Weekly Wisdom Episode 6: Transcript of Conversation With Shirley Collado, Ithaca College President

Note: This interview, Episode 6 of the Weekly Wisdom Series, originally aired on May 18, 2020 as part of the University Innovation Alliance’s Innovating Together podcast, appearing live on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Click here to access our summary, along with helpful links and audio from this episode.

Shirley Collado:
We really hit this crisis with this foundational platform around our strategic plan called Ithaca Forever. We already knew that we needed to embrace some huge structural changes, so in some bizarre way this crisis allowed for some light to be shed rather radically to activate change that perhaps for us was going to take three to four years.

Bridget Burns:
Welcome to Innovating Together, podcast produced by the University Innovation Alliance. This is the podcast for busy people in higher education who are looking for the best ideas, inspiration and leaders to help you improve student success. I'm your host, Bridget Burns. You’re about to watch another episode of “Start the Week with Wisdom,” which for those of you at home, if you have not seen this before, these are weekly episodes where we conduct an interview with a sitting college president or chancellor. And we want to talk to them about how they’re navigating the challenge of this moment. We’re in a really unique time and we want to focus on their leadership and unpack how they are making decisions, how they are navigating. And hopefully it will leave you with a sense of optimism, a bit inspired and give you a bit of hope.

Jeff Selingo:
I'm Jeff Selingo, joining you from Washington, D.C., where I'm an author, a journalist and a special adviser at Arizona State University. So I'm really excited, Bridget, this week for this interview because it’s with the president of my alma mater, Ithaca College, where I also sit on the board. And we have with us today the President of Ithaca College, Dr. Shirley Collado, who has been president at Ithaca since 2017. She’s had a long career in higher ed before that at Rutgers University Newark, at Middlebury, with the Posse Foundation. She’s also on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust, so she sees it from both sides, both as a trustee and as a president. So it’s great to have you with us today, Shirley.

Shirley Collado:
Thanks, Jeff. Thanks, Bridget, for creating this space. It’s a really important time so I'm looking forward to the conversation. 

Bridget Burns:
Last week we covered my alma mater, so this is Jeff’s – he’s been looking forward to this for quite some time, getting his alma mater. 

Shirley Collado:
That's great. I see in Vanderbilt, this is fabulous.

Jeff Selingo:
Yeah. It’s great to have you, Shirley. So how are you holding up right now? What’s been happening the last couple of weeks and where are you in this moment as a president?

Shirley Collado:
Sure. Well, first of all I so appreciate the question, being asked how we’re doing in these superhero roles during this crazy time. I guess I would say, you know, it is by far one of the most challenging moments of my career. And I would really couch that in the reality that I'm carrying the weight of enormous decisions that need to be carried out in a collaborative way, for the public good, in a market that’s completely shifting. And we’re doing this mostly from computer screens, where we’re not able to sit with our teams and our people as we navigate huge decisions and also share news that can be challenging and anxiety provoking. So I'm really blessed to be at an amazing institution, but I'm also in the State of New York, the epicenter of this public health crisis, and it’s been a pretty incredible journey so far. I guess that’s what I’d say about where I'm sitting from right now, in this moment. 

Bridget Burns:
That's helpful. So I'm curious about – you just made a big announcement, correct? And so you want to share a little bit about kind of how, leading up to that, kind of your thinking in terms of – as a leader, how do you navigate making big decisions in the midst of all of this?

Shirley Collado:
Sure. So actually today I'm talking with both of you after sharing with my faculty and staff, current students, new students who’ve been admitted to Ithaca College, and their families, all of our alumni. And we just got to a board meeting in which I shared this news and talked it through with trustees, but essentially Ithaca College has decided to very diligently, following what has been a data-driven, science-based, methodical phase, nimble approach since the beginning of this crisis, to publically plan and state the restart of our in-person education on this residential campus in amazing Ithaca, New York, but do it late fall, actually Monday, October 5^th. And we did that very deliberately, restructuring the entire academic year in a way that we haven’t before, largely because we want to be aligned with the guidelines and restrictions in the State of New York.

We want to give hope and careful planning time for both new families, as you know, have high school students, community college transfers, students who are coming to college through a variety of walks of life that are sitting home or wherever they’re sitting right now, not knowing what the future of college is going to be. And we really thought that starting in October would give us a runway, if you will, that would allow our faculty and staff to be innovative, to follow a carefully-planned-out emergency health safety management plan that would be in line with the state. And for families who are thinking about their child returning to college or going to college for the first time that they know they’re coming to a place that’s really thought this through. That’s what really fueled what we were trying to do. 

Bridget and Jeff, this comes on the heels of us putting together also some pretty amazing and innovative summer programs, all virtual, courses and virtual engagement strategies for returning and new students, to really promote student success, yield and retention, which is a big part of our strategic plan, Ithaca Forever.

Jeff Selingo:
Shirley, you mentioned earlier about kind of the weight of this crisis on leaders of colleges and universities. These are tough jobs, I think, to begin with. I think Bridget and I see that from the outside. Not quite sure either of us would ever want to be a college president after being close to them enough over these last years and so forth, but what is kind of guiding you right now? Is there a leadership framework that you’re using, especially as you mentioned earlier, in this virtual environment? We’re all looking at these screens. You can't talk to faculty members directly. You can't even talk to your senior team directly. So is there a leadership framework you’re using or is there something that you’re pulling from you past, from leadership lessons in your previous jobs to help guide you through this moment?

Shirley Collado:
Yes. Well, I would say that prior to this crisis in general my approach has always been to take the approach and framework around really servant leadership, really serving an institution and serving a public good. And I should say I hear all the time people don't want to do my job. You should know, full disclosure, this was not a path for me. I was not thinking about doing this. This simply ended up being an incredible position to sit in to really live out the kind of change that I believe students need to see in American higher education. And I'm trying to do my best in that effort.

I would say at Ithaca specifically – and it does inform how I'm approaching this as a leader – is we really hit this crisis with this foundational platform around our strategic plan called Ithaca Forever. We already knew that we needed to embrace some really huge structural changes. I’ll give you a couple of examples. For instance, a big part of our plan is recalibrating our size, really, really aligning what we’re delivering with the size that makes sense in the market, that’s intentional, that’s strategic and will inevitably call for some very difficult decisions around academic program prioritization, around curricular development that’s relevant for students. And the other piece is, you know, how do you create a just, equitable, and affordable institution for all students to fully thrive, an environment where faculty and staff want to work, when you are sitting in the Northeast in a saturated market, at an enrollment-dependent institution that has enormous strengths, but is really in a position that’s quite distinct around things that I know you both understand are happening in the landscape of higher ed.

So in some bizarre way this crisis, if you will, allowed for some light to be shed rather radically, that we were already embracing in our plan, to activate change that perhaps for us was going to take three to four years and now really needs to happen now. And it’s important for me to do that in an environment that still feels collaborative, that feels empowering to our staff and faculty and to our students. And most of all I guess I'm guided mostly, Jeff, by a fierce commitment to do right by students. They are the reason that I'm sitting in this seat and that places like Ithaca College exist for. So that’s really where we’re trying to walk the walk. And, boy, has this crisis really moved us to really, you know, produce the most honest version of who we are, what’s our culture really about. And I'm really proud of what I’ve seen so far at I.C. around what we’re trying to do.

Bridget Burns:
That's great. I am curious about – you just made a really bold announcement and every day it seems that there’s just like a swirl of news coming in, and then there’s the actual decisions that have to be made. And I'm curious about how you as a leader – and this is really for others who are watching because I think we’re all struggling with this a bit. I see college presidents really have to figure this out and I'm hoping you can inspire others with how you handle it, but how do you keep your eye on the ball when there is a pressing kind of, just every day more news, this, that, and then there’s just all this pressure to get colleges to make commitments about when they’re coming back or if they’re coming back. It’s just a lot of noise and I'm just curious about how you figure out what decisions actually are important and how to stay focused on those?

Shirley Collado:
Bridget, that’s such a good question. It’s so rich. And I'm far from perfect on this issue because I do think it’s a process about being authentic and courageous and mission-driven as a leader. There’s so much noise out there on a daily basis, so many things that college presidents have to take into account, including institutions that have a real financial dilemma that they need to figure out. And what guides me is really – and I know it sounds over-simplistic, but it’s actually hard to do – if you are truly focused on the development of students and making sure that they have a chance at this incredible privilege of being educated in American higher education, then all of your decisions and what you do really should be guided by that. And sometimes when we’re making decisions in higher ed, I think presidents have so many constituents that they have to navigate and manage and control messages on that we can sometimes really lose ourselves in that –

It’s actually pretty hard to be brave, I think, and very honest and vulnerable and take chances and try something and fail at it. And we ask students to do this all the time. And so one of the great outcomes I think of this crisis – we’ve been talking about it here as a faculty and staff – is, you know, we made some enormous shifts here that we would’ve never anticipated being willing to do. And it was the grit and the tenacity and the will of this place focused on students that made people stretch into areas that they were not comfortable going into. And so ultimately what’s happened is – I think there’s been some innovation. I think there are some things that probably will stick. I think there’s some lessons that we’re learning right now about what does it mean to be who we are? 

And I would say, I guess, to answer your question about being able to, you know – today I said, “We’re putting a stake in the ground. We’re planning this. That doesn’t mean we’re not being responsible. It doesn’t mean we’re going to get every part right, but we’ll focus on those students and those families. And not just what they need to hear, but what do we need to act upon and do to actually make things happen for them?” And we’re doing this in a state that has been hit so dramatically by this public health crisis. And so if I can inspire a sense of really focusing on students and being willing to stick your neck out, but not irresponsibly. With all due respect to my colleagues, I know that other institutions have announced that they’re opening or states that are opening, but I think what we’re doing today at planning at Ithaca is quite different than just saying we’re going to open. 

Jeff Selingo:
Shirley, you mentioned about stuff that might stick, right? So even as October opening now requires you to kind of rethink the academic calendar in ways that might have been impossible just even a couple of months ago, obviously, there’s much more online learning happening at all of our institutions. There’s different ways of collaborating now and different ways of working remotely that, again, six months ago Bridget and I were at a higher ed conference and somebody suggested any of these things, they would be like, “Well, that will never happen,” right?

Bridget Burns:
End of days.

Jeff Selingo:
So what might stick, either generally or specifically, from this crisis for the long-term? Whether it’s at Ithaca or whether it’s more broadly in higher ed. Do you get a sense of anything now that you’re starting to see, “Hmm! This innovative spirit might actually stay with us for the long-term.” Is there anything that you’re seeing that you think might stick?

Shirley Collado:
Yes, there are a few things. One, I think the kind of space that’s been created for faculty, frankly, to be vulnerable and to learn new things and to do peer-to-peer work. We have some incredible faculty who are very innovative in the space of virtual work and the use of technology. And they have been out, front and center, really helping their peers figure out a best way to do things that would normally feel scary and not make sense. I think the level of collaboration that’s happening across functions and units and areas of higher ed is creating a space for people to work together in ways that they haven’t before. The way we are talking about how people do work and how we can connect across different areas of the college virtually, I think has allowed us to uncover redundancies and inefficiencies and raise up things that are really empowering and creative.

From a curricular standpoint, and often, as you know, the curriculum is seen as this big, heavy thing that’s so hard to lift and change without deep faculty governance structures. And I will say our summer initiatives are a great example. We’re offering very low-cost courses to returning students so that they don't miss a beat, focusing on student success. And for new students coming in, the opportunity to have these college transition courses, the first one actually free, the next one very low in price - $150 a credit. And we have faculty – I mean many – proposals for interdisciplinary courses for those students focused on retention and success. And so that kind of just creativity of course development and working alongside staff who are professionals in student affairs, that are focusing on retention and development of students, that kind of intersection you don't really see easily and swiftly in the academy. 

And we’re doing that right now, one, because we know it’s the right thing for people to do, but it’s actually given people a vehicle to our strategic plan to say, “Yeah, let’s deliver a curriculum that’s relevant to today’s society and also affordable and engaging," and having students feel during this horrible time for them, especially high school students, that they have something to go to and that they can be connected in ways that perhaps before getting on a residential college campus they didn’t and we didn’t imagine possible.

Bridget Burns:
That’s super helpful. I am curious about – in the midst of all of what’s going on, you as a leader, it sounds like you are direct and honest with the people who work for you and you’re trying to be as transparent as possible. You have to also be somewhat hopeful. You have to find some way to be inspiring in the midst of this, which it is not always an inspiring time. Last weekend we had all these graduation speeches, super inspiring. If we could just repeat those, that’d be great. But I'm curious about what is – how are you hopeful or inspired in this moment? Is there anything in particular that is allowing you to, as a leader, keep a sense of optimism?

Shirley Collado:
Well, yes. I think – well, first of all, if you figure out a way – and I do, because I do it in a very purposeful way – you have to stay close to students and what the reality is for young people in America. And so I have virtual open office hours. I am engaging students virtually on a regular basis as a president. I think all presidents need to be close to their people and to the individuals that they educate. That is by definition, hands down, the greatest thing, to be inspired. You know, we don't typically raise these issues as presidents and it’s not just because Jeff’s on this conversation, but to be aligned with your board and feel like they have your back, to be brave, to be distinct, to be real during this very hard time, to be human during this hard time as a leader is incredibly inspiring.

In my board meeting just last week I felt that that was something that was really important for me and my team. And they’re standing with us, which I have to say is really important for the advancement of any institution. You know, I think that, for me, I inherited an institution that in 1892 as a conservatory of music already had in its D.N.A. this kind of grit, this appetite, this scrappiness, this brave way to kind of reimagine music education and then throw itself into complete liberal arts and the power of professional education. And so I say that not to brag about Ithaca College, but I think as presidents you have to be at a place where, when you go back to the roots of the place, even the ugly stuff, the hard stuff, you can kind of look at that and connect it to contemporary reality and say, “Why were we here in the first place? What have we been trying to do?” And so part of my balancing hope with reality, which in our plan I called, as I gave the charge, “bold realism,” it’s really about getting people to understand that change is inevitable. 

And if you look back, actually, Ithaca College has changed multiple times, has reimagined itself multiple times while still staying very true to what it is. And we need to do that with a different student body today, with different financial realities, but I think that’s a really powerful way that I stay inspired around the future of what’s coming. And then finding other brave leaders, quite frankly. I mean, something powerful right now in working with different institutions is, you know, there aren’t a lot of turf builders. So people who want to do the good work and the right work, they’re sharing. They’re thinking about ways of sharing resources. They’re sharing ideas. They’re open. And we need that right now, sitting in these seats and thinking about how to support our students.

Jeff Selingo:
Shirley, we’ve had some great questions coming in on LinkedIn, and I want to take one of them from Bridget’s neck of the woods out there, in Oregon. Somebody from George Fox University out in Portland, who works on strategy. And talking about planning right now in higher ed, a lot of planning in higher ed, whether it’s around enrollment or curriculum or staffing or whatever it is, is based on the past, right? And the past or at least the recent past right now may not be a great indicator of what the future holds. How do you think about planning now, in the midst of a lot of unknowns, right? How are you trying to tell your staff and external audiences about how you’re going to think about the next couple of years given we’re in a period of a lot of ambiguity right now, it seems?

Shirley Collado:
Yeah, that’s such a great question around planning. So, you know, it goes without saying a lot of people think strategic plans and higher ed are very traditional, dreamless, that collect a lot of dust on a shelf. And I resisted that. We did. At Ithaca College we resisted that. I mentioned this bold realism. We wanted to do a plan that was actionable, that was ambitious but also pragmatic, that had a timeframe but also was set up to be universally nimble and brave. And so, you know, if you take one objective, one goal around what we’ve been calling the recalibration of a size of the institution, that in itself right now, in the middle of this crisis, needs to be fluid, needs to be informed by what’s going on now. So I would say to the person asking the question, you can't create plans that are static and rigid in the moment. They have to be completely relevant and they have to have a sense of urgency that’s instilling a culture of feeling empowered and proud about what you’re doing as opposed to building a plan around fear or deficits and what we’re facing.

So a good example is our Ithaca Forever plan. You know, we rolled it out and finalized it last year, after a full year of very engaged planning, along with our local community in Ithaca, and this was our year of implementation. And we literally, we actually just presented this to the board. We took that plan in the crisis and it was an affirming moment to say – what are we being called to do in this plan right now? We build this road map. Where do we need to pivot? Where do we need to reprioritize? And what’s truly at stake? In a crisis, you have to be really honest about what your values are and what your real priorities are. And so in some ways, as a leader, it’s given me the opportunity to really commit our community to what we said we were going to do and right now, then, how are we going to do it given our circumstances and with the most sense of urgency and braveness and honesty.

It has to stay fresh that way. It can't be rigid. Our whole sector has to be responsive, while still staying true to who we are historically. So it’s a little counterintuitive. I think sometimes I think I signed up for the job in the sector that’s so anti-the way that I see change, but I actually think at Ithaca we’re rolling with the punches, you know? We’re growing with it and moving forward. And we don't feel pulled back, which I think even in this scary time is actually pretty inspiring and exciting. 

Bridget Burns:
That’s wonderful. So we’ll have one last question, in the hopes that it can give folks maybe some breadcrumbs of where to follow. I'm curious if, in times of crisis or especially right now, books or movies or music that are particularly helpful in terms of helping you kind of stay focused and see things in a way that there is that sense of optimism, but also just kind of remind you who you are as a leader.

Shirley Collado:
Ah, that’s such a great question. My students know that I don't shy away from music at all. I am at Ithaca College where, you know, we are a major leader in theater and arts and music, but it’s really part of my – I’ve been known to be featured in dance videos with students. Brag a little bit. My co-presidents, my fellow presidents said, “You’re making me look bad when you do this stuff,” but it really is, it’s really fun and it keeps me alive, you know? You can't go wrong with some great Billie Holiday. And my husband Van and I are huge jazz fans and we actually introduced quite a bit of jazz to events, including commencement my last two years here, which was really great. And that is part of shifting culture, right? Who do you see reflected in this community and really kind of growing that and expanding that? Well, most recently I think fiction helps me escape.

I'm married to a poet and we do read together. It keeps me involved in ways that, you know, when I'm reading all of this heavy higher ed writing, including Jeff Selingo’s work, you need a creative space. And right now I'm reading Afterlife by Julia Alvarez. It’s a work of fiction and a really beautiful book, a novel. And I also read some graphic novels as well. So a little mixture of stuff, but if you’re looking for the heavy, higher education stuff, I –

Jeff Selingo:
No, we’re not. Too much of that.

Bridget Burns:
Yeah.

Shirley Collado:
For me it’s music and fiction and poetry. And dancing. A dance break on a daily basis doesn’t hurt anybody.

Bridget Burns:
So have you done a TikTok with your students is the question.

Shirley Collado:
I have not.

Bridget Burns:
You got to make this happen.

Shirley Collado:
I know. As soon as they’re back and I know if they hear this, it’s – but I’ve been in a short film as an actress with Park [University] students, by the way, Jeff. And I’ve been in a dance video. Yeah, the students, they all cover all kinds of things. In open office hours, I participate in all kinds of things that students will come in and ask if I'm willing to be a part of. So we have a creative bunch here at Ithaca College.

Jeff Selingo:
Of course TikTok might not be a thing, Bridget, by the time students get back to campus, knowing the way things happen these days. Bridget, I’ll turn it back to you to close this out.

Bridget Burns:
Well, thank you so much. This has been wonderful. And we hope for you, at home, this has been inspiring to give a reminder of how to stay optimistic in this moment. You’re all leaders and we were hoping that teeing up different perspectives on leadership and different faces of leadership will remind you that we can get through this and we’re going to be able to navigate it. Might not be perfect, but we’re going to get through it. And so I want to thank you all for coming to Weekly Wisdom this week. And we’re going to take the next week off because Jeff and I are both going to construct camping forts in our living room and pretend to go on wild day trips. So that will be a really fun trip, but we will be back in two weeks and hopefully we’ll be bringing a new president. We have a couple of really exciting ones teed up. And so thank you again, President Collado. It’s been a pleasure.

Shirley Collado:
Thank you.

Bios of Guest and Co-Hosts

About Weekly Wisdom
Weekly Wisdom is an event series that happens live on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It also becomes a podcast episode. Every week, we join forces with Inside Higher Ed and talk with a sitting college president or chancellor about how they're specifically navigating the challenges of this moment. These conversations will be filled with practicable things you can do right now by unpacking how and why college leaders are making decisions within higher education. Hopefully, these episodes will also leave you with a sense of optimism and a bit of inspiration.

Rate, Review & Subscribe
Learn why hundreds of people have rated this new podcast 5 stars! Please join others and rate and review this podcast. This helps us reach and inform more people -- like you -- to help increase the number and diversity of college graduates in the United States.

Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast. We’ll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed and, if you’re not subscribed, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out.