US Colleges May Have Trouble Keeping Presidents
美國大學校長離職率高
http://www.51voa.com/VOA_Special_English/us-colleges-may-have-trouble-keeping-presidents-81352.html
2019-02-22
- College and university presidents in the United States have many different responsibilities in addition to the daily operations of their school. These include identifying the strengths and weaknesses in school operations, and creating a plan to improve them. 大學校長在日常運營之外還有很多其他的職責，如找到學校的強項和弱項並做出改進方案。
- Another duty is communicating the needs and concerns of students, parents, professors, administrators and governing boards among the different groups. 還要跟有不同需求和顧慮的群體溝通，如學生、家長、教授、行政人員、董事會等
- American college students are more diverse than they ever have been, racially, economically, and in other ways. 大學生也跟以往不太一樣，無論是種族、經濟、和其他方面。
- ”It takes about a year to listen and learn enough about a place before you should have ... an opinion about direction," Cornwell told VOA. "And then it takes a couple years to really formulate a ... plan ... And then it takes at least five years to execute a plan.”“要想做個好校長，前前後後得8年的時間才能打理好一所學校：1年傾聽、兩年做方案、五年執行“
- The study showed that in 2016, the average amount of time presidents had been in their current positions was 6.5 years. In the 2011 publication of the study, the average amount of time presidents had been in their current positions was 7 years. In 2006, the average was 8.5 years.
研究顯示：美國校長在當前職位平均任職時間越來越少：2016年，六年半；2011年，7年；2006年，8年半。
- That is in part due to reductions in state support, but also because of increased government regulations.
部分是因為州政府撥款減少，但也因為政府規章制度的增加太多了。
- At the same time, governing boards more often want presidents to run schools like businesses, rather than as a public good.
董事會想讓大學校長像做生意一樣來管學校，而不是一種公共資源。
1）When Grant Cornwell became the 15th president of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, in 2015, he understood the challenges he would face. He had already served as president of the College of Wooster in Ohio for eight years.
當格蘭特-康維爾Grant Cornwell 2015年成為佛羅里達州Rollins 大學的第15任校長時，他就知道他將面臨哪些挑戰。在此之前，他已經在俄亥俄州的Wooster大學當了8年的校長了。
2）College and university presidents in the United States have many different responsibilities in addition to the daily operations of their school, Cornwell notes. These include identifying the strengths and weaknesses in school operations, and creating a plan to improve them.
美國學院和大學的校長在日常的學校運營的同時還有很多不同的職責，其中包括找到學校運營的強項和弱項、並做出改善的方案。
3）Another duty is communicating the needs and concerns of students, parents, professors, administrators and governing boards among the different groups.
另一個職責是與不同的群體溝通，如學生、家長、教授、行政人員、董事會，不同的群體有不同的需求和顧慮。
4）In addition to these responsibilities, there are special issues that current presidents must deal with, says Cornwell. He notes American college students are more diverse than they ever have been, racially, economically, and in other ways.
除了這些職責之外，現在的大學校長必須得處理一些特殊的問題。美國大學的學生比以前的學生更多元，無論是種族、經濟、或其他方面
5） Schools welcome this diversity, but it also means there are far more needs that must be met, such as mental health and educational support. 美國大學歡迎這種多樣性，但這也意味著多了更多的需求，如精神健康和教育支持。
6）Cornwell argues that every generation of president feels the issues they face are the most difficult. They choose to work in the field, he says, because they believe a strong education system is necessary for a healthy democracy. But it is not an easy job.
格蘭特-康維爾Grant Cornwell校長說：每一任校長都覺得他們面對的是最困難的問題。他們之所以選擇在這一行工作就是因為他們相信一個強大的教育體系對於健康的民主是必要的。但這並不是一份容易的工作。
7）”It takes about a year to listen and learn enough about a place before you should have ... an opinion about direction," Cornwell told VOA. "And then it takes a couple years to really formulate a ... plan ... And then it takes at least five years to execute a plan.”
Grant Cornwell校長對VOA說：“要想做個好校長，需要花一年的功夫先傾聽和學習，才應該發表自己的看法；然後得花兩年才能真的形成一個好的方案；然後至少得花五年的時間去執行。”（前前後後得8年的時間才能打理好一所學校。）
8）However, a new study suggests fewer U.S. college and university presidents are staying in their positions for a long as Cornwell suggests. Experts argue this is because the job is, in fact, more challenging than it ever has been.
然而，新研究顯示：美國大學的校長很少有像Grant Cornwell校長建議的那樣在一個崗位上呆那麼長時間。專家說：這是因為校長的工作比過去更難了。
Decreases in term lengths over the last ten years
過去的十年美國校長的任職時間在減少
9）Every few years, the American Council on Education publishes a study on college and university presidents. In the most recent publication, researchers spoke with presidents at over 1,500 public and private, two and four-year institutions about their positions.
每隔幾年，美國教育委員會就出版一個關於大學校長的研究。在最近出版的研究中，研究人員跟1500多名公立的和私立的、兩年制大學和四年制大學的校長有過交談。
10）The study showed that in 2016, the average amount of time presidents had been in their current positions was 6.5 years. In the 2011 publication of the study, the average amount of time presidents had been in their current positions was 7 years. In 2006, the average was 8.5 years.
研究顯示：2016年，美國校長在當前職位平均任職時間是六年半。
2011年平均任職時間是7年；2006年平均任職時間是8年半。
12）Jonathan Burke is the associate director of the Center for Policy Research and Strategy at the American Council of Education. He notes that the researchers only spoke with current presidents. To get a better idea of presidential service lengths they would have to speak with former presidents too.
美國教育委員會政策研究和策略中心副主任Jonathan Burke說：研究人員只採訪了現任校長；要想更好的瞭解大學校長任職時間長度，還需要跟往屆的校長聊一聊。
13）But Burke says, in general, the last three studies do suggest a decrease in the length of time presidents are serving.
但是Jonathan Burke說：整體來看，過去的三個研究的確能看出來大學校長的任職時間在減少。
14）Why might this be happening? He blames, in part, changes to the level of state support for higher education.
這是怎麼回事呢？Jonathan Burke把部分原因歸咎到高等教育各州財政支持的變動上。
15）Burke says that following the economic recession the U.S. faced in 2008, most states greatly reduced their financial support for colleges and universities. Many are only now starting to return to the levels of financial support they offered before the recession. Yet there have never been as many students entering American higher education as there are now. This means many presidents are expected to do more with less, he says.
Jonathan Burke說：2008年經濟蕭條後，美國大多數的州都減少了大學和學院的財政支持。 許多學校現在才開始恢復到經濟危機前的財政支持力度。然而從來沒有一個時期像現如今這樣來美國上大學的學生這麼多，這意味著好多校長要用更少的錢做更多的事情。
16）”The amount of pressure that I think is placed on these individuals to be able to perform at such a high level ... can lead presidents to leave their positions maybe sooner than, maybe, what we would see 20, 30, 40 years ago," Burke added. 這樣的壓力讓大學校長的離職率比20年前、30年前、40年前的離職率更快。
Pressure from many different directions 多方壓力
17）Yet it is not just an issue of financial limitations, says Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. After all, state support is mainly for public institutions, she notes.
但是美國大學校長離職率高不僅僅是財政支持力度不夠的問題，畢竟州政府的錢主要是給公立大學的，美國大學和學院協會的會長Lynn Pasquerella如是說。
18）The overall cost of higher education has increased greatly in recent years. That is in part due to reductions in state support, but also because of increased government regulations.
近幾年來，高等教育的整體成本大幅上升，部分是因為州政府撥款減少，但也因為政府規章制度的增加太多了。
19）Schools must employ more administrators to make sure they are following these many new rules, she says. And the needs of a more diverse student body means greater spending on support services.
學校得僱傭更多的行政人員才能確保學校符合這如此多的新規定。一個更多元化的學生群體的需求意味著大學得在學生支持方面投入更多的錢。
20）These increased costs have intensified the debate over the overall cost of receiving a college education. Parents want to know that the money they spend will get their children good jobs afterwards.
這些增加的成本讓關於受大學教育的整體成本的話題愈演愈烈。家長想要知道是否自己花在教育上的錢能讓孩子以後有份好工作。
21） At the same time, governing boards more often want presidents to run schools like businesses, rather than as a public good. They want to have greater control and faster results from improvement plans, reducing the level of shared governance with students and professors.
同時，董事會常常想讓大學校長像做生意一樣來管學校，而不是一種公共資源。他們想要通過各種改善方案加大對大學的控制、想要短期內就見效果、減少師生共同管理學校的程度。
22）And this generation of students are more politically divided than those in the past. Student demonstrations have become common, as have intense exchanges over social media. And disputes over issues like racial inequality, sexual violence and free speech lead to debates that quickly get out of a president's control.
而且這一代的學生與以前相比，政治分化更嚴重。隨著社交媒體上的激烈交流，學生遊行很常見。而且在種族不平等、性暴力、自由言論等問題上的辯論都能引起更大規模的辯論，事情很快就超出了校長的掌控。
23）”If you have someone knocking on your door, saying, ‘We've just read this in the newspaper. What're you going to do about it?' it doesn't give you an opportunity to respond in any thoughtful way," said Pasquerella.
“如果有記者找上門，說，“我們從報紙上看到了這件事情，你打算作何處理？” 沒有給你一點點深思熟慮的機會。”
24）She and Grant Cornwell agree that presidents leaving their positions sooner can greatly harm the long term goals of an institution. Avoiding this means schools should be paying presidents more than they have in the past to match the increased risk.
美國大學和學院協會的會長Lynn Pasquerella和Grant Cornwell都承認：大學校長的高離職率對學校的長期目標有極大的傷害。想要避開這一切，意味著學校應該給校長們開出更高的工資，這樣的薪資才能跟校長所承擔的風險相匹配。
25）But a study published in the winter 2019 Review of Higher Education argues that increasing presidential pay may not be that helpful to the school itself. The study looked at presidential pay at 119 public institutions. It showed there is no relationship between higher pay and increases in outside donations or state aid, two things for which presidents are often considered responsible.
但是2019年出版的《高等教育回顧》上的一篇研究說：給校長加薪可能對大學本身作用不大。 該研究調查了119所公立大學的校長薪水，結果顯示：高薪和校外捐贈或政府援助的增長沒有任何關係，而通常校長是有責任增加校外捐贈或政府撥款的。
本材料源自51voa.com官方網站，經過本人節選、後期翻譯而成，若有翻譯的不妥當的地方，歡迎指正
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