Guest Editor’s Remarks
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I am truly grateful to the staff of the National Lab for the Study of the College President for allowing me to be a part of their family during this very strange and challenging academic year. I have been impressed by the Arkansas team, and will be excited to see their Handbook on College and University Leadership in the summer of 2021.
The authors who have contributed to this volume of the Journal are acknowledged for their work studying one of the most important roles in contemporary higher education. College presidents truly are under a microscope, and their roles seem to evolve with each passing semester. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon them an even more rapid pace of change, and I suspect the growing enrollment, financial, and technological demands and changes will force presidents into increasingly greater uncertainty. I feel comforted to know that scholars, such as those contributing to this volume, are hard at work attempting to understand how these roles will evolve in the future.
The Lab at the University of Arkansas is onto something special with their research. Seeing outstanding academic leaders like John Jackson speak and reflect on their time in the role is both refreshing, and I believe, important. Only by understanding our past can we think critically about our collective futures.
The writing in this volume of the journal is exceptional, and I feel honored to have been a part of assembling this year’s Journal. Please accept my best wishes for the holiday season and please enjoy these writings!
Sincerely,
Daniel P. Nadler, PhD
Senior Fellow
National Lab for the Study of the College President