JANUARY 15, 2009 • eWeekly is best viewed in your browser. Click here. • Please forward eWeekly to a friend. |
Leonard Schlesinger’s career shows a pattern. Teach—apply—then do it again. He's taught on the business faculties of Harvard Business School and Brown University. He's applied what he's taught in senior executive positions at Limited Brands and Au Bon Pain. He's now the new president of Babson College.
This is part 2 in a series. Click here to read part 1 How important is it for a college president to be able to foresee change?
Very. Higher education is one of our longest-living social institutions. Nevertheless, there are fundamental trends today that call for transformation of the industry. For example, without real change I can't conceive of a long-term future for a small under-funded college. It will require new operating capabilities and new sources of philanthropy. It will also require a new focus on students, their parents who are footing the bill, and their advocates. How might that focus on the student relate to employability after graduation?
The opportunity cost of undergraduate education is enormous, both in terms of time and financial outlay. So we must assume the responsibility of demonstrating a return on that investment. Has he or she been trained to do what he or she wants to do? And will that career happen within a reasonable period of time after graduation? Finally, is the student connected into a network of alumni/ae who can convey incremental status and value?
As an example, describe the Wall Street hiring market for your graduates prior to the financial industry's present difficulties.
Roughly a third of Babson graduates pursued careers in finance and financial services right out of college. The hiring market has been historically robust—until the last few months.
How might that hiring market look two years from now?
It certainly won't look like it did last year. Already, there is no Wall Street to speak of as we remember it. Consolidation at the bank holding company level is changing the employment picture dramatically. The government's involvement two years from now is certainly unclear today.
Discuss Babson's involvement in sustainability.
We see real opportunities to produce talent for clean-tech industry. A possible $150 billion investment in sustainable projects by the Obama administration will require enormous talent. We will play a major role in providing it. How will you harness Babson methodology to sustainability?
This college focuses on training people for managerial positions that require and reward action. Practical applications are taught, studied and encouraged here. Our students must ask "What do I know?" "Who am I?" "Whom do I know?"
What do you expect from your cross-enrollment agreement with Olin College of Engineering?
The overwhelming majority of significant entrepreneurial activities in the next twenty years will require a fundamental understanding of technology. Both colleges have essentially the same mission, which is to harness entrepreneurial innovation to make a better world. The platform for that at Babson is business. The platform at Olin is engineering. The more collaborative activities between our two non-competitive institutions, the better off we both will be.
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