Path to presidency getting longer

The long road to a university presidency has been getting longer.

According to a recent survey, the amount of time it takes to progress through the ranks of academia is increasing, resulting in older presidents, said Jacqueline King, the assistant vice president of the Center for Policy Analysis of the American Council on Education.

She said the career ladder for academics needs to be revised. Traditionally, the progression led from an adjunct professor, to tenured professor, department chair, dean, provost and, finally, university president.

Now, due to the increasing number of academics pursuing post-doctoral degrees and taking time off to raise families, it often takes more time for an academic to develop a resume, making it harder to reach the top.

The report did not specify how much longer it now takes academics to become presidents or how much older college presidents have become.

"Presidents and provosts and academic deans are typically tenured faculty members who have had experience in administration," said Penn President Amy Gutmann, who will turn 59 next month and has professorship and provost positions on her resume.

"To get tenure is a great privilege in a university and requires an important peer-review process, and that takes time," she added.

Associate Provost Vincent Price said that Penn does not have a list of specific prerequisites for the president position.

Instead, there is a "set of expectations and qualifications that match the duties of the position," he said.

He added that, while certain levels of scholarship are expected, other experiences - such as fundraising and public engagement - are also essential to the job of president.

The ACE is also suggesting that universities revise their peer-review processes.

Gloria Thomas, associate director of the office of women in higher education of the ACE, said the council recently held a contest with monetary awards for institutions with the most career-flexibility policies in place.

Neither she nor Price were able to say whether Penn participated in the contest.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation gave up to six institutions $200,000 to continue exemplary work in developing and implementing career-flexibility programs.

Price said Penn has a number of policies in place, including a six-month allowance for faculty members to attend to extenuating family circumstances, such as an ailing parent.

Additionally, the University has accommodations for professors who need to transition to part-time professorship during the tenure-track process, he said.

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