TEEX-CS 891003:-Texas A&M turns
to corporate world
in hiring planner
During
the past 11
years, An.
thony G.
Dempster de-
veloped and
mnnsged a
strategic
' planning
process for
; :Ifl/NDI Sheu o~ co.
:.'MANAGEMENT T h i s
,._ . _ week, he be.
', ~ dolug the same job in a very dif-
: ~.~nt arena.
, :- 'Ks of Monday, Mr. Dempster is ex-
',:~utfive director of strategic plan.
~ ~,g for ?ax~ An Univareity.
~ -?*~qlthough corporate involvement
~71~ ~gher education isn't new, re-
. ..~iting from private industry for a
- ~'ategtc planner is at least rare -- if
not a first.
~ - "I don't think that position exism
m.n. director of projects alld mem-
~oar services at the Aule~caa A~em-
hly of collegiate Sehool~ of Burthen.
It lan't even that common at business
schools, Mr. HlckmAn says.
"Not many bn~ineas schools have
gone through, a formal strategic
plnnnin~ prooe~ which has resulted
in a ,~i~on statement and plan. Of
course, you teach it all the titan. You
just don~ practice it."
Given the demographic and com-
~titive pressures on higher eduea.
trying to become more internatigl~_
y~fi]]~are. Texas A&l~ ,lUSt_o_~ned a
r~h i~.~K~'~yama. Javan.
"Another vision is for us to con-
tinue to move toward top 10 national
status," says Dr. Gage. "And there is
a major capital campaign we're look.
ing at setting in motion." A tall
enough order.
A&M created the new job from an.
other position, and then advertised it
in both the Wall Street Journal and
the Chronicle o! ttigher Education.
There were ~00 applicants. And at
least five other universities want
more information about the position,
P~ Wi!Him Fnnk, ulal~g~ng ptu~-
her for lteidriek and Struggles in
Dallas and a specialist in recrultin
higher-education executives, says
sll'ategic planniug recently has be-
come a buzzword in universities and
colleges. But he knows of none who
have recruited a strategic plsnniug
executive.
Not all Iraneplants from corporate
America to academia are successful.
Sometimes a corporate executive --
used to a more hierarchical
ment structure -- has problems with
the collegial (some would say con-
tentious) university style.
Mr. Deml~tar and the leadership
at AgflvI take p~tn.~ tO emph~t?e that
the new pl~n~in~ executive will be
deVe-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e~in~a Process, working
f~ulty ~ltd advnint~trators
tion right now, A&M amy have doiug the plan.
planted ltsel~ ~quarely at the lead of ~ "I won't arrive on campus with
"Clearly we are in an era where
the public is den~nding eccenntabfl.
ity. They want to know what they are
getting fur tax dollars... You'd bet-
ter be able to step up before the legis-
lature and say, 'Here is our plan.
Here axe the t~tdooffs that we've
thought about.'"
a
suitcase full of magical techniques,"
says Mr. Dempster. His mi~t~n, he
says, is to help the university "mtnl~
through a mothodolugy.'
At age ~8, Mr. Dempstar feels he
had time to make a contribution at
Shell. Given his years of service, he
was even eligible for early retire-
ment. Instead: "Here's a whole new
T~e ~ flon A~ Uhi- clmlleuge, something that's a whole
! verstty~ ~p_._~_~t Wjllia~_.~ ~ new~,~df~."
: ~~Lw~L~dy~_ Ro~ ~, who h~ No~h
~ ~ ~ ~..j. h~ f~t ~ ~d ~efl~ ~flo~ for ~
g~ a ~t ~ by ge~ng ~ne ~fl~ ~ he s~m it ~H
with an expertise in strata~c plan.
nin~' seys 1~ ~ execlltiv~ a~
sismm to Dr. Mobky.
The university is lauD~'hinE a
number of new progr~ and direc-
l~ram' to try to addrees a "reel
c~Jsls i~ atath and ~tanco ednca-
tio~" at elem~ axil m~a~lar~
level& Texas b_~M 1~ wt~rln~ on
nm'lty g~ou~.
be "good business" for the university
as well Mr. Shtar l~m cm~lmctad
and is a tnmtae of his shah mater,
se nti.L~s~l~ ~ that a =~ could
mn~ ~e ~mat tt ~s~-_~ to