Craiglow agrees to remain as chancellor of Antioch

Jim Craiglow

The man who signed on last year to lead Antioch University through a transitional period has agreed to head the university for up to four more years.

At the February meeting of the Antioch University Board of Trustees, Chancellor Jim Craiglow signed a contract that commits him to remain as chancellor through June 2005, with the option of serving until June 2007.

The board unanimously agreed to ask Craiglow to continue as chancellor, said the board’s president, Dan Kaplan.

“We’ve been quite pleased with the job he’s doing,” Kaplan said. “The university is solid and its management is solid right now. That’s his doing.”

Craiglow was hired as chancellor in February 2002 for an 18-month period while university administrators conducted a search for a new chancellor. Craiglow took over for James W. Hall, who resigned unexpectedly that month. Prior to taking the chancellor job, Craiglow served as president of Antioch New England, a position he held for 16 years.

Before accepting the chancellor position, Craiglow had submitted his resignation to Antioch New England with the intention of taking a year’s sabbatical to write fiction, and then to return to the school to teach. Now, he’s once again putting those plans on hold.

“Fundamentally, we’re making progress on a number of fronts,” Craiglow said of his decision to continue as chancellor. “The challenges I see are worth taking on, and are the kinds of things that continue to give me a clear sense of purpose.”

His most satisfying accomplishment in the last year, Craiglow said, is a sense that the different parts of the university, which include Antioch College, Antioch University McGregor, Antioch New England, Antioch Seattle and Antioch Southern California, are working well together and communicating more effectively than in the past.

Kaplan also cited as a success of Craiglow, better working relationships among the university sectors.

“The University Leadership Council, which consists of the five campus presidents plus the vice chancellor of finance and development, is working together better than it has in five or six years,” he said. “Craiglow functions well as a leader, a collaborator and a facilitator. At Antioch, those are the qualities a leader must have.”

Craiglow also cited “interesting ventures and exciting new program initiatives” as reasons for staying. Those ventures include the recently begun university wide Ph.D. program in leadership and change, which, he said, is “off to a great start.” The university is also “exploring” a possible MBA program in Southern California as well as new doctoral programs in Santa Barbara and Seattle, Craiglow said.

Craiglow continues to live in Keene, N.H., though neither he nor Kaplan believe his place of residence causes difficulties in his governing the university. “I think in some ways it’s a strength,” said Kaplan, who stated he believed the distance “may encourage a stronger working relationship” between Craiglow and Antioch College President Joan Straumanis. Craiglow said he spends at least four working days a month on the Yellow Springs campus.

At Antioch College, Craiglow said, “we’re working on the critical issues,” including building the college’s endowment, improving the rate of admissions, “attempting to get a better handle on retention” and “moving closer toward fiscal equilibrium.”

“In each of these domains we’re moving forward,” he said.

Craiglow began his association with Antioch 27 years ago as a graduate student at Antioch New England. He and his wife, Shelley, an assistant professor at Keene State College in Keene, N.H., have three daughters.

—Diane Chiddister