutional “turnarounds” based primarily on strengtheningacademic quality.During the <strong>2003</strong> Institute for Chief Academic Officers,keynote speaker David Breneman recommended anumber <strong>of</strong> specific actions for CAOs to improve theirunderstanding <strong>of</strong> the institution’s budgets and finances:■■■■■Pay attention to credit rating agencies such as Moodys—this is a player not to be ignored. Part <strong>of</strong> Moodys’ job is todifferentiate between institutions, so find out what they’relooking at and address it.Learn how to deal with your chief financial <strong>of</strong>ficer—learn theirlanguage. <strong>The</strong>y’re taught to keep things obscure; their role isto keep you from spending their money. <strong>The</strong>y are a force—you need to learn all the ins and outs <strong>of</strong> tuition discounting,enrollment management, fund accounting, restricted funds,quasi-endowments, etc.Learn about these matters by sitting in on as many subcommitteesas you can—budget and finance, investment, andenrollment committees. You should be there—demonstrateyour ability to understand these areas, and read publicationsfrom NACUBO, <strong>The</strong> College Board, and other organizations.Contribute creatively in your area <strong>of</strong> expertise. In difficulteconomic times, colleges must maintain quality whiledecreasing costs or increasing revenue or both. Conduct anevaluation <strong>of</strong> your curriculum; reorganize so that all facultymembers are contributing to the educational mission; work tominimize curricular sprawl; don’t <strong>of</strong>fer too many majors; bewilling to close an occasional program to free up valuableresources; and explore uses <strong>of</strong> educational technology andcollaborative opportunities.Be seen as an active participant in helping to shape thefuture <strong>of</strong> your institution; be an advocate for academicquality as measured by student learning; be a manager <strong>of</strong>educational resources; give development staff ideas forfundraising; be a full team player working effectively withthe president, board, and faculty.10C OUNCIL OF I NDEPENDENT C OLLEGES
C ONNECTINGL EADERSCONNECTING OTHER CAMPUS LEADERS,FACULTY MEMBERS, AND ADMINISTRATORSDepartment/Division Chairs Workshops—More than 157department/division chairs representing 72 colleges and universitiesparticipated in the third annual series <strong>of</strong> regionalworkshops in spring <strong>2004</strong> that focused on Handling Front LineIssues <strong>of</strong> Retention, Personnel, and Preventive Law. <strong>The</strong> workshopswere held in Portland (OR) in April; Richmond (VA)in May; and in Kansas City (MO) and Cincinnati (OH) inJune. Sessions explored conflict resolution strategies,approaches to conducting difficult conversations, and effectiveways <strong>of</strong> working with the chief academic <strong>of</strong>ficer. Experts onhigher education law explained essential strategies for departmentchairs to minimize legal problems. A topic judged byparticipants at all <strong>of</strong> the workshops to be <strong>of</strong> particular importancewas conflict resolution. Participants also praised theworkshops for <strong>of</strong>fering “practical and applicable information,”“an atmosphere that encouraged sharing among all participants,”“an excellent presentation on legal issues,” and “anopportunity for self-reflection on the various subjects.”CONNECTING SPOUSESSpouses Programming—CIC provides special programmingfor spouses <strong>of</strong> presidents and chief academic <strong>of</strong>ficers at its twoannual meetings. A record number <strong>of</strong> presidential spouses(170) attended CIC’s <strong>2004</strong> Presidents Institute, featuring sessionson the personal and pr<strong>of</strong>essional interests <strong>of</strong> presidentialspouses. Discussion groups led by presidential spouses focusedon topics such as planning programs for trustee spouses andworking with students. <strong>The</strong> program also included a sessionled by Christie Vilsack, the wife <strong>of</strong> Iowa Governor TomVilsack, on the parallels between the roles <strong>of</strong> spouses <strong>of</strong> politicaland campus leaders.OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY, GA<strong>2003</strong>-<strong>2004</strong> ANNUAL R EPORT 11