By keeping an institution moving forward, retired executives can assist colleges and universities until a permanent replacement is hired.
Dr. Frank Pogue recalls with gratitude, combined with some amazement, the grand send-off he and his wife received from the Chicago State University community when his yearlong interim presidency ended in July. He equates the fond farewell festivities with those at Edinboro University where he served as president for 11 years.
“Even today, it’s not unusual to hear from faculty, staff and students two or three times a day,” says Pogue, who lives in Delaware. “Not to complain, but just to say hello.”
And although Pogue says he had a wonderful time at Chicago State, he also acknowledges that it was a year filled with tension. The university was still reeling from the resignation of former president Dr. Elnora Daniel, who stepped down following allegations of mismanagement and questionable spending. Furthermore, the Presidential Search Advisory Committee accused the board of trustees of shutting them out of the search process for Daniel’s replacement.
The Registry for College and University Presidents places former executives in interim presidential and other senior-level posts and is familiar with the challenges interim executives and institutions encounter in times of leadership transitions. However, the one big advantage interims bring to institutions, says Registry Vice President Kevin J. Matthews, is the experience of having done the job.
“Our people are able to parachute in and hit the ground running,” he says. “They don’t have to learn the position. They just have to learn the institution.”
Started in 1992 by former university presidents Drs. Thomas Langevin and Allen Koenig to place former presidents exclusively in interim positions, the Registry expanded in 2002 with the establishment of a new division for senior administrators that now accounts for 60 percent of its business. It has contracts with more than 250 former college and university presidents and senior administrators in almost every state, all of whom have been selected for membership based upon nominations and an extensive evaluation process. Interim assignments can range from three months to three years. This year, the Registry has placed six leaders at historically Black and other minority-serving colleges and universities.
