In 2014 the future of Montreat College looked grim. It had suffered budget shortfalls in recent years and had come close to merging with another institution to survive. As its Board of Trustees looked for a new president, it sought someone who was seasoned, says William Haynes, then the board’s chair, and who would “be more of a risk-taker, because a steady hand wasn’t going to get us where we needed to go.”
The board chose Paul J. Maurer, who remembers twice saying no before accepting the job. His seasoning, he says, took place on the soccer field, where, as goal keeper, he had to act as “the last line of defense,” and at Sterling College, in Kansas, which he led during the Great Recession.
Colleges facing tough challenges, as Montreat was, need a leader who the board believes can keep the institution alive. The trust goes both ways, as new presidents rely on their boards to be open and collaborative.
When he took over at Montreat, in North Carolina, Maurer made reconsidering its identity, along with increasing enrollment, a top priority. That meant trying to sharpen its appeal to evangelical Christians and breaking ties with the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, whose members include a number of mainstream liberal-arts colleges. The changes were possible, Maurer says, because board members were united around theology and mission.
The college asked its faculty and staff members to sign a covenant that affirmed the sanctity of marriage “between one man and one woman,” and contained a statement that implied opposition to abortion, among other beliefs. Employees who refused to sign the covenant felt they had no choice but to leave their jobs, according to local news reports. In Maurer’s view, the Board of Trustees decided “very courageously to say, You know what, we’re not going to go the way that most colleges have gone just because that’s the cultural norm.”
Meanwhile, the college zeroed in on STEM fields as a key area of growth and looked to build partnerships with businesses and government agencies. It also established a Meet Montreat road show to get the word out to prospective students. Cybersecurity has been the college’s fastest-growing major, Maurer says.
A pledge of $6 million from anonymous donors spurred more gifts, which made improvements like new academic programs and new roofs possible. “I’ve learned the power of small wins,” he says.
When Susan Stuebner took the helm at Colby-Sawyer College, in New Hampshire, in 2016, it was her first time as a college president; she had previously been executive vice president at Allegheny College. Colby-Sawyer’s financial issues weren’t as publicly known as Montreat’s, nor as dire. But she found she had to immediately take steps to resolve a deficit of more than $4 million, she says.
“As is often the case in presidential transitions, the institution wasn’t fully aware of the severity of the financial issues,” she says. She carried out layoffs in a way that she hoped was “thoughtful,” she says, and tried to convey to the campus community how the college would get through the challenging times.
As at Montreat, enrollment decline was an issue. With the help of enrollment consultants, the college expanded its network of applicants with the goal of enrolling “a class that’s the right size but also generates enough revenue,” Stuebner says.
“We are a place that enrolls students who are maybe not No. 1 in their class, but very strong students who maybe just haven’t realized their passion yet, or maybe were overshadowed by an older sibling, or just hadn’t found that thing that they love to learn yet.” It’s a privilege, she says, to be part of their transition.
Among struggling colleges, Paine College, a historically black institution in Georgia, has been in an especially tough spot. In 2016 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges voted to remove its accreditation over financial issues. Paine sued the commission and was able to retain its accreditation, on probation, until the case could be resolved.
Those tough circumstances did not stop Jerry L. Hardee, a former president of Sherman College of Chiropractic, from coming out of retirement in 2017 to lead Paine. “I am an ardent supporter of HBCUs, and so this was a great chance to do something for an institution that I had a very special affinity for.”
Hardee determined that Paine needed what he called “the A through E’s.” Its biggest issue was accreditation, which was linked to pressing issues like budget, communication and culture, development, and enrollment. He talked publicly about building new residence halls and sprucing up the campus. It’s hard to increase enrollment and raise money, he says, “if people think you’re going to close and if the campus doesn’t look like a vibrant institution where learning is taking place.”
While Hardee was working to improve Paine’s financial situation, the lawsuit was proceeding. In October, the U.S. District Court in Atlanta ruled in favor of the commission and against the college on all but one count, which the court dismissed on Friday. However, the court also ordered on Friday that the commission’s accreditation of Paine remain in place during the 30-day period in which Paine can appeal the dismissal of the case and throughout any appeal.
Meanwhile, Paine had already turned to another accrediting body, the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, and was accepted as a candidate for accreditation, meaning it has the potential to be accredited within a five-year period.
Hardee says that applicants’ interest in the college, which had a total enrollment of 426 in the fall of 2017, remains strong and that he is hopeful.
“If you’re not an optimistic person, you don’t take a job like this,” Hardee says. “You have to look at it and say, ‘If it can be done, I can get it done.’”
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