The HBCU Symposium held this past June in Durham, N.C., the concluding event of North Carolina Central University’s Centennial Celebration, was a noteworthy event and deserving of further discussion. Having spent my formative years and much of my professional career in and around HBCUs, I wanted to offer my thoughts and support to Chancellor Charlie Nelms’ call for HBCUs to be “bold,” “change the narrative and (their) approach” and “… to be strategic.”
Changing the narrative means more than developing a new marketing campaign and doing a better job of public relations. Such a change requires a transformation in the behaviors and culture of many of these institutions. Here are some ideas to consider:
Board members should be appointed based on their affluence and influence. Board members have a primary fiduciary responsibility to provide for the long-term financial well-being of the institution, whether public or private. The requirements of board membership continue to be “to give, get or get off.” Therefore, a board member is expected to give generously and work hard on behalf of the institution.
Boards should select presidents with high IQs and EQs. Too many institutional leaders may be intelligent yet unable to relate to their constituencies and stakeholders, or they may have good interpersonal skills yet lack the intellectual ability to deal with the challenges of leading a complex institution today. As a result, they are more likely to fail. A successful climb up the faculty ranks and/or participation in a short-term management development program is not enough to prepare someone for the challenges of leading an HBCU.
Smart presidents hire smarter deputies. Presidents should surround themselves with intelligent, well-trained, trustworthy, dedicated professionals who are smarter than them. They should work hard to attract and retain such individuals, which requires they be paid accordingly rather than being overworked and underpaid. Adequate financial resources are even more necessary today and are the result of well-conceived, strategic institutional advancement and fundraising efforts, endowment building and sound fiscal management practices.
Students should focus on getting an education. They should develop their critical-thinking skills and avail themselves of opportunities to learn and prepare themselves for productive careers in a global environment. Institutions have a responsibility to provide a meaningful and affordable learning experience with well-qualified faculty, well-equipped laboratories, access to the latest technology and safe, comfortable housing. Extracurricular activities are an important part of college life but should not be the primary reason for attending college.
Faculty have a responsibility to remain productive but require institutional support. Faculty need to be actively engaged as teachers, scholars and mentors to their students. Institutions have a responsibility to provide faculty with reasonable teaching loads, competitive salaries and release time for scholarly and professional development activities. Many faculty and staff are stretched too thin, and, as a result, students and the academic program suffer.
