The Engelkemeyer era: A decisive decade by Ron Schachter
O
ver the past decade, Nichols College students immersed in the study of effective leaders needed to look no further than Dr. Susan West Engelkemeyer as a prime example. Her accomplishments speak volumes — from elevating the student profile to developing significant leadership programs to building and modernizing the physical campus to completing a $66 million fundraising campaign. But it’s also the quieter qualities of leadership, in the words of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, that have defined her presidency: Caring. Empathetic. Dedicated. Accessible. Visionary. Engelkemeyer will retire from Nichols on June 30, after ably navigating Nichols through one of the most challenging periods in higher education, which included a spate of college closures and a global pandemic. “Ten years in this role is a long time, well above the [six-year] average for a college president,” says Engelkemeyer, who points to the opportunity to spend more time with Dave, her husband of 47 years, her young grandchildren, and 94-year-old father. “It’s time for some fresh eyes for the college.”
What Engelkemeyer saw through her own eyes posed a challenge even before being named the college’s seventh president — from buildings that “looked tired” to student enrollment, achievement, and retention metrics that were wanting. “We were looking for someone to move us forward, to professionalize the administration of the whole school. She had the experiences at other schools that she could bring with her,” recalls John Davis ’72, chair of the Nichols Board of Trustees, who brings the perspective of almost three decades as a trustee. “She had a really good understanding of what needed to be done to take us to the next level,” concurs Gerald Fels ’66, trustee emeritus, former board chair, and the interim president of Nichols for a year before Engelkemeyer’s arrival. Davis and Fels note that Engelkemeyer came with an academic background strong on business and leadership, with the added ability to market. “She had a long career as an administrator at Babson,” Davis explains. “She had worked at different colleges that
were all growing and weren’t static.” Engelkemeyer had served as dean of both the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Ithaca College business schools. It did not take her long to impress the faculty and administrators she would be leading. “She came in with a vision,” says Associate Dean for Business Luanne Westerling. “She jumped in and got to know everyone. She’s very warm. She’s been great for Nichols.” Measures of success Engelkemeyer promptly took aim at the college’s admission standards, as well as its 59 percent retention and 36 percent graduation rates. “I knew it was not a sustainable situation,” she emphasizes. “So, in 2012, we raised admission standards and set a threshold on SAT scores. “We took a one-year hit on enrollment,” Engelkemeyer admits, “but rose to nearly 1,200 students two years later.” That’s compared to the 700 to 800 students Davis estimates were typically enrolled years before. Fast forward to the end of the decade and the
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