8 important steps in campus leadership interviews

Participating in leadership interviews is an important task for faculty and staff. In today’s campus environments, as we arise from the challenges of the pandemic and look to the future, leadership will be essential from those in positional authority.

However, like many other tasks that fall under the concept of “other duties as assigned,” there is rarely effective direction on how to participate in the process effectively.

Following are a few dos and don’ts when the opportunity to participate in selecting new leaders comes along.

It is important to treat all the candidates equitably. Don’t just go to selected interviews. Try to attend all of them. If possible, attend in the same way as well. Attending virtually will not give you the same information as attending physically. When you attend a physical interview, you can often see how the candidate prepares for the event. If they are early, do they introduce themselves around the room or sit in a corner and look at their phone. Oh–before I forget, turn your phone off during the interview, or leave it in your office.

Try to come prepared and review all of the information on the candidate ahead of time. A note to the human resources folks–ask the candidates to provide a summary, profile, or CV for distribution. When HR creates a summary, it risks errors in the materials and may not focus on what the candidate would want to focus on.

Particularly with regard to internal candidates, try to treat them the same as external candidates. Don’t spend time chatting about campus issues. Treat them the same as external candidates working only off the information that is provided about the candidate. It often takes a lot to step forward internally, so provide the internal candidates the same opportunity to share their experience and vision.

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Steven M. Baule, Ed.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Steve Baule is a faculty member at Winona State University (WSU), where he teaches in the Leadership Education Department. Prior to joining WSU, Baule spent 28 years in K-12 school systems in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, and two years teaching in the University of Wisconsin System. For the 13 years prior to moving to the university level, Baule served as a public -school superintendent. He has written 10 books on a variety of educational and historical topics and has served on the editorial boards for two journals. Baule earned an advanced diversity and equity certificate while in the UW system. He holds a doctorate in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University Chicago.

Baule’s scholarly interests focus on online student engagement, educational technology-- particularly the impact of 1:1 implementations, social-emotional learning, and the history of education. Baule led several efforts to improve student emotional health and reduce discipline issues prior to moving into higher education. He also writes on aspects of early American history.

Baule has held memberships in the American Association of School Administrators, the American Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Consortium for School Networking, the International Association of School Librarians, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Staff Development Council, and many of their state affiliates. He has served as a consultant in the areas of educational technology, facilities design, library program development, team building, and communications.

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