The Chief of Staff, vol 8, no. 2

AUTUMN JOURNAL

A foreword from Professor David C. Hood introduces The Chief of Staff higher education issue.

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From emerging role to established function: a decade of growth in understanding the chief of staff role.

In 2017, the higher education chief of staff remained something of an organisational mystery. While the position had become increasingly common across colleges and universities, relatively little scholarly attention had been devoted to understanding the role, how it functioned within institutional structures, or why presidents were increasingly relying upon it. Early research focused primarily on describing the position itself, the responsibilities chiefs of staff assumed, and the ways they navigated the complexities of their institutions. Reading the articles collected in this special issue nearly a decade later, I was struck by how much the conversation has evolved. The contributors gathered here are no longer attempting to answer the question of ‘What is a chief of staff?’, as I once did. Instead, they assume the role exists, contributes value, and occupies a meaningful place in higher education leadership. The discussion has shifted from explaining the position to examining how it functions and evolves in practice.Contributors explore chiefs of staff as crisis leaders, institutional integrators, executive partners, governance navigators, strategic advisers, community builders, talent developers, and architects of organisational alignment. That progression alone reflects an important maturation of the field.Perhaps most striking, however, is what emerges when these contributions are read together as a body of evidence. The articles address a remarkable variety of institutional contexts and challenges. Contributors discuss crisis preparedness, medical schools, presidential succession (Jack, p. 23), governance structures, provost offices (Miller, p. 73), dean-chief of staff partnerships (Johnson and Bishop, p. 67), and international public-sector leadership environments (Loh, p. 29). The higher education landscape represented in these pages is substantially different from the one that existed a decade ago. Universities now face intensifying scrutiny, demographic pressures, technological disruption, changing workforce expectations, declining public trust, and increasingly complex operating environments (Farmer, p. 51). Yet despite these differences, the descriptions of the chief of staff role remain remarkably familiar.

Across the collection, contributors repeatedly describe chiefs of staff as connectors, translators, conveners, relationship managers, strategic advisers, information brokers, and trusted partners. They help leaders see across institutional silos. They facilitate communication between groups that possess different goals, responsibilities, and perspectives (Vultaggio, p. 14). They create alignment where complexity threatens fragmentation. They help institutions move from strategy to execution while simultaneously helping executives navigate demands that exceed the capacity of any single individual.

In these respects, the role appears less defined by changing circumstances than by an enduring purpose. While the challenges confronting higher education have changed substantially, the core function of the chief of staff appears strikingly stable.This observation becomes even more interesting when viewed through the lens of scholarship that emerged between 2017 and the present. By 2023, research had already begun moving beyond role identification towards a deeper examination of how chiefs of staff function within institutions. Rather than defining the role, scholars increasingly sought to understand how it operated across different institutional contexts and leadership relationships.Nicholas Everage's dissertation, ‘“Oh, What Makes You So Special?” A Dual Exploration of the Chief of Staff in Higher Education’ (EdD diss., University of Georgia, 2023) represented an important step in that progression. Rather than simply asking what chiefs of staff do, Everage examined how presidents and chiefs of staff understood the position, how those perceptions differed, and how the role varied across institutional contexts.Importantly, recent findings did not radically redefine the role. Instead, they expanded our understanding of it.The current research highlights chiefs of staff as trusted advisers, institutional connectors, strategic partners, relationship managers, and individuals who often exercise influence through credibility rather than formal authority. It also reveals the complexity of the role's organisational positioning and the degree to which responsibilities vary across institutions (Navarro et al., p. 59).The significance of Everage’s and others’ work is not that it overturns earlier understandings of the chief of staff. Rather, it collectively demonstrates that the conversation itself has matured. This special issue represents another step in that progression.What is particularly interesting is that these authors often arrive at similar conclusions despite examining the role through very different lenses. Whether discussing governance, crisis response (Canady Wargo et al., p. 39), executive partnerships, institutional strategy, professional development, leadership succession, or organisational influence, contributors repeatedly emphasise the importance of relationships, credibility, judgement, and the ability to work effectively across institutional boundaries. The language varies from article to article, but the underlying message remains remarkably consistent.At the centre of many of these descriptions is trust. Contributors repeatedly describe trust as the mechanism through which chiefs of staff gain access to information, exercise influence, facilitate collaboration, and help institutions make decisions amidst uncertainty. What becomes clear across these articles is that the effectiveness of the chief of staff rarely stems from formal authority. Instead, effectiveness emerges from credibility, judgement, discretion, relationships, and the ability to create confidence among diverse stakeholders. The chief of staff occupies a position that depends heavily upon influence but only minimally upon direct control (Burney, p. 80).Several contributors describe this dynamic from different perspectives, yet they arrive at similar conclusions. Whether framed as institutional integration, parallel partnership, influence without authority, strategic translation, or community building, the underlying principle remains consistent: the role succeeds when people trust the individual occupying it.

Taken together, the scholarship and practice represented in this special issue suggest something note-worthy. The most significant change over the past decade may not be the role itself. Rather, it may be the collective understanding of the role. While colleges and universities continue to differ in how they structure the position, a greater degree of conceptual clarity appears to be emerging regarding the value the role provides.

Looking forward, the role will undoubtedly continue evolving. New technologies will reshape decision-making. Governance challenges will emerge. Demographic, economic, and political pressures will continue transforming higher education. The questions confronting institutions 10 years from now will almost certainly differ from those explored in these pages. Yet after reading this collection, one conclusion seems likely to endure.Colleges and universities will continue to need people who can connect disparate groups, translate across organisational boundaries, create alignment among competing priorities, and help leaders make sense of complexity. They will also continue to need individuals who transform information into understanding, relationships into action, and institutional aspirations into coordinated effort.The environment has changed dramatically since 2017, when I completed An Investigation into the Role of Chief of Staff in a Higher Education Setting (PhD diss., University of Nebraska–Lincoln), and the conversation surrounding the chief of staff has evolved just as dramatically. What remains remarkably stable is the essential contribution of the role itself.As long as higher education remains a complex enterprise, there will be a need for leaders who help institutions move together rather than merely move. This publication suggests that the chief of staff has become one of those leaders, not simply as an administrative support position, but as an established leadership function within higher education.David C. Hood is a Professor in the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programme in the College of Hospitality and Business at Johnson & Wales University. Professor Hood holds a BS and MBA from Johnson & Wales University, an MEd from Rhode Island College, and a PhD in Leadership Studies from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He also serves as a reviewer for the Academy of Management.

From the desk of the CEO

Few sectors ask as much of their leaders as higher education. Shared governance, distributed authority and a community that runs from students to legislators mean no decision belongs to one office alone, and the consequences reach well beyond campus.

It is in this setting that the chief of staff has moved from an emerging position to an established leadership function. This issue examines that shift through the words and examples of the people living it.

Their findings travel beyond higher education. Chiefs of staff and principals in every sector will recognise the trust, alignment, influence and partnership at work here. They will see it tested in one of the oldest kinds of institutions as it responds to new technology, climate crisis, and growing scrutiny from governments and the press.

As Editorial Manager Henry Martin writes in his introduction: in this setting, the chief of staff emerges, unambiguously, as a custodian of the institution’s mission.

My thanks go to Professor David C. Hood, whose early study helped open this field, for his foreword, and to the contributors for documenting the challenges and impact of the role within institutions and for the leaders they work alongside.Trent Smyth AM
Chief Executive Officer
The Chief of Staff Association

The Chief of Staff, vol 8, no. 2

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