There are personal considerations as well. If an assignment requires temporarily moving out of state, will a spouse or partner come along?

Green says his wife, who's retired, spends considerable time with him on assignments. "That's been very helpful," he says, "if you need support outside of the institution when you're dealing with perhaps some very difficult situations."

Sharing Expertise

The Registry held its annual seminar in October in St. Louis, where attendees participated in panel discussions on such topics as transformational and transitional leadership and the role of interims during the search process. Executives also had the opportunity to attend an orientation session on how to get a Registry job.

Green, Moszer and Pogue all say that after acquiring decades of experience in higher education, serving as an interim is a great opportunity and they look forward to taking on more assignments. However, Moszer and Pogue admit they miss working in the academy full time.

"When you hold down a full-time position, you realize that what you're doing will probably have longer-term input, because you're going to be there to deal with these things. Being a consultant, you bring in the processes, you train people, and then you leave," says Moszer.

Pogue, who started looking into the Registry while he was preparing for retirement, says he misses the students. "You miss that environment where you welcome young people to the campus and watch them grow into something spectacular. I also miss working with faculty and the day-to-day challenges. But it's a 24-hour-a-day job."

Green enjoys the flexibility interim assignments provide. When he's back in his home base of Tucson, Ariz., Green, a chemist, teaches introductory and advanced chemistry courses at the local university and community college system.

Green, whose last full-time position was as executive vice president for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies at Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, says interim opportunities benefit both former executives and the institutions.
"Especially in this economic climate," says Green, "institutions should take their time in finding permanent replacements."