Core missions and business plans: The college president’s balancing act

As dormitories fill up on college campuses throughout the region and across the country, students are thinking about classwork and making friends. Parents are mulling over bills for tuition and back-to-school expenses.

Other concerns around campus affect today’s students and will define higher education in the U.S. for years to come.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a major poll of college and university presidents’ views on the future of post-secondary education. “The View from the Top” shows a startling mix of individual optimism and grave concerns overall for the sustainability of American colleges.

College presidents are expected to perform a precarious balancing act, between the scholarly goals of their institutions and the business of higher education.

“We have to keep our eye on our core mission,” explained Kim Benston, president of Haverford College.  “Understanding what is our core mission and what we will sacrifice and what we cannot afford to sacrifice.”

Benston joined Barbara Gitenstein, president of The College of New Jersey, in a discussion of “The View from the Top” with NewsWorks Tonight producer Kimberly Haas.