What Eight Years as a University President Taught Robbyn Wacker about Values

Beth talks with Dr. Robbyn Wacker, a former university president (most recently at St. Cloud State University) with a background in gerontology, about the book she's writing on leadership and values in higher education. They cover:

Robbyn's path from gerontology and legal aid for older adults into higher-ed leadership, and eight years as a university president

The current state of higher education: flipped funding models, the enrollment cliff, cuts to research funding and student loans, restrictions on international students, and a growing public skepticism about the value of a degree

Why Robbyn's book centers on values rather than tactics, and how to choose two or three core values as an actual decision-making tool rather than a platitude

"Values drift" — how leaders rationalize small departures from their stated values until those values stop driving behavior at all

A detour through Lindsey Graham's admission that his real value is "relevance," and what that reveals about naming one value in service of another

Whether organizations — and an entire sector like higher education — can meaningfully hold values, and how to navigate different constituencies without seeming inconsistent

Beth's own reflection on the three values guiding her work this year: honesty, distinctiveness, and joy

A closing story about the real budget dilemmas university presidents face, and how a "North Star" value holds up under pressure

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