Participants in the 2007–2008 Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program for prospective presidents met on February 25 and 26 in Atlanta for a follow-up seminar. Nineteen senior campus leaders, along with 17 spouses, continued their inquiry into the relationship between their own sense of vocation or calling and the mission of the institutions they might one day serve as presidents.

The distinctive premise of the Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program is its recognition that vital questions about presidential effectiveness are often personal and even spiritual. Such questions involve knowing what makes work fulfilling and meaningful, and finding joy in it. Participants address directly the possibility that one becomes a president because he or she has felt called to accept this responsibility. By granting senior academic leaders the opportunity to explore these issues prior to assuming a presidency, the program seeks to facilitate a better fit between candidate and institution, resulting in longer and more fulfilling presidencies.

Seminar participants considered such issues as the role of vocational discernment and commitment in the presidential search process and how to exercise vocational resilience in the work of the presidency. Facilitators were Joel Cunningham, vice chancellor and president, and Trudy Cunningham, presidential spouse and senior consultant for admission and advising, Sewanee: University of the South (TN); Mary Ann Dillon, president, Mount Aloysius College (PA); Anne Frame, former presidential spouse; and Jake Schrum, president, Southwestern University (TX). William Frame, president emeritus of Augsburg College (MN), is CIC senior advisor for the program.

This is the fifth program on “vocation” and “mission” offered by CIC and the third for prospective presidents. To date, eight participants in the program for prospective presidents have been elected to presidencies. Participants in the 2007–2008 seminar for prospective presidents are William Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Grove City College (PA), and Kathryn Anderson; Rebecca Ankeny, associate vice president for academic affairs, George Fox University (OR), and Mark Ankeny; Nancy Blattner, vice president and dean for academic affairs, Fontbonne University (MO), and Tim Blattner; James Colman, vice president for academic affairs, Charleston Southern University (SC), and Becky Colman; Christine DeVinne, dean of the school of arts and sciences, Ursuline College (OH); Sandra Doran, chief of staff, vice president, and general counsel, Lesley University (MA), and Stephen Doran; Thomas Enneking, provost, vice president for academic affairs, Marian College (IN), and Sherri Enneking; David Finley, vice president for academic affairs, Tri-State University (IN), and Heidi Finley; Scott Flanagan, vice president for planning and enrollment, Edgewood College (WI), and Krista Flanagan; James Hunt, provost and dean of the faculty, Southwestern University (TX), and Diane Hunt; J. Lee Johnson, senior vice president for business and finance, Siena Heights University (MI), and Deborah Johnson; Rockwell Jones, executive vice president and dean of advancement, Hendrix College (AR), and Melissa Jones; Dawn Pleas-Bailey, vice president of student life, Southwestern College (KS), and Jerome Pleas-Bailey; Thomas Reynolds, vice president for mission, Regis University (CO), and Madeline Reynolds; Janet Robinson, vice president for academic affairs, Lourdes College (OH), and Gene Robinson; Lorraine Rodrigues-Fisher, vice president for academic affairs, St. Ambrose University (IA), and Eddie Rodrigues-Fisher; Keith Taylor, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Gannon University (PA), and Mary Jean Taylor; Christopher Toote, vice president of student affairs, Jarvis Christian College (TX), and Wanda Toote; Herma Williams, provost and chief academic officer, Fresno Pacific University (CA), and Eric Williams.

A similar program for current presidents will be offered in 2008–2009. Lilly Endowment Inc. supports CIC’s Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program.