5 Expectations College Students Should Have Of Their University President

By Alexandra Brown on March 8, 2016

As college students, we’re involved on campus in terms of extra-curricular activities like sports, clubs, organizations, etc. as well as being involved in the social scene. And within those organizations, some of us might hold leadership positions such as president, secretary or treasurer.

Some of us might even be involved in student government, and in which case would most likely be aware of the higher-ups of the college university. But the truth is, the majority of college students really aren’t that aware of whom the higher-ups are that are running their school.

First, there’s the chancellor, also commonly referred to as the university president. Following the chancellor is the dean, who’s followed by the university professor (a tenured professor), and from there, different types of professors, ending with a lecturer.

The highest rank in the academic career hierarchy is the chancellor, who is truly the leader of the university. They are the person responsible for management of the entire university and its functions, and they are responsible for effectively managing everyone below them.

Given all of this responsibility, the person holding this position should have a certain number of qualities and characteristics to make them as effective and successful as possible. Because of this, college students should have some high expectations for their president.

Here is a list of five characteristics college students should expect from their president.

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1. Easily accessible

As a chancellor/president of a college or university, a lot of power and responsibility is held. This often gives off the impression to students, and even staff lower on the totem pole that the person holding this position is unattainable, unapproachable and generally hard to track down.

This should not be the case with a university president. College students should feel like they can reach out to their president with any concern they have, whether it’s by email, contacting the president’s office or contacting the president directly by phone. Students should expect their president to be approachable. After all, without the students, the school would not exist. The students should be the president’s first priority.

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2. Highly qualified

As with any major position, the person holding it should be expected to be more than qualified. The president of a college or university is the highest leadership position that can be held at a school, so the person holding the position should, before anything else, have past leadership experience.

College students should expect their president to have shown leadership qualities before they even became president. They should expect that their president is highly educated, and has previous academic experience as well. Someone holding a position of this much power at a place like a university should know how to handle that power.

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3. Responsible

Going off of the last point, with great power comes great responsibility. The president should be responsible. They are in charge of and responsible for the entire university’s management, whether that be functions, managing staff, making major decisions, or being the voice of the university to the public.

College students should expect their president to be highly responsible. They are making critical decisions each day on behalf of the university, and if they can’t practice true responsibility, the integrity of the school could be lost.

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4. Politically savvy

The president of a college or university holds the highest office of the university. That means that there is a hierarchy within the staff of the university, which means that it’s inevitable that politics will get dragged into certain situations. Money is also a major concern of colleges and universities, and the president, being the head, is the final say of that.

Because of this, they should at least have some idea about how politics work, in the sense of the university itself. They should know how things work within the university, how things get done, who is in charge of what, and how to be the most effective at getting things done successfully. College students should expect their president to be politically savvy for the sake of being successful as a higher-up in a major academic institution.

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5. Excellent communicator

This one might seem pretty obvious. The president of a college or university is constantly communicating. They are the voice of the university to the public, meaning other universities, students and their parents, the press and any other source. They are constantly producing mass emails, giving speeches and are responsible for the school’s reputation.

Because of all of these everyday tasks, college students should expect their president to be in possession of some excellent communication skills. This might be the most important quality a president could have. Without being able to effectively communicate to mass audiences, a president loses all credibility.

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