ASHLAND – Ashland University’s Provost Dr. Eun-Woo Chang is one of 20 senior college administrators selected by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to participate in a year-long Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission program for prospective college and university presidents.
The seminar-based program is designed to help individuals with the potential to serve as college and university presidents to clarify the alignment between their personal and professional values and goals and the missions of institutions that they might lead in the future. With a wave of retirements of university presidents on the horizon, it is especially important that individuals who become new presidents are well suited to the culture of the institution.
The program aims to produce presidencies that are long lasting, highly effective, and satisfying to both the individual and the institution.
Participants, including Dr. Chang, will engage in two seminars, participate in consultations with experienced facilitators, and undertake a series of readings about the vocation of college presidents and the role of vision and mission in institutional leadership.
“The alignment of personal vocation and institutional mission emphasized in this program addresses a common pitfall of presidencies,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “The program aims to help participants achieve great things for their institutions and to avoid being ‘the right person in the wrong place.’”
Dr. Chang joined Ashland University as provost in spring 2016 and in that role is responsible for leadership of the academic areas as well as the undergraduate and graduate admission, enrollment and marketing areas on campus.
AU President Dr. Carlos Campo was pleased that Dr. Chang was selected for the program.
“Eun-Woo is an innovative and visionary academic leader. He has been a tremendous asset to Ashland University in a number of administrative areas and he has the ability to understand and solve complex issues in a university environment,” Campo said.
Dr. Chang served as vice president for academic affairs at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey and as dean of science for engineering and mathematics at Montgomery College in Rockville, Md., prior to joining Ashland University. He has a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Los Angeles, an M.A. in chemistry from Minnesota State University and a B.S. in chemistry from South Korea.
This approach to the preparation of new presidents has proven itself highly successful in the period that the program has been operating. Since 2005, 50 program participants (35 percent) have been named to college presidencies—a very high rate of advancement among leadership development programs.
