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When the President Needs a Break

Insights from a 6-month sabbatical

By  Julia Schmalz
January 31, 2019

Presidential Challenges

Women success wide

Presidents are arguably the most overbooked people on their campuses. Read other stories in which they share what drags them down and how they’ve coped.

  • ‘They’re Very, Very Long Days’
  • What Are the Biggest Challenges You’ve Faced as a Female Leader?
  • Career Advice From a Groundbreaking President

Toward the end of her seventh year as president of Montgomery College, in 2017, DeRionne P. Pollard was asked by a board member how she was doing. “I’m getting a little burned out,” said the leader of the three-campus community college in suburban Maryland. A dynamic speaker, a first-generation college graduate, a community leader, a wife, a mother — Pollard juggled it all. For her work, she’d recently been one of seven college presidents awarded the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, but the workload was taking a toll. When a previous Montgomery College president mentioned he had taken a sabbatical, she was eager to learn more. After a year of planning, Pollard took six months off to get healthy and rejuvenate.

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Presidential Challenges

Women success wide

Presidents are arguably the most overbooked people on their campuses. Read other stories in which they share what drags them down and how they’ve coped.

  • ‘They’re Very, Very Long Days’
  • What Are the Biggest Challenges You’ve Faced as a Female Leader?
  • Career Advice From a Groundbreaking President

Toward the end of her seventh year as president of Montgomery College, in 2017, DeRionne P. Pollard was asked by a board member how she was doing. “I’m getting a little burned out,” said the leader of the three-campus community college in suburban Maryland. A dynamic speaker, a first-generation college graduate, a community leader, a wife, a mother — Pollard juggled it all. For her work, she’d recently been one of seven college presidents awarded the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, but the workload was taking a toll. When a previous Montgomery College president mentioned he had taken a sabbatical, she was eager to learn more. After a year of planning, Pollard took six months off to get healthy and rejuvenate.

Julia Schmalz is a senior multimedia producer. She tells stories with photos, audio, and video. Follow her on Twitter @jschmalz09, or email her at julia.schmalz@chronicle.com

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Leadership & Governance
Julia Schmalz
Julia Schmalz is a senior multimedia producer. She tells stories with photos, audio, and video. Follow her on Twitter @jschmalz09.
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