2010 SCUP Awards

Check it out! You don't want to miss higher education's premier planning conference, and your one chance this year to assemble with nearly 1,500 of your peers and colleagues: July 10–14, Minneapolis.

---

---

SCUP Link

SCUP is pleased to announce the society's 2010 award recipients. Additional information including photos, descriptions and subconsulting organizations are being prepared and will appear on our website in May. Be sure to attend the awards sessions at SCUP–45.

Recipients

SCUP Founders’ (Casey) Award for Distinguished Achievement in Higher Education Planning
Jeanne L. Narum, Founding Director PKAL; Director, The independent Colleges Office; Principal, PKAL Learning Spaces Collaboratory

SCUP Distinguished Service Award for Exceptional Contributions to the Activities and Success of SCUP
Nancy Tierney, Associate Dean, Planning & Facilities, University of Arizona College of Medicine, in partnership with Arizona State University

SCUP Award for Institutional Innovation and Integration
Vancouver Island University for the Nanaimo Campus Master Plan – Integrated Planning Process

SCUP Excellence in Planning
Honor Award to Haverford College for the Campus Master Plan, with Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc. – Planning for an Established Campus

Merit Award to Habib University Foundation, with Ahed Associates – Planning for a New Campus

Merit Award to Virginia Commonwealth University for VCU 2020: 2004 Master Plan Site, with BCWH Architects – Planning for an Established Campus

Merit Award to The University of Utah for the Campus Master Plan, with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP – Planning for an Established Campus

Merit Award to Stanford University for The Science & Engineering Quad, with Boora Architects – Planning for a District or Campus Component

Merit Award to The Aga Khan University for The AKU Faculty of Arts and Sciences University Village Land Use Plan, with Goody Clancy – Planning for a District or Campus Component

SCUP Award for Landscape Architecture
Merit Award to Duke University for the West Campus Plaza, with Hargreaves Associates

SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture
Honor Award to The Julliard School for Expansion and Renovation, Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFowle Architects – Architecture for a Building Addition

Honor Award to Bennington College for the Student Center, with Taylor & Burns Architects – Architecture for a New Building

Honor Award to The University of Michigan for The Museum of Art, with Allied Works Architecture – Architecture for a Building Addition

Merit Award to University of Iowa School of Art & Art History, with Steven Holl Architects – Architecture for a New Building

Merit Award to Simon Fraser University for The Arts and Social Sciences Complex, with Busby Perkins+Will – Architecture for a New Building

Merit Award to Roger Williams University for the North Campus Residence Hall, with Perkins+Will - Architecture for a New Building

Merit Award to Michigan State University for the Owen Graduate Center Refurbishment, with SmithGroup – Architecture for Renovation or Adaptive Reuse

Merit Award to San Francisco Conservatory of Music, with Perkins+Will – Architecture Renovation or Adaptive Reuse

Merit Award to Kenyon College for Peirce Hall, with Gund Partnership – Architecture for a Building Addition

Special Citation to Clark University for the Academic Commons at Goddard Library, with Perry Dean Rogers | Partners Architects – Architecture for Renovation or Adaptive Reuse

Special Citation to The Ohio State University for The William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library, with Gund Partnership – Architecture for Renovation or Adaptive Reuse

Read more about SCUP's awards and view awards archives here.

---

---

SCUP's Planning Institute: Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers while you engage in one of the three SCUP Planning Institute Steps. In addition to being offered on demand, on campuses to teams of campus leaders, the institute steps are also offered to all professionals at varying times and venues. Currently scheduled are:

• May 22–23, Ann Arbor, MI - Step I
• July 10, Minneapolis, MN - Step I (in conjunction with SCUP–45)
• October 2, Ann Arbor, MI - Step I
• January 21–22, Tempe, AZ - Step II and Step III

Driving Your Budget Message

Writing in University Business, president John J. "Ski" Sygieski of Mt Hood Community College (and chair-elect of the American Association of Community Colleges) shares a few useful items about how to best communicate about budget issues:

We’ve all heard the phrase “communication is a two-way street,” and in the best of times, that street is wide open, allowing communication to pass freely between individuals. However, when budget crises arise or times otherwise get tough, the street seems to narrow. People get nervous, and there is much more anxiety involved in the communication process. If the street is suddenly closed because administration is fearful of communicating bad news, there is a massive traffic jam and accidents and fatalities begin to occur. Whether good or bad, institutions must embrace the “communication is a two-way street” philosophy and stay connected with their constituents.

---

Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Small-College Presidents Hear Tips on Building a Leadership Team

Writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Robin Wilson reveals some of the shared leadership stories of the 255 small college presidents who met recently via the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). Scott Jaschick of Inside Higher Ed also attended this conference and reports on it here. Wilson focused on top level leadership team challenges and Jaschik writes more broadly about the issues discussed.

From Wilson's account:

Most valuable, the presidents said, was to seek senior leaders who can think about the work of the whole institution, rather than be sidetracked by devotion to their own special areas.

"You want people who can take that big picture and give up something they normally would have fought for in their own area—because it's in the best interests of the institution," said Susan C. Scrimshaw, president of the Sage College.

From Jaschik's account:

"Is there an economist in the house?" Paul Hennigan, president of Point Park University, jokingly asked the question of a group of college presidents gathered here at a meeting of the Council of Independent Colleges. While there was one economist among the presidents, he seemed as worried as everyone else about the impact the economy was having on their institutions.

---

Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Reflections of a Failed Dean

Now SCUPers can connect on Facebook and on LinkedIn.

---

It's not working out. Is it the structure of the institution? Is it the faculty? Is it the president? Is it you? From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

"They say they can't work with you." With those words from the president, my life as chief academic officer ceased. Oh, I stayed on the job for a long time after that, but my value as a dean was effectively derailed. My career at, let's call it Hogwarts College, had ended . . . I'm a failed dean. There are a lot of us out here, but since many of us want to continue working for a living, we don't reveal ourselves, and we don't say much . . . There's a great deal of advice given to chief academic officers, and ever since my failure, I've read it assiduously to get a sense of what I did wrong.

ACE's 'The Presidency" Magazine

To read complete articles from The Presidency magazine, from the American Council on Education, you must be a subscriber. However, ACE publishes a complete Table of Contents for each issue with lengthy excerpts from the articles.

From the Fall 2009 issue - Volume 12, Number 3 - the following excerpts are available: A New Morrill Act: Higher Education Anchors the 'Remaking of America' by Nancy Cantor, Syracuse University; Connecting with Today's Students by Graham B. Spanier, The Pennsylvania State University; The Enterprise of the Future by Dennis J. Murray, Marist College; How Boards Go Wrong - And Right: Observations on the Search and Selection of College Presidents by Rebecca A. Denton and John E. Moore, Jr., Drury University; and Career Paths: Presidential Hiring by Harry L. Peterson, Western State College of Colorado.

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life)

---

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life) by Dov Seidman. "Seidman challenges us to consider how we view ourselves and our institutions [with regard to] . . . competition, change, and governance from a fresh perspective. . . . [and] reminds us of the importance of trust and reputation and provides a framework for evaluating our individual and institutional pursuits of significance." Reviewed in Planning for Higher Education by Simone Himbeault Taylor.

The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders

---

The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders (J-B Leadership Challenge: Kouzes/Posner) by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. "I highly recommend The Student Leadership Challenge to all students— and nonstudents. Whether you are active in an organization or have a full-time job, these practices will improve your teamwork skills and help you become a valuable leader." Reviewed in Planning for Higher Education by Clayton McPherson, a University of Michigan undergraduate student.

The Iron Triangle: College Presidents Talk about Costs, Access, and Quality

From the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and Public Agenda, comes this late 2008 report. The structure of the introduction tells you something about the contents of the report: "Higher education in changing times"; "Are we headed for dialogue or for stalemate?"; 'A missing pre-condition for dialogue"; "An investment worth paying for"; "Are you listening to us?"; "A dangling conversation?"; "Expected and unexpected views."

Three key insights emerged from these conversations—one expected, the other two less so. The first is that, as one might have anticipated, our respondents were incredibly thoughtful, informed, and articulate; they drew from a wide range of experience from their own institutions, from other institutions where they had served, and from their participation in national and regional professional associations. The second factor, initially less anticipated, is that none of them was the least surprised by our questions. Indeed, we began each interview by asking the respondents to list his or her issues of greatest concern. For the most part, the presidents began by listing some version of our three main topics: college costs, access, and quality. In some cases, the presidents even conducted parts of the interview for us, following up their own statements by saying, “But you will probably ask me…” The third observation is that there was a great deal of commonality in the way the presidents perceived the issues. Just as it’s possible to put a number of photographs together to create a composite picture, the college presidents’ responses—taken together—can be summarized by a composite view. While few of the presidents would wholeheartedly agree with all of this composite (and some would endorse very little of it), most of the presidents we interviewed resonated with much of it.

Thinking: The Missing Responsibility

We sometimes bemoan the lack of time for reflection. Jerry D. Campbell calls it "thinking," or at least we think it's the same thing:

Unfortunately, in failing to emphasize thinking in the workplace, we risk losing its potential. Thinking must be nurtured and facilitated. It is not so easy sometimes to get into the thinking mode. Those “to do” lists in our Blackberries are always stalking us. We feel like we are wasting time if we are not doing something tangible: making calls, answering e-mails, starting the next assignment or project. Nonetheless, it is critically important to develop the discipline of turning off the ringer, putting away the Blackberry, moving aside the laptop, and turning mentally to the challenges in our work.

But again, this is hard to do. Without institutional encouragement, we start to feel guilty, like we’re wasting time. Just sitting and thinking—isn’t there something “real” we should be doing? And even with encouragement, making the time to think takes practice, especially for those of us who have been out of school for a while. Thinking—especially useful, creative thinking—must be cultivated.

The Governance We Deserve

From Kristen Esterberg and John Woodling, in Inside Higher Ed, write about "the real bitterness and enmity that existed between too many faculty and administrators, on both sides of the divide" and offer the results of some research on ways to lower the tension a bit:

No longer administrators, we returned to the faculty. But we remained concerned about how difficult it was to manage the university, let alone change it in fundamental ways. Trying to find an answer, we embarked on a research project that sought explanation in the identities, experiences, and careers of both administrators and faculty at public institutions. We interviewed 30 administrators and faculty members from public campuses in the Northeast. We mined our own experience. We read widely about higher education. We thought about what we were reading. We talked to a lot of people. What we present here is part of a book-length study of public higher education based on this research.

Leadership, Incompetence, and Delegation (or Lack Thereof)

We don't know about you, but we are regularly enjoying G. Rendell's anonymous posts in the Getting to Green blog at Inside Higher Ed. The sustainability content is good, of course, he's a sustainability director and involved with his institution's ACUPCC planning. What we really love, though, is his regular observations on the struggle and the insights that come from engaging different parts of the campus in integrated planning efforts. Here, he describes why he is not particularly keen on senior faculty taking charge of change initiatives:

Where the skin does come off my nose is when some of these professors, very senior in their fields and thus likely to take a back seat to nobody, get themselves put in charge of campus events and projects. Some of these folk shouldn’t be charged with organizing a church bake sale. They apparently can think abstractly, but they can’t think concretely. And the concrete world is where things happen (or fail to).

Now I’ve worked in the corporate world, and I know that a lot of managers are in their respective positions because they’ve gotten promoted to the level at which their incompetence is unmistakeable. But in the business world, the organizational hierarchy gives the incompetent a survival tactic — they learn to delegate. (Some do it well, some do it badly, but even Dilbert’s pointy-haired boss does it.) Academe, of course, is famously non-hierarchical. My observation is that, probably as a result, the delegating skill is rarely learned. (Teaching assistants and academic secretaries might disagree in part, but they’ll certainly agree that skillful, effective delegation is extremely rare in academic departments.) Where there’s no delegation, there’s no management. And where there’s no management, projects tend to end badly.

Growing the Next Generation of Campus Leaders

Much of what is important in terms of developing leadership skills and emerging leaders in information technology on campus applies to developing leadership in other parts of the campus as well. Further, it is important for planners to understand what senior IT staff consider important for their developing reports and mentees. That makes this article from EDUCAUSE Quarterly a useful quick read that will also cause some moments of reflection:

Read the literature for the IT field, including peer-reviewed and popular articles. Discover the issues of the day and the future. Make sure to read the literature of higher education, too. A daily skimming of the headlines in The Chronicle of Higher Education or the various other news organizations is critical to staying on top of what is happening in higher education. Read outside the IT discipline, too, and consider the resources listed in the sidebar.

Enforced Summertime: One Person's Hardworking Joy Can be Another's Excessive Stress

A former community college president muses on"enforced summertime" and how it is in fact possible to overwork your administrative staff:

Within the aggressive achievement environment, leaders can push folks beyond their limit. While a leader may thrive on achievement, he or she must ask the question, “At what cost to this organization and these valued people?” When the leader and the college become driven rather than planful and purposeful in selecting appropriate priorities and actions at the college, the stress can overwhelm the college. Leadership is required sometimes to say, stop! This is enough work for one year.

The President’s Role in the Learning College: Lessons Learned

This is a brief and pragmatic reference with lists of "Challenges Encountered" and "Advice from the Field."

From 2000 through 2004, the League for Innovation’s Learning College Project worked to assist community colleges in the United States and Canada to become more learning centered by creating a network of 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges strongly committed to the learning college concept, whose efforts would serve as a basis for model programs and best practices. Julie Wechsler interviewed three long-standing Vanguard Learning College presidents to learn more about the president’s role in leading an institution’s journey toward becoming more learning centered, and she reports her findings in this month’s issue of Leadership Abstracts.

Leadership Transitions: Keys for Success

A useful look at leadership transition, not at the presidential level, but at the top of an academic administrative unit:

In a sense, all eyes are on the new person, with some followers wishing for success and, in many cases, others pointing out the weaknesses that might portend failure. The new leader feels tremendous pressure to secure early wins. . . . A leadership transition poses dangers and challenges for both leaders and followers. While each party naturally focuses on the organization's success, time needs to be spent on how the new relationships will develop and mature into effective working relationships. Focusing on effective decision making and implementation protocols is essential. Hallmarks of successful transitions also include supporting leaders and followers and assisting new leaders by challenging their views. By focusing on the four elements of interaction suggested in this article, leaders and followers alike can avoid some of the difficulties of transition times and make the period productive and smooth for the entire organization.

Developing Leadership Skills [in Academia]

This excellent article from Academic Leadership: The Online Journal, is by SCUPer Gerald H. Gaither of Texas A&M Praire View.

In today's climate of balancing competing constituency interests, financial contraction, growing student populations, and abundant public criticism, it seems clear that the higher education community needs to hone and apply its skills to better meet the strident leadership demands of our time. It is the purpose of this paper to build upon previously learned precepts of leadership and provide practical guidance to assist interested individuals with this process.

more