Research about the role of presidential spouses at private colleges and universities was a major focus of this year’s Presidents Institute Spouses Program. Matt Thompson, dean of student development at Florida Southern College, shared highlights of his national study on the role and influence of presidential spouses on their institutions. His work, which has not yet been publicly released, examines their backgrounds, time devoted to their roles, and patterns of remuneration.

Ellen Cole, psychologist and presidential spouse at Alaska Pacific University, conducted a focus group of presidential spouses to update the findings of her 1999 study of presidential spouses. Some of the observations from the discussion included recognition that the role of the presidential spouse will vary given personal circumstances (for example, if there are children at home or if the presidential spouse has a career), and the number of years the presidential spouse has served in that role (the spouse may become more comfortable with the role over the years).

Kathi Tunheim, president of the Tunheim Leadership Group, Inc., shared her work on leadership expectations of presidential spouses, developing with insights from the audience a leadership model that can be found here on the CIC website.

Other sessions addressed topics such as the spouse’s role in the capital campaign, working with today’s college students, programs for parents of students, and planning for retirement. The New Presidential Spouses program that ran in tandem with the New Presidents Program was attended by 22 spouses.