Understanding Success of the Canadian University Presidency: Presidents’ Perceptions of the Role their Boards Play in their Success

The study of university presidential success is significant because “never before has university presidential leadership been under more scrutiny” (MacKinnon, 2014, p. 134). Studies of North American presidents (Paul, 2014, 2018; Schmidt, 2016; Turpin et al., 2014) indicate that more presidents end their terms before their negotiated end dates. Some of the most recent research has shown that in Canada, “more than 27% of presidents appointed since 2000 have left their positions prematurely” (Paul, 2018, p. 32), a trend that “contrasts significantly” with the previous decades when rates of premature departures were below 10% (Paul, 2018, p. 32). Research also shows that those presidents who are skilled enough to complete their terms are decreasing their length of service as the average term of a Canadian president has gone from a high of 8 years in the 1950s to just over four years in the role, as of 2010 (Turpin et al., 2014, p. 12). As terms become shorter, leaders have less time to make desired changes, and less time to build relationships, thereby increasing the risk of making mistakes. When university presidents were asked what contributed to shorter and unexpectedly truncated terms, almost all reflected extensively on their relationships with their board (Birnbaum, 1992; Cafley, 2014; Paul, 2014; Trachtenberg et al., 2014). Although leadership failures often focus on the pathology of the individual leader, some researchers look beyond individual leadership, indicating that university boards are “at least as responsible as the appointee for the ultimate failure of a given presidency” (Paul, 2014, p. 65). The corollary to this statement is that university boards must be equally responsible for a president’s success. For these reasons and more, the success of university presidents is the focus of my dissertation. Specifically, I have chosen to focus my research on Canadian university presidents' perceptions of their boards' role in their success. As the focus was the perception of these individuals, the research was conducted within the qualitative paradigm, employing a phenomenological methodology. Phenomenology was appropriate for this study because, at its core, the “purpose of phenomenological research is to investigate the meaning of the lived experience” (Bloomberg & Volpe, 2012, p. 32). The data source consisted of semi-structured interviews with six individuals who have been the president of a Canadian university. The six participants have 60 years of experience combined as presidents at nine different universities in Canada. Participants were asked to relay stories of their successes as presidents at a Canadian university and then reflect on how they perceived their board’s role in those successes. Participants were also asked to advise their future successors on the presidency and their boards and the connection between the two. Transcripts were then analyzed through the lens of the research questions to pull out observed and significant themes from the interviews. Several findings on presidential success and the role of the board were presented. Participants felt most successful as presidents when they brought change to the university through their abilities to build relationships between many different groups and create a new vision outlining an overarching direction for the university. Presidents felt their boards contributed to success behind the scenes when they showed trust and confidence in their presidential work. They were most concerned about the lack of formality surrounding presidential evaluation processes. They hoped that their boards would put more time and effort into providing regular feedback to a president. Participants also felt that if boards had a better understanding of the unique structures of universities and the complexity of the role of the president, they would be better able to contribute to a president’s success. Implications of the findings for practice highlighted the need for more efforts to be placed on developing boards and introducing them to the unique decision-making processes of Canadian universities. The research highlights how a board’s trust and confidence in the president significantly influence a president’s perception of their success; also, given the impact on the success that a board’s trust and confidence in the president has, purposeful efforts to build trust and instill confidence must be enhanced.

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