Executive Coaching

Executive coaching focuses on the goals and priorities of both the executive and the institution. It is leader-driven and action-oriented.

Executive coaching is designed in a way that benefits both the leader and the institution. Therefore, Academic Search believes executive coaching should be approached from a systems perspective and in the context in which the leader is leading.

We believe that leadership is learned through ongoing practice, reflection, action and assessment. Thus, leadership always occurs in a particular context, leads to action, and has an impact to be evaluated.

Leading colleges and universities today is both noble and daunting work. We created our Executive Coaching Practice based on this philosophy so that presidents and senior leaders have professional and qualified leadership companions and guides on the leadership journey. We are committed to the effectiveness, sustainability and well-being of new and incumbent presidents and senior leaders. We believe that both the interiority of leaders and the exterior demands of institutional leadership are complementary.

LEADER-FIRST APPROACH

Executive Assessment

Executive Coaching

Executive Transition

Executive Team

ACADEMIC SEARCH ADVANTAGE

What distinguishes our Executive Coaching Practice is that all of our executive coaches:

Are seasoned higher education executives who have faced the gifts and tasks of institutional leadership;
Are trained executive coaches through either Academic Search’s unique and rigorous executive coach training program, an International Coach Federation approved coaching program, or both;
Adhere to the Professional Code of Ethics of the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching; and
Rely on the best available executive coaching research and practices of the Institute of Coaching affiliated with Harvard University.

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

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Nancy P. Crimmin

Managing Director, Senior Consultant, and Senior Executive Coach
Nancy.Crimmin@academicsearch.org

Dr. Nancy Crimmin knows first-hand the importance of hiring the best candidates to fill executive staff positions. Her three-decade career in higher education included academic and student affairs director, dean, vice president, and senior vice president roles, and she was president of a private college. With more than 25 years of experience as a hiring manager, Dr. Crimmin has a deep-rooted commitment to serving student populations by recruiting potential appointees who will excel.

Dr. Crimmin has always loved interacting directly with students. She believes sincere conversations with them are crucial to learning about campus culture and student perceptions. In her various administrative positions, from assistant to the registrar at Curry College to president of Becker College, and everything in between, Dr. Crimmin prioritized the needs of the students, and she was committed to removing barriers and creating opportunities for success.

As a senior consultant, honesty, transparency, and open communication are Dr. Crimmin’s driving forces. She joined Academic Search in October 2021 and quickly found success in her ability to assemble diverse candidate pools filled with immense talent and creating positive working relationships with search committees. She’s meticulous in her recruiting and researching process, and she presents the search and hiring committees with the critical of information that will help them make their selection. She is timely, thorough, and sincere, and she is devoted to finding the right candidates who have the potential to thrive.

Although Dr. Crimmin spent most of her career at private schools, she finds joy in searching for all sorts of positions at every type of college and university. She enjoys challenges, as she is an excellent problem solver and forward thinker, and Dr. Crimmin is motivated to go the extra mile to ensure she’s maintaining the integrity of the search. Dr. Crimmin has a vast professional network, including the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), of which she was a senior fellow, board member, and chair of the 2017 annual conference. She has been widely recognized for her contributions to higher education, and her honors include the NASPA Foundation’s highest accolade, the Pillar of the Profession Award.

The Massachusetts native earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Stonehill College, a Catholic institution, and a master’s degree in counseling and student personnel services from Springfield College. She also earned her doctorate in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University and has completed her certification in executive coaching. She is a trained facilitator for the Leadership 360 profile, EQi – 2.0 Emotional Intelligence inventory and Gallup Strengths.

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