August 8, 2005
Dr. Howard Keim, the new president
of Hesston College, attended a Harvard University seminar for new
presidents in mid-July.
Keim said the July 15-20 seminar
at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Mass., was
"invigorating and exhausting at the same time." He noted
that meetings began at 8:30 in the morning and often ran until 8:30
or 9 in the evening.
Keim said the input and discussion
groups were helpful, especially sessions on financial management and
governance. "The content was practical, but grounded in research.
It was also intellectually stimulating."
"I'm glad the Hesston College
Board of Overseers told me I should go to the seminar," Keim
said. "Given the amount of work to do on campus, it would have
been tempting to stay here."
The 45 participants applied for
the seminar by writing a letter to the selection committee. Most came
from the U.S., but new presidents from colleges and universities in
Canada, Denmark, and Northern Ireland also attended. "I even
met a president whose brother attended Hesston College," Keim
said.
Keim was one of only two presidents
from private two-year liberal arts colleges in the U.S. Young Harris
College is located in Young Harris, on Georgia's northern border with
North Carolina.
Since the seminar, Keim has had
e-mail conversations with some of the participants. "I plan to
keep in touch with several of them, especially W. Stephen Gunter,
the president of the two-year college."