Rutgers Pre-Doc Leadership Program Holds First Washington Forum

Fellows from the Rutgers Pre-Doc Leadership Institute (PDLI) went to Washington recently to meet with federal officials at a forum on higher education.

The institute was founded to help pre-docs prepare for future leadership roles in higher education. At Rutgers' Washington office, where the forum took place, beltway education legislative and policy experts met and discussed current issues with the fellows group. 

"The forum provided an opportunity for our fellows to explore the national challenges facing higher education with leaders from a number of the major Washington groups," said Brent Ruben, founder of the institute and executive director of the Center for Organizational Development and Leadership at Rutgers.

The meeting was hosted by Francine Pfeiffer, assistant vice president, Rutgers Office of Federal Relations. Assisting with the planning and coordination of the event were Barbara Bender, associate dean of academic support, the Graduate School-New Brunswick; Richard DeLisi, dean of the Graduate School of Education; and Jerome Kukor, dean of academic programs and research, Rutgers' School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

A representative from the University of South Florida's Graduate School dean's office also attended. According to Ruben, there are plans to start a parallel PLDI program at that university. The forum is envisioned as an annual event, Ruben said.

Ruben, who is also a professor in the Department of Communication in the School of Communication and Information, is the driving force behind the new Pre-Doc leadership Institute, an initiative designed to equip future administrators with skills they traditionally have had to learn on the job.

"Much has been said about the need for enhanced leadership skills at all levels –  from heads of committees, programs, laboratories, and departments to provosts, deans, directors, vice presidents, and presidents," Ruben said. "Part of the problem comes about because graduate education is designed to prepare scholars and teachers, not leaders. We assume leadership competencies and an understanding of the critical challenges facing higher education will develop naturally, but often they don’t. Without knowledge and skills in areas such as collaborative problem-solving, interpersonal relationships, and organizational communication, the transition to leadership roles is very difficult at best.” 

Preparing leaders in academia is largely a matter of trial and error compared with other sectors, where systematic programs routinely help individuals develop critical competencies, he added. The leadership institute fills that vacuum. It is based on the premise that doctoral students get a strong grounding in their fields, but comparatively little insight about how to function day-to-day in an administrative post, Ruben said.

Open to doctoral students across all disciplines, the program offers lectures and briefings from department chairs, deans, and administrators. Ruben believes that the Rutgers program, with its focus on pre-doctoral education as a complement to disciplinary preparation, is among a select few in the country.  

"I myself had no formal leadership training,” said De Lisi, who came to Rutgers in 1976 and was named department chair the day he became tenured and is now in his eighth year as dean. One of the biggest adjustments from faculty member to administrator was learning to envision a broader picture.

“Universities have a high-level mission and objective, and certainly as a faculty member you have to move toward those goals,” De Lisi, the dean of Rutgers Graduate School of Education. “Usually, though, you do that alone, or through team teaching or joint research. But as an administrator, you have to adopt and embrace goals beyond your discipline – direct more faculty, deal with larger constituencies. There’s a lot more managing up to advance your school.”