In a recent University Affairs article, former University of Saskatchewan President Peter Stoicheff describes the “village of support” needed by university presidents. Stoicheff explains that the average term of a Canadian university president has declined to five or fewer years, with the main reason for turnover being a lack of support. This instability, writes the author, coincides with a time when universities need strong leadership to support knowledge dissemination and Canadian productivity, prosperity, and sovereignty. Stoicheff asserts that presidents face several difficulties with accomplishing their objectives in short terms, including challenges with creating spaces that welcome contrasting perspectives and defending and steering the humanities and social sciences. “If it takes a president to raise a university to these now necessary levels of relevance and achievement, it takes a village to raise a president,” concludes Stoicheff.
