President Munson's career comes to an end around the same time presidents of other esteemed universities are stepping down earlier than anticipated.  

Why Are Other Presidents Stepping Down?

Presidents of universities are stepping down, embroiled in controversy and facing public pressure.  RIT does not have the same history and national profile as universities like Columbia, University of California at Berkeley and MIT.  Munson hasn't contended with major scandals or received scrutiny for handling of protests or his opinions regarding the Israel-Hamas War like Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard, who stepped down after a heated testimony at the Congress concerning antisemitism.  The president of Texas A&M University, Kathy Banks resigned July 2023 after a hiring scandal in which she offered Kathleen McElroy, a Black editor who previously worked at the New York Times, a job with tenure, only to change the offer a one-year contract.  The negative press coverage played a role in her resignation.

"RIT historically has not had a problem with an overly politically active campus," Jeffery Harris, the chair of the Board of Trustees, asserted.  "Our RIT students are focused on studies and follow rules very well, and so while we have our protests, we have not had protests of the size, scale or impact that cause the national press to descend on our campus." 

How Students Perceive  

In contrast to university presidents that have found themselves in middle of contentious political issues, online criticism of Munson is scant.  The one source to come up immediately when googling 'is munson a good president' is a Reddit page that was created in 2018, titled 'What's the general opinion of President Munson?'  In the forum, one user bemoaned that Munson "seems like a nice guy, but somewhat tone deaf to the needs of the student body. Whether it's by his choice or the Board of Trustees are holding his balls to the fire remains yet to be seen." 

"Ultimately students want what is best for students," a user in the forum observed." "Our perception of the school is really tied to day-to-day issues like housing... I genuinely don't even know if [the Board of Trustees] are aware of any of those issues. I think their perspective of RIT is much more about how we measure up to other schools.""hey have a history of just bypassing boring quality of life projects and instead throwing the money at something that's more likely to get a news article. I think that's where a lot of students' frustration lies." 

 Although Munson does not appear to have social media accounts, there are other factors making the job of being president more challenging than before.  

In 2008, the average length for a university president's career was 8.5 years, according to a survey cited in an article from Forbes. In 2022, the average length was 5.9 years in office.  In the same survey, a pattern suggested that university presidents newly elected, "particularly those of color, have different experiences with transparency during the search process. Those presidents indicated they were less likely to have a full understanding of their board’s expectations and the challenges they would face, including the financial health of the higher ed institution."  Essentially, the president and the Board of the Trustees must be on the same page regarding messaging and goals for the university in order to be able to communicate and satisfy students.  

In contrast, Munson had opportunities to work with the Board of Trustees at RIT.  "Munson had an opportunity to work with the board on one or two occasions prior to his becoming an employee of the university," Harris recalled.  "So he could ask questions and interact and share some ideas. So it was a nice, sort of jump start to his term as president." 

The strategic plan that was implemented shortly after Munson was hired to lead the university played a key role in helping him lead a relatively smooth tenure.  Munson could invoke the strategic plan to communicate to RIT what his priorities are.  The next president will enjoy a similar situation when the next strategic plan kick-starts in 2026. 

The role of a university president is rapidly changing as schools face increasing political pressure.  Strong communication skills are becoming attributes which a president desperately needs in order to be able to lead their university with as little as controversy as possible.  Munson was able to land a job with stability and favorable conditions other universities do not offer to prospective candidates. Will RIT maintain the same stability and favorable conditions for Munson's successor?