What really happens when college faculty take a no confidence vote in their president? Sarah sits down with Dr. Chuck Ambrose—author, consultant, and former president—to pull back the curtain on the hard and hidden costs of campus leadership crises. If you think it’s all about a president’s payout, think again. Instability sends shockwaves through campus culture, hitting enrollment, fundraising, and even faculty morale in ways most never see coming.

Are you wondering how an internal vote can actually change the financial health and student success at your institution? Listen to Dr. Chuck Ambrose explain the true impact of no confidence votes—and what every campus leader needs to know.

Episode Highlights:

04:00 - At the same time, there are cases where, whether it's moral turpitude or as we used to define it, kind of don't self inflict pain, where leaders as humans make bad decisions and reflect poorly on the institution, cause reputational damage and has generated a no confidence vote.

11:59 - You take 15 people on a campus and ask them what shared governance means. Each one of them is going to have a different definition. And we don't teach it. And if we don't teach it, we don't model it. If we don't model it, then how can we say recommit to shared governance if we even have just a hard time defining it?

18:36 - There's just no way higher ed can present a sustainable future and continue to offer as many programs and as many majors in the same modalities that we've offered.

21:48 - If I were going to do one more, it would certainly be more transparency, everything driven off, especially within the private sector, primarily cash and liquidity so that people really understood and then owned.

Sarah Holtan, PhD

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Chuck Ambrose, EdD

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