Editor’s Remarks
Dear Colleagues:
We are pleased to share with you our fifth volume of the Journal of Research on the College President from the National Lab for the Study of the College President at the University of Arkansas.
In this issue we provide you with a number of articles from a broad, national collection of scholars. The articles range from preparing for the college presidency to several that deal with different aspects of the college president’s role in fundraising. In all, we received 22 article submissions and are publishing seven that were accepted through our blind peer review. That means that our acceptance rate for this issue of the journal is 31%.
Higher Education presidents are facing some of the most challenging issues in the history of the academy. Navigating the COVID-19 crisis of the last year and a half, our institutions are still experiencing virus spikes and institutions are facing outbreaks on campus and a curious public debate about mandated vaccines, masks, remote learning, and even seating in football stadiums.
Congress has not been able to come together on a variety of important national issues, including infrastructure and the debt ceiling, causing further unpredictability. These are precarious times for our colleges and universities, and presidential leadership is more important now than ever before.
This volume is my last as co-editor, and these editor’s comments my last as well, as I retire this summer 2022. After a career of almost 50 years, I am grateful to all of those individuals, colleagues, and friends who have played a role in my journey. I have served as a vice president, vice chancellor, senior vice president, chancellor and professor during my career, and I have been truly moved to see the genuine commitment to students that so many have displayed. This has been an amazing and rewarding career.
I am currently working on one last book about my experiences in higher education – my final salute to a life in the academy of which I am most grateful. Please accept my best wishes for the future and my gratitude to all who continue to invest their time and energy into the exploration of the college presidency.
Sincerely,
G. David Gearhart
Professor and Chancellor Emeritus
Co-Editor