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Profile of a Leader in Higher Education

Rebecca Largent

Northern Arizona University

CCHE 600
This assignment will review a phone interview conducted with Nydia Nittmann, Director

of Northern Arizona Universitys (NAU) Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. First, a

description of the interview questions as well as Nittmanns response will be presented. Second,

an analysis of the applicable leadership theories and approaches described in Peter Northouses

Leadership, Theory and Practice (2016) will be discussed. Last, there will be a review of the

interviewers reactions and responses.

Interview

(1) What is your position title and the name of the institution at which you are employed? Where

does your position fit within the organizational structure or hierarchy? Nydia Nittmann shared

that she serves Northern Arizona University in two key roles. First, she serves as the Director of

NAUs Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) and second, she serves for the

Enrollment Services Functional Team as part of the Admission and Enrollment Analytic Team.

She reports directly to the Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Vice President Jane

Kuhn.

(2) How were you selected for the position you currently hold? Nittmann was asked to serve as

interim director during a time of transition for OSFA. The previous interim consultant director

was not welcomed back and Kuhn had asked her to fill the position in order to get the department

thought the fall term. Kuhn has also asked Nittmann to oversee the Enrollment Services

Functional Team when the previous director has left.

(3) What are the three areas of responsibility on which you spend the greatest amount of your

time as a leader? Nittmanns main areas of responsibility that require most of her time are

compliance, outreach and staff support. She described there are federal, state, institutional and
tribal policies that dictate where her focus is and it changes depending on the time of year.

Outreach is an important part of her responsibilities as the flow of new and continuing students is

shifting. She stated she spends a lot of time talking with students and handling their complaints

while sometimes they are not related to financial aid issues. She gets pulled in to deal with

situations as needed by Kuhn. Supporting her staff is an important part of Nittmans position.

She makes sure her staff has what they need due to the burden of the nature of the financial aid.

She has an open door policy for her staff and shared while its an important part of her leadership

style, it is seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. Probing Questions: What is good about

having an open door policy? What is bad about having an open door policy? Nittmann said her

open door policy allows her to be approachable and available. She described the previous

interim director as being closed off to their staff and would shut their door forcing staff to make

an appointment to speak with them. Nittmann wanted her staff to have confidence and feel

comfortable coming to her for support. The downside to her open door policy is the difficulty in

juggling her work load. Sometimes it leads to interruptions in the middle of projects and she

works hard to not project the frustration of this towards her staff.

(4) Which aspects of your education and prior experience have best prepared you to lead

effectively in your current position? Nittmann has a Bachelors of Science in Training and

Development. She says it has served her well in planning and organization. It helped her learn

how to organize how staff is trained. She also has a Masters in Educational Leadership and

while it helped make good connections, the courses werent useful. Previously, Nittmann

served as a Business Analyst (BA), Lead in OSFA. In this role, she managed projects.

Specifically, she helped build in financial aid module in PeopleSoft, the software system used by

NAU. She managed the system and monitored the timeline as well as the implementation of the
module. This makes her feel very confident in her role and has first-hand knowledge of what

her staff can do with PeopleSoft. This also allows her to speak with Kuhn about PeopleSoft and

the reality of whether stuff can be done. She likes that she doesnt have to bring in someone

else to talk about PeopleSoft and she doesnt have to use a developer. Her experience also allows

her staff to have confidence in her because she does know the system that they are working with

on a daily basis.

(5) What led you to pursue your current leadership position? Nittmann was placed in the

position by Kuhn. She shared that she would have never applied to it on her own due to her

challenges with prior administrators. She shared that once the permanent position had open she

expressed interest. She was happy as a BA, Lead.

(6) Describe past and current influences on your leadership style (e.g., authors, mentors, role

models, etc.) Nittmann has been fortunate with past supervisors. Her first phone call when she

accepted the director position as OSFA was to past director, Jim Pritchard. She couldnt wait to

practice some of the things that she had learned from him. However, Nittmann noted that

Pritchard had a difficult time working with staff from a disciplinary perspective but he did

provide a positive example of having confidence in his staffs ability to do their job. The main

thing he provided her was an example of how to trust staff.

(7) What is your preferred strategy for continuing to develop as a leader (e.g., leadership

development programs (internal or external to the current institution), professional associations,

conferences, books, journals)? Nittmann does not utilize leadership courses to develop her skills.

She believes that she has been doing this long enough that her habits are pretty set. She does

fine tune her strategy as learning situations arise. When she is informed that she hasnt handled

a situation well, she allows for feedback and evaluates what others tell her in order to learn. She
believes that leadership courses are nice for ideas. Keeping up with financial aid is a different

story as Nittman regularly attends conferences related to the topic.

(8) How would you describe your approach to leadership or your leadership style? Is there a

particular leadership theory, approach, or model that resonates with you? There is not a

particular approach that resonates with Nittmann. She described that she is not a micro-manager-

something she learned from Pritchard. She hires staff and trusts her leadership to hire the skills

the department needs. While she does like to be informed in case she gets asked about things by

administration, she mostly trusts her staff and allows them the freedom to make decisions. If

staff makes a bad decision, she hopes that they learn from it but feels like important for them to

understand that one bad decision doesnt sink the ship.

(9) What do you consider to be your strengths as a leader? Are there aspects of leadership in

which you'd like to grow or develop? One of Nittmans strengths is that she has thick skin and

doesnt take things personally. If someone critiques her, she feels that she handles it well. She

also addresses issues with staff right away. She doesnt put off talking with staff and is

straightforward with them. To her, its important that they always know where they stand with

her. Shes honest and is open to honesty from her staff as long as its respectful. Nittmann also

does not expect her staff to do anything she is not willing to do herself. If she expects her staff to

stay late or work weekends in order to complete projects, she is willing to do the same.

(10) What is your biggest challenge as a leader? Nittman again touch on the challenges with her

open door policy. She feels like to her staff that she needs to be available, however, she cannot

get a lot done with continual interruptions. She reported she has trouble balancing that.
(11) In your experience, what is unique or distinctive about leading in an institution of higher

education? To Nittmann, constant change is invigorating. She enjoys the opportunity to work

with younger students. There is a big responsibility in playing a role in student development. She

views students as still forming their persons and believes staff contribute to developing the

students into the adults they are going to be.

(12) What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment as a leader in an

institution of higher education? Nittmanns greatest professional accomplishment is her time as a

BA, Lead for the OSFA. Specifically, the development of the financial aid module in PeopleSoft

being implemented without issues. It was a project that took over two years to complete. As the

director, her greatest accomplishment has been getting her department on a steady track. When

she transitioned to the interim position, there were 11 unfilled positions and morale was low. She

described her staff as having no respect or confidence. Nittmann shared currently, she has a

fully staffed department and observes her staff as enjoying their work. Her department is back

where it should be and appears stable.

(13) What are a few of your goals and aspirations as a leader, things you'd like to accomplish in

the future? Nittman shared that she is not far retirement. She believes that in about five years she

will make that transition. The aspirations she shared are geared more towards her department and

staff than herself. She wants to make sure that when she retires, they [her staff] dont regress to

where they were. Nittman hopes when she leaves the transition is seamless and hopes her staff

wouldnt notice the change. Due to the complicated nature of financial aid, she also is working

towards the development of documentation in her department. She shared that the past 5-6 years,

there has not be a focus of this in her department and she will support her staff in accomplishing

this goal.
Discussion

While Nittmann does not identify with a specific leadership approach, she does display

and describe behaviors that align with situational approach, transformational leadership,

authentic leadership and servant leadership. Northouse (2016) describes a situational approach of

leadership as the leader adapt[ing] his or her style to the demands of different situations (p.93).

Nittmans response that indicated the ever changing compliance policies, it seems that the

outside demands contribute to the different situations that her and her staff face. The way she

described her behavior as learning from every situation she faces, this approach can be

applicable to her leadership style. Specifically, she seems to display the supportive behavior and

takes a high supportive-low directive style (Northouse, 2016, p.95). She supports her staff

within an arms length, while she doesnt micro-manage she still maintains her involvement by

being in the know but trusting their skills to meet the goals of the department. Nittman described

that she allows her staff to make decisions without her input and like Northouse (2016) mentions

a leader using this style remains available to facilitate problem solving (p.95) and that is

exactly what Nittman does. While the commitment level of Nittmans staff is unclear, there

seems to be a high level of competence expectation placed by the leader. The development levels

of her staff would be around D3 and D4 meaning there is a moderate to high level of competence

and a variable to high level of commitment (Northouse, 2016, p.95). Nittmans staff does have

the skills to get their job done based on the information she provided and she does have a high

level of trust in them to succeed.

It is no surprise that Nittman displays transformational leadership. She assumed her

position during a time of transition and she has worked hard to develop her staff away from a

under staffed, low morale standpoint. Ghasabeh, Reaiche, and Soosay (2015) describe the critical
role that employee attitudes and values play when implementing change (p.464) and Nittman is

aware of this impact. Her focus is more on transformational leadership factors rather than

transactional leadership factors. Nittmans unique experience as a BA, Lead contributes to

positive example as a role model because she has experience with PeopleSoft and has been in the

shoes of her employees. She has put in the same hard work and dedication that she expects of her

staff. Her idealized influence factor is strong because she is a positive role model for her staff

(Northouse, 2016, p.167). Nittman also exhibits intellectual simulation based on her

description of allowing her staff to make their own decisions. This factor encourages followers

to think things out on their own and engage in careful problem solving (Northouse, 2016,

p.169). By practicing this approach, Nittman is providing a space for her staff to feel confident

and supported. Nittman also practices a transactional, active management-by-exception due to

the fact that she report she addresses issues with her staff immediately and ensures they always

know where they stand with her. Due to the nature of financial aid and the importance of

compliance to the department as well as the university, this is an important practice. This

leadership style has allowed her organization to build a shared and inspiring vision for future

(Ghasabeh, Reaiche, & Soosay, 2015, p.464).

Nittmans responses support an authentic leadership approach. She mentioned trust many

times during the interview and her responses surrounded the importance of her staff as they

relate to her leadership traits. Her self-awareness is key to her development as a leader. She

recognizes were she is in the leadership development process, but knows that it is a practice that

must be maintained. She also was very aware that while she practices positive leader behaviors it

can sometimes conflict with goals of the department. Nittman also displays the internalized

moral perspective component of authentic leadership. Her moral standards surround the trust
and honesty she shares with her staff and she allows this to guide their [her] behavior rather

than allow outside pressures to control them (Northouse, 2016, p.203). This is manifested in the

fact that she sometimes set aside projects in order to support her staff. Due to the nature of her

position, it can be assumed that there are many pressures from upper administration, however,

her open door policy aligns with her morals and provides her an opportunity to continue to build

trust as well as gain the respect of her employees.

In higher education, service to students play a large role to the leadership styles of

administrators. While Nittmans approach focuses on students, much of her service is to her

staff. By using servant leadership, Nittman is constantly putting the needs of her staff above her

own, and uses empathy to support them. From her experience as a BA, Lead, she really does

understand the expectations of her staff and understand what it is like doing the type of work she

is asking of them. Every time that Nittman sets aside a project to support or listen to her staff she

is displaying servant leadership. She is putting her followers first and by doing this, it can have a

direct impact of morale and job satisfaction which contribute to the success of her department.

Her open door policy supports her servant leadership style as this style rely[s] on one to one

communication with [their] employees in order to understand their potential and bring out the

best out of them (Maden, Gzta, & Topsmer, 2014, p.2). She also has focuses on creating a

sense of community amongst her team. When she assumed the role of interim director, it was a

time of uncertainty and low morale, the sense of community was low. By using her trust and

support of staff, she observed the community of her staff as stable and views them as enjoying

their work. Based on Maden, Gzta, & Topsmers (2014) analysis, using servant leadership

towards her staff can trickle down and have a direct impact of the type of service her staff is

providing to students (p.2).


Response

Nittmans interview supported my understanding that leadership approaches and styles

vary. Specifically, trust is a key trait that she displays but that can be applicable to multiple

approaches described by Northouse. The fact that she was with the department as a BA, Lead is

unique because she was a co-worker of some of the individuals she now leads and this seems to

work to her benefit. What I found interesting is that she did not just talk about her leadership

traits, she provided examples of her leadership behaviors. This is interesting because leaders can

talk all day about their traits but implementing and showing them in practice is a true description

of their style. Nittmans awareness of where she is as a leader was humbling. She recognized

where she is at in her career (close to retirement) and while she does not assume that leadership

development halts, she emphasizes that it does evolve into a maintenance process. Nittman is a

positive example of a leader in higher education with unique experiences as well as a unique

blended style.
References

Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (Seventh edition). Thousand Oaks,

California: Sage Publications.

Ghasabeh, M. S., Reaiche, C., & Soosay, C. (2015). The Emerging Role of Transformational

Leadership. Journal of Developing Areas, 49(6), 459-467.

Maden, D., Gzta, A., & Topsmer, F. (2014). Effects of Service Standards Communication

and Servant Leadership on Strategic Competence and Customer Orientation. Proceedings of the

Multidisciplinary Academic Conference, 1-9.

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