This has been a busy year, indeed. Like so many of you, I have been multitasking on various projects and assignments — teaching, consulting, and writing. And this month has been an over-the-top publishing moment. My memoir, Big Man On Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education, has been released by Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone Press. While it was in production, I had time to engage in another endeavor — editing a book entitled, Letters to the Next President: Strengthening America’s Foundation in Higher Education. I know how difficult it is to write a book. What I hadn’t realized until I started this project is what hard work it is to edit a book. Good fortune brought me a lot of help, principally from my colleague and associate, Gerry Kauvar, who is my co-editor.

Together we persuaded 17 wonderful colleagues, most of whom are or have been presidents of college and universities, to contribute a letter. We didn’t give them much guidance — simply that we wanted them to write what they thought it was vital for the next administration to understand about the importance of higher education in this nation, and what policies they needed to advance in order to maintain our global preeminence. Their voices are individual and passionate. They represent a spectrum of higher education from tribal community colleges to large state systems. They address access and affordability; articulation from high school to college and the world of work; creating alliances with government and industry and our communities; and strengthening each leg of the triad of creation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge.

Far from simply asking for more money to do what their institutions have always done, the authors explore what the nation’s educational priorities should be, and what changes can and should be made on our campuses without any government intervention at all.

The book is being published and distributed without cost by The Korn/Ferry Institute. It’s being shared with government officials and policy makers in Washington and all around the country; it will go to the major educational associations and accrediting organizations, to a lot of regents, trustees and overseers; and to other friends of higher education. Of course, we’ll get them to the candidates as well, hoping that the platform committees will include some of the proposals in their efforts.

You and others who read about and care about our mutual commitments will have easy access to this book as well. Korn/Ferry is publishing it electronically as well as in paperback.

To find it online, you can go to: http://ebooks.kornferry.com/Letters/vcab.swf