Some thoughts on higher education consulting

Transfer und Peer Consulting

Some thoughts on higher education consulting in the United States and Germany

JEFFREY PECK
IS DIRECTOR, EUROPE, FOR AKA, STRATEGY, A NEW YORK BASED CONSULTING FIRM IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND NON-PROFITS. PREVIOUSLY, HE WAS DEAN OF THE WEISSMAN SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES AND VICE PROVOST FOR GLOBAL STRATEGIES AT BARUCH COLLEGE/ CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK.

The fact that someone like myself – a Professor, Dean and Vice Provost – becomes a higher education consultant already distinguishes the German and American systems. German professors do not usually become consultants. As an American who has moved to Germany after retirement to pursue interests in consulting German higher education institutions, I was surprised at first about the resistance I confronted. Even with all of my experience studying and teaching in Germany, I was naïve about the substantial differences in the two systems regarding professional counsel in higher education. I found German institutions neither very open nor particularly interested, except in rare cases. It has become clear to me that substantive systemic differences explain at least some of the reasons, why my experience has not been more positive or the institutions as welcoming as I would have hoped.