Currently, 60 percent of university presidents are over the age of 60, and people of color and women are underrepresented among their ranks, according to the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) which developed the Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Aspiring Leaders program after receiving a $745,000 grant from the ECMC Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.
Dr. Marybeth Gasman is director of the Center for Minority Serving Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania.The goal is to prepare for the next generation of MSI presidents.
The program promotes diversity within higher education leadership through a mentorship program and leadership forum. Some forum topics include the presidential nomination process, managing relationships with faculty, using data to make decisions, fiscal management and strategic fundraising.
The next forum is Nov. 1 to Nov. 3, 2019 at the University of Pennsylvania. All meals are covered by CMSI, but participants must pay for their own travel and accommodations.
Applications for the program will open Oct. 17, 2018. In order to meet eligibility requirements, applicants must aspire to be a president of a federally designated MSI, be five to eight years out in terms of achieving presidency and have upper-level administrative experience.
For more information about the program and the application process, visit the CMSI website.
