Dr. Melva K. Wallace recently received a 10-year contract extension as president of Huston-Tillotson University, the longest in HTU history, and one of the longest in higher ed as a whole in the post-COVID era.
In an industry in which college presidents are increasingly unlikely to stay long enough to see their strategic plans through, where the average presidential tenure has trended down — going from 8.5 years in 2006 to seven years in 2011 to 6.5 in 2016 and landing at 5.9 years in 2023, the most recent year of the American Council on Education’s presidents’ survey — a ten-year extension is monumental. And when contextualized within HBCU data, which says the average leader stays in the role just over four years, it is even more noteworthy.
Wallace’s historic extension is part of a larger trend of several HBCU governing boards hedging their bets with their current leaders and supporting longer tenures for the institutions’ presidents.
Staying the course
Over the past several years, boards at Morgan State University, Benedict College, Alabama A&M University, Voorhees University, Virginia State University, Shaw University, Virginia Union University and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania have handed sitting presidents contract extensions that push their leaders’ presidencies to 10 to 20-year stays.
Morgan State President David K. Wilson's extension runs through 2030, potentially giving him 20 years at the helm. Virginia State President Makola Abdullah's contract runs through 2032, which would give him 16 years. Benedict College President Roslyn Clark Artis would reach 14 years at the end of her seven-year extension in 2031. Lincoln President Brenda Allen will serve 13 years by the end of 2030. Wallace’s extension will put her at 14 years in 2036. And Virginia Union President Hakim Lucas, Voorhees University's Ronnie Hopkins, and Alabama A&M President Daniel K. Wims would reach 10 years in 2027, 2031, and 2032 respectively.
That kind of staying power is unusual in higher education generally — and especially notable at historically Black colleges and universities.
