Leveraging IT Skills for School Leadership with Dr. Marquis Scott
Presented by:
Presented by Claro
Dr. Marquis Scott, Assistant Head of School at The Lawrenceville School, joins the podcast to share his remarkable career journey from CTO to senior administration. He discusses how the problem-solving and systems-thinking mindset from IT are transferable to roles in HR, communications, and strategic planning, offering actionable advice for aspiring tech leaders.
- The Lawrenceville School
- The First 90 Days, by Michael Watkins; book with strategies for conquering the challenges of transitions
- NAIS Article - Systems Thinking (Marquis Scott)
- Book Marquis is reading this summer - - Shift by Ethan Kross
- Marquis' doctorate thesis - The Role of System Thinking Tools in Enhancing Diversity Directors' Insight into Employee of Color Retention Rates: A Phenomenological Study
Transcript
Narrator:
Nick, welcome to Talking technology with Atlas,
Narrator:
the show that plugs you into the important topics and trends for
Narrator:
technology leaders all through a unique Independent School lens.
Narrator:
We'll hear stories from technology directors and other
Narrator:
special guests from the Independent School community,
Narrator:
and provide you with focused learning and deep dive topics.
Narrator:
And now please welcome your host. Kristina llewellen,
Christina Lewellen:
hello everyone, and welcome back to
Christina Lewellen:
talking technology with Atlas. I'm Kristina llewellen, the
Christina Lewellen:
president and CEO of the Association of technology
Christina Lewellen:
leaders in independent schools.
Bill Stites:
And I'm Bill Stites, the Director of
Bill Stites:
Technology at Montclair Kimberly Academy in Montclair, New
Bill Stites:
Jersey, and
Hiram Cuevas:
I'm Hiram Cuevas, the Director of Information
Hiram Cuevas:
Systems and Academic Technology at St Christopher school in
Hiram Cuevas:
Richmond, Virginia.
Christina Lewellen:
Hello, gentlemen. How are you today?
Bill Stites:
Hanging in good
Hiram Cuevas:
we're slowly recovering. Yeah.
Christina Lewellen:
So you know, we're recording just on the
Christina Lewellen:
heels of our board retreat. And as we mentioned in another pod,
Christina Lewellen:
there was some travel delays. Summer travel is for sure, the
Christina Lewellen:
pits. And I think that when you do it enough, you sort of just
Christina Lewellen:
get in your vibe. You go with the flow. But man, that energy
Christina Lewellen:
of people around you is always a little rough, which I would
Christina Lewellen:
assume is probably translating to school skills, right? Like
Christina Lewellen:
you may be calm having a good day, but somebody around you
Christina Lewellen:
bringing anxious energy could kind of throw everybody off.
Christina Lewellen:
Right?
Hiram Cuevas:
100% Absolutely. But you know where we ended up
Hiram Cuevas:
suffering on the back end, our guest struggled on the front
Hiram Cuevas:
end.
Christina Lewellen:
Yes, very true. That's a great lead in
Christina Lewellen:
Hiram. So today we have joining us. Dr Marquis, Scott Marquis,
Christina Lewellen:
you are also on the Atlas board, among other things. We'll
Christina Lewellen:
definitely go through your incredible bio here in a second.
Christina Lewellen:
But as a board member, all you needed to do was show up in
Christina Lewellen:
Columbus, Ohio on a Friday night. And it didn't go that
Christina Lewellen:
way, did it?
Marquis Scott:
No, it was experience that I tried to erase
Marquis Scott:
from my memory, and seeing all of you here, it's popped back
Marquis Scott:
up.
Christina Lewellen:
We're re traumatizing our guests. I felt
Christina Lewellen:
terrible for your travel delays, but to be honest, you rolled in.
Christina Lewellen:
We had a great dinner as a board, you were there in the
Christina Lewellen:
morning as we went through some of our strategy on Sunday
Christina Lewellen:
morning, so you got a very abbreviated board experience,
Christina Lewellen:
but I'm glad you made it home, okay, and I am glad that you
Christina Lewellen:
made the effort to get there. I think most people would have
Christina Lewellen:
just thrown in the towel, but you were dedicated. Well,
Christina Lewellen:
listen,
Marquis Scott:
I did try to throw in a towel as I land in
Marquis Scott:
Cincinnati and realized I was the wrong place. But you know,
Marquis Scott:
it was important to be there as I rolled in and I rolled right
Marquis Scott:
back out. Yep, of Columbus. So lesson learned, and you keep
Marquis Scott:
pushing forward, you
Christina Lewellen:
know, Marquis, I have done that. And
Christina Lewellen:
in fact, it was one of the reasons that I hired an
Christina Lewellen:
assistant at Atlas. Was I was couple years in. We were growing
Christina Lewellen:
real fast, and I'm like, I got this, I can handle my travel. It
Christina Lewellen:
wasn't until I was supposed to be in Columbus, and I booked a
Christina Lewellen:
flight to Cleveland that I said that is enough. I am not doing a
Christina Lewellen:
good job anymore.
Marquis Scott:
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I recently
Marquis Scott:
booked a flight to Columbus. When my flight got canceled and
Marquis Scott:
rescheduled, I probably should have looked to see where I was
Marquis Scott:
flying into nevertheless, it was a great experience with the Lyft
Marquis Scott:
driver from Cincinnati, and it was a great learning experience.
Christina Lewellen:
Oh my gosh. Well, we'll shelve that whole
Christina Lewellen:
experience for now, and let's go into the important stuff. Dr
Christina Lewellen:
Marquis, Scott, you are the assistant head of school at the
Christina Lewellen:
Lawrenceville school, and you've been in independent school
Christina Lewellen:
leadership for a few decades here, right? Your focus in a lot
Christina Lewellen:
of your work is around equity and inclusion, strategic
Christina Lewellen:
planning, and lately you've been doing a lot of work in systems
Christina Lewellen:
thinking. So we're going to kind of circle into that. But I'd
Christina Lewellen:
like to start by asking you to just tell us a little bit about
Christina Lewellen:
your journey, because part of why you serve on the Atlas board
Christina Lewellen:
is that you also have a background serving as a chief
Christina Lewellen:
technology officer. Tell us a little bit about your journey
Christina Lewellen:
and how you got to being an assistant head of school.
Marquis Scott:
You know, my journey has been met with
Marquis Scott:
excitement, curiosity and just having fun along the path. And,
Marquis Scott:
you know, Bill and I go way, way back as early as 2002 when I
Marquis Scott:
first joined Newark Academy as a director of technology. And I
Marquis Scott:
loved that position. I fell into that position. I didn't think
Marquis Scott:
that was my path, but I happened to be in the right place at the
Marquis Scott:
right time, and as I was taking over that position, I was also
Marquis Scott:
doing a lot of good work around equity and inclusion, and loved
Marquis Scott:
doing that. And it wasn't until, likely my seventh or eighth year
Marquis Scott:
where I essentially wanted more. I wanted to do more. I wanted to
Marquis Scott:
teach. I wanted to learn. I wanted to explore curiosity
Marquis Scott:
independent schools. And at that point in time, I decided to go
Marquis Scott:
back to school for my masters and then my MBA. And as I was
Marquis Scott:
having those experiences with my professional growth outside of
Marquis Scott:
Newark Academy, I was taking on different projects at the school
Marquis Scott:
around strategic planning, around dei planning, working
Marquis Scott:
with the advances office. Was working with auxiliary
Marquis Scott:
programming, and I said, this is really cool. This is really
Marquis Scott:
interesting. And all the great thing about it was I was doing
Marquis Scott:
that out of the IT department, and realizing that I had this
Marquis Scott:
unique problem solving skill set that I can apply to different
Marquis Scott:
conversations and different experiences. So I used that as
Marquis Scott:
my springboard to essentially raise my hand in every single
Marquis Scott:
conversation or every single meeting to say I can do that. I
Marquis Scott:
want to do that. I just want to learn here. So that's actually
Marquis Scott:
led to a number of different opportunities, and essentially
Marquis Scott:
one of the reasons why I wanted to move on from New York Academy
Marquis Scott:
because I just want to do other things at that point in time. So
Marquis Scott:
I was lucky to find a great school. The Met in gal BAM for
Marquis Scott:
school in the Upper East Side, where I was hired as a CTO. And
Marquis Scott:
the head of school there was great Paul Burke, was one of my
Marquis Scott:
good friends now, said Marquis, you know, you have this
Marquis Scott:
interesting skill set that I think would work well here at
Marquis Scott:
our school, it's a K 12 school, and that was great. So I went
Marquis Scott:
there and I did some more it work. I did a lot more
Marquis Scott:
communications and branding, did some dei work, did some
Marquis Scott:
operation work, and I also taught classes, and I was also
Marquis Scott:
the academic department head. So you know, here my portfolio went
Marquis Scott:
from it to dei to strategy to just applying that to a bigger
Marquis Scott:
and more complex school. So did that for a number of years, and
Marquis Scott:
again, I wanted to do other things, sort of moving on from
Marquis Scott:
that Yale Bamford School, where I found this unique school, like
Marquis Scott:
a large full school in New Jersey, a boarding school. Never
Marquis Scott:
worked in a boarding school, and they were looking for an IT
Marquis Scott:
leader. And I said, Absolutely. But what sold me in this
Marquis Scott:
position here is my head of school, Steve Murray. I remember
Marquis Scott:
in my interview process, he said, you know, you have this
Marquis Scott:
interesting background that I think could be really unique.
Marquis Scott:
Here at our school, we're much more complex. We have a lot more
Marquis Scott:
employees. We have a lot more staff members, a list, a lot
Marquis Scott:
more students. And I said, Absolutely. So I started here in
Marquis Scott:
2018 as CTO, and I remember that year, in November, the head of
Marquis Scott:
school asked me to lead a branding project with
Marquis Scott:
communications, and that's when things took off for me. So I
Marquis Scott:
worked with the communications department on finance, branding,
Marquis Scott:
operations, all of it, bringing a project to life here, and that
Marquis Scott:
then led me to becoming the interim director of
Marquis Scott:
communications as a CTO. So I was CTO and Director of
Marquis Scott:
Communications, Acting Director communications, which is a great
Marquis Scott:
experience for me, not just learning about marketing and
Marquis Scott:
branding and value proposition, but also working with new
Marquis Scott:
members of the community here. So these two unique roles, and I
Marquis Scott:
remember I was leading that role here, and we hired a new
Marquis Scott:
director of communications, and then covid hit, so I went from
Marquis Scott:
thinking I was leaving for the role to sort of preparing a
Marquis Scott:
school for communicating through covid in a different enticing
Marquis Scott:
ways, alongside working as an IT Well, IT director and getting
Marquis Scott:
the school up with a new LMS system. So that was a great
Marquis Scott:
partnership for me. And so I did that for about a year and a
Marquis Scott:
half, and I became assistant head of school, and then we were
Marquis Scott:
launching a new DEI plan, and my head of school asked me to lead
Marquis Scott:
that plan, and we had some transitions where I ended up
Marquis Scott:
becoming the dean of diversity at the end of my third year at
Marquis Scott:
the school. So three years in three different roles, and I did
Marquis Scott:
that for about almost about six, seven months, which is great
Marquis Scott:
experience. And here for me, it was not just problem solving,
Marquis Scott:
but also working with new constituents, new students, new
Marquis Scott:
faculty and but I'm thinking about problem solving. It's like
Marquis Scott:
I can do this here. And did that for about eight, nine months,
Marquis Scott:
and then we had another transition. I became director of
Marquis Scott:
HR, but I was working with data. I was working with people, I was
Marquis Scott:
working with systems. I was working with benefits. Here. Did
Marquis Scott:
that in my fourth year, which is a great experience for me, and
Marquis Scott:
once we had a new director of HR, I moved over to wellness and
Marquis Scott:
well being. So I worked closely with our wellness team and our
Marquis Scott:
well being leader to lead different initiatives at Red to
Marquis Scott:
life and work with faculty and staff on this of issues. And the
Marquis Scott:
through line here is it was just problem solving and working with
Marquis Scott:
people, but also staying ahead of the school to make sure that
Marquis Scott:
we were playing a long game and trying to roll the school year
Marquis Scott:
out. And this past year, I was acting go ahead of school for
Marquis Scott:
the school on my head of school was on sabbatical, so that was a
Marquis Scott:
long way of saying I don't think I would be had success in those
Marquis Scott:
roles. Had in that been my IT background and applying what I
Marquis Scott:
learned to all these different positions,
Christina Lewellen:
that's pretty incredible. I want to ask
Christina Lewellen:
you specifically about the Lawrenceville school. It's a
Christina Lewellen:
prestigious school. It has a certain cache in our community.
Christina Lewellen:
Tell us about your school.
Marquis Scott:
Yeah, Lawrenceville school is a
Marquis Scott:
fabulous and unique environment, and we are complex with levels
Marquis Scott:
of healthy joy. You know, we have 845 students who come from
Marquis Scott:
all over the world, all over the country, to be in this unique
Marquis Scott:
place. And what makes us unique, in many ways, is, and I talk
Marquis Scott:
about our health system, we have these special houses on campus
Marquis Scott:
that each student belongs to. That they meet their family,
Marquis Scott:
they meet their friends, and it's a part of who they are. And
Marquis Scott:
coming into our school as a 13 and 14 year old student, and you
Marquis Scott:
meet other students, you belong to a family, that really sets
Marquis Scott:
you off into what we believe is the promise of education, and
Marquis Scott:
the other side of it is well, like a small liberal arts
Marquis Scott:
school, we are huge. We have all these great buildings, we have
Marquis Scott:
all these great facilities, and we have levels of joy and
Marquis Scott:
excitement that our team is can become a part of. And so for me,
Marquis Scott:
What I appreciate most about this position is, not only does
Marquis Scott:
my family live on campus, I see my boys running around at
Marquis Scott:
different camps, but I also have the ability to work in the
Marquis Scott:
housing system. I can play basketball with the kids on
Marquis Scott:
Sunday. I can do advisory duties. I can do all these
Marquis Scott:
different things that allow me to connect with our student body
Marquis Scott:
in really wonderful ways. And I think for those reasons, they
Marquis Scott:
make us unique. And then on the other side, we have a great
Marquis Scott:
academic experience where students can not only take
Marquis Scott:
advantage of core curriculum courses, but also I teach a
Marquis Scott:
course on managing technology and innovation, where, in many
Marquis Scott:
ways, it's an entrepreneurship course, where I give you some
Marquis Scott:
funding and you develop a model and a business plan, you're off
Marquis Scott:
and running. So our students have access to those resources,
Marquis Scott:
and I think for those reasons, it makes launch feel really,
Marquis Scott:
really unique.
Christina Lewellen:
I love hearing how you talk about your
Christina Lewellen:
school. That's really cool. I want to go back now to the
Christina Lewellen:
comment that you made about technology leaders sort of
Christina Lewellen:
having the skill set. This is something we talk a lot about at
Christina Lewellen:
Atlas and on the pod. I'm sitting here with board members.
Christina Lewellen:
You know, we talk about it in the boardroom, that technology
Christina Lewellen:
leaders have, in some cases, a hidden skill set. You have
Christina Lewellen:
figured out how to bring that skill set to the table and have
Christina Lewellen:
it recognized by your leadership, which is really kind
Christina Lewellen:
of a special thing. Do you think that that was sort of the luck
Christina Lewellen:
of the draw, or Was that intentional on your part in
Christina Lewellen:
terms of, I know I have these skills, so I am going to jump
Christina Lewellen:
into communications and HR and kind of whatever the school
Christina Lewellen:
needs of me,
Marquis Scott:
two themes, I think, number one, I think
Marquis Scott:
inherently it we problem solve, we find a problem, and we're
Marquis Scott:
solutions oriented. And I think because of that, that allows us
Marquis Scott:
to understand the situation and then take a step back. So
Marquis Scott:
inherently, we are systems thinkers. We take a holistic
Marquis Scott:
approach to the problem. I think in many ways, we understand the
Marquis Scott:
ripple effect of decision making processes or questions. And what
Marquis Scott:
I've tried to do is a I raised my hand to do everything. I just
Marquis Scott:
want to learn, and I want to be a valuable member, and I want to
Marquis Scott:
play my part. And what that has allowed me to do is participate
Marquis Scott:
in conversations that have been unique for me. And I've said I
Marquis Scott:
want to learn and I don't mind doing that's just what we do as
Marquis Scott:
IT leaders. So I think that's number one. I think the other
Marquis Scott:
piece of it is when I think about my time at Newark Academy
Marquis Scott:
in the IT realm here, we spend so much time in it, trying to
Marquis Scott:
understand the ripple effect of a decision making. You know, I
Marquis Scott:
jumped on early, and I think Bill was talking about like
Marquis Scott:
wiring, right. Wiring is important to buildings, right?
Marquis Scott:
You just cannot create a building by understanding how
Marquis Scott:
the wiring actually works here, and that's a systems approach to
Marquis Scott:
how we work. So I take that thinking, I apply it to schools.
Marquis Scott:
We are complex. We have layers of emotions and engagement and
Marquis Scott:
priorities here. And I think the tool kit that IT leaders have,
Marquis Scott:
we're able to pull on different tools at any given moment, but
Marquis Scott:
the challenge for us is trying to find out how we leverage
Marquis Scott:
those conversations. And for me, I think the only way to do that
Marquis Scott:
is just to raise your hand and sit in meetings. And then what I
Marquis Scott:
try to do throughout my life is when I work on a new solution, I
Marquis Scott:
will present options and have people work towards those
Marquis Scott:
options. And that's worked well for me as we go forward. I think
Marquis Scott:
as we move forward here, you know, we spend a lot of time and
Marquis Scott:
at least talking about the complexity of schools like it is
Marquis Scott:
really complex as we talk about value proposition, we talk about
Marquis Scott:
AI, we talk about factory retention, I think it is we
Marquis Scott:
understand the discipline of those conversations, and can
Marquis Scott:
drive those conversations in really authentic ways here. So I
Marquis Scott:
just tried to make sure that I'm in the right place at the right
Marquis Scott:
time, but also bringing people along in my decision
Hiram Cuevas:
making Marquis, I just want to see you next time
Hiram Cuevas:
wearing a cape. This is the first time I've actually heard
Hiram Cuevas:
your origin story, and it's so impressive all the different
Hiram Cuevas:
facets of school life that you have touched. I mean, I know it,
Hiram Cuevas:
directors tend to have their fingers in all sorts of
Hiram Cuevas:
departments. They're talking to alums, they're talking to
Hiram Cuevas:
parents, students, teachers, etc. But I mean, for you to
Hiram Cuevas:
actually walk the walk in these various departments is truly a
Hiram Cuevas:
testament to your skill set. Now I'm kind of curious, looking
Hiram Cuevas:
back, is there a particular area that you miss that you're no
Hiram Cuevas:
longer part of?
Marquis Scott:
So the IT department reports up to me, and
Marquis Scott:
I just love it. I don't know if my IT director loves it, but I
Marquis Scott:
think I love it, and I have learned over. A time that you
Marquis Scott:
know leadership is about empowering the people you work
Marquis Scott:
with. I need to empower my leaders to lead, and my job is
Marquis Scott:
to be resource. I learned that early in my career here,
Marquis Scott:
however, I love July 1 every single year, because I walk down
Marquis Scott:
to the idea department, I say, can I just help onboard new
Marquis Scott:
faculty? I miss onboarding new faculty, where we give them a
Marquis Scott:
new laptop, we meet them one on one, and every year the IT
Marquis Scott:
department said I can do one help desk ticket. I miss the
Marquis Scott:
energy of getting a help desk ticket and running down a
Marquis Scott:
hallway and just trying to figure out what the issue is,
Marquis Scott:
and then seeing the instant gratification of those tickets.
Marquis Scott:
So I would say at the end of the day, I do miss every now and
Marquis Scott:
then doing those help desk tickets. I now have different
Marquis Scott:
sorts of help desk tickets in my life and what I'm doing here,
Marquis Scott:
but that adjourn of working with students and faculty and just
Marquis Scott:
seeing that the onboarding and just talking to them about
Marquis Scott:
technology like I don't see it as much in my current job here,
Marquis Scott:
but when I walk on a help desk every now and then, I'll just go
Marquis Scott:
behind that desk and I'll talk to them what's going on. And
Marquis Scott:
that's really a highlight of my job. I think
Christina Lewellen:
the marketing team at your school or
Christina Lewellen:
the IT folks need to like, make one of those memes like, hate to
Christina Lewellen:
see Marky comment, right? I just want to do a help desk ticket.
Christina Lewellen:
But it is. There is something very satisfying about resolving
Christina Lewellen:
an issue and having it being fairly simple, that's really
Christina Lewellen:
fun. So I don't know if they love seeing you come in or hate
Christina Lewellen:
seeing you come in, but at least it gets resolved either way.
Marquis Scott:
And part of it is, you know, we in it, and I
Marquis Scott:
think at my job here, like we are, people centered. That's who
Marquis Scott:
we are inherently here. So the benefits of working in it is,
Marquis Scott:
you work with all constituents, all constituents. There's no
Marquis Scott:
other job that's as complex as that, except the head of school
Marquis Scott:
job where we touch on every community member throughout the
Marquis Scott:
year to navigate their challenge and opportunities. And for me,
Marquis Scott:
that has been a blessing for me to learn up through it, and I
Marquis Scott:
just tried to apply that to my approach in school leadership.
Bill Stites:
You mentioned our history. You know, we both
Bill Stites:
started out in day schools, and you talked about moving on to a
Bill Stites:
boarding school. And I've had the good fortune of being on
Bill Stites:
your campus a number of times, and it is like a small college
Bill Stites:
campus. I mean, it is quite sizable for the people that are
Bill Stites:
thinking about the differences between what a day environment
Bill Stites:
is like in a boarding environment is like,
Bill Stites:
particularly at the size you're at, what are the differences
Bill Stites:
between what Hiram and I might be dealing with on a day to day,
Bill Stites:
as compared to what you would see in a boarding school, one of
Bill Stites:
particularly of your size,
Marquis Scott:
there are dramatic differences between the
Marquis Scott:
day and boarding environment when it comes to just leadership
Marquis Scott:
in general. And I'll use the IT perspective here for a second.
Marquis Scott:
From a day perspective. You know, you have your day job, and
Marquis Scott:
rarely do you have major tickets over the weekend, especially the
Marquis Scott:
year gets going here, but in boarding school environment,
Marquis Scott:
they're living here, so you're likely to get some tickets on
Marquis Scott:
the weekend, and you just would not get at a day school
Marquis Scott:
environment, right? And some of it sometimes is housing related,
Marquis Scott:
because faculty live on campus, so that's different. And some of
Marquis Scott:
it is student related, because students live in the actual
Marquis Scott:
dorm, right? So that's a major difference, the way I think
Marquis Scott:
about this. Families live in dorms. So how do you separate
Marquis Scott:
the internet policies from families versus students? Right?
Marquis Scott:
You just can't shut it off at 11 o'clock, for example, and you
Marquis Scott:
have to be aware that families have partners or spouses who
Marquis Scott:
need higher levels of bandwidth or resources because they're
Marquis Scott:
working remotely. That's a whole new world we've had to navigate
Marquis Scott:
to figure out how we support the community. That's number one. I
Marquis Scott:
think number two is the complexity of how you think
Marquis Scott:
about your accepted use policies can be really blurry between a
Marquis Scott:
day and board of school environment. So with a day
Marquis Scott:
school, it's binary, right? You're off school. If a student
Marquis Scott:
has issue at home, you can work with the families in different
Marquis Scott:
ways here, but your students live here throughout the year
Marquis Scott:
here, so the education around responsible use is really
Marquis Scott:
important for our community members, so they understand how
Marquis Scott:
to navigate the decisions when it comes to online use and
Marquis Scott:
online learning here. So I think that's the biggest piece. The
Marquis Scott:
other piece is leadership of day schools is much different,
Marquis Scott:
probably because everyone's leaving after five o'clock. It's
Marquis Scott:
different, right? It's not many people in the building and a
Marquis Scott:
boarding school, you're living and reading 24 hours a day. So
Marquis Scott:
for example, when you're an IT person around campus and you
Marquis Scott:
have a house event, sometimes you might get questions at a
Marquis Scott:
barbecue or a gathering, whereas in a day school environment, you
Marquis Scott:
might not see that as frequently. So that's a huge
Marquis Scott:
piece of the puzzle here, and I think overall, globally here,
Marquis Scott:
when you're running a boarding school here, it's 365 all year
Marquis Scott:
long. Christmas. Thanks. Given the holidays and trying to make
Marquis Scott:
sure that you find time to pull back, but also support the
Marquis Scott:
community members as they need throughout the school year. It's
Marquis Scott:
easy to adapt to here, but it's a different level of
Marquis Scott:
preparation.
Bill Stites:
So Marquis, I have a quick follow up to that
Bill Stites:
because of your size, is there a feeling of or a desire for a
Bill Stites:
certain level of autonomy within departments, or alignment
Bill Stites:
between departments that you need to work through to move
Bill Stites:
maybe the teaching and learning goals forward together,
Bill Stites:
collectively, in terms of the tools that we're using, and
Bill Stites:
making sure that you've got buy in, because one department might
Bill Stites:
want to use X, another one might want to use, why? Because, and
Bill Stites:
I'm just supposing here, and this is why I'm asking the
Bill Stites:
question, is there the closer? I don't want to use collegiality,
Bill Stites:
because I don't want to imply that they're not collegial. But
Bill Stites:
like this closer working relationship that you might have
Bill Stites:
in a day school, where everyone's sitting down at the
Bill Stites:
table together at lunch, or everyone might be in shared
Bill Stites:
spaces that different areas use. Because of that is there that
Bill Stites:
desire for autonomy that you might not see in a day school.
Marquis Scott:
It's interesting the way you think about it. So
Marquis Scott:
let me start with the leadership perspective. I think boarding
Marquis Scott:
schools have larger IT teams. When I was hired here, we have
Marquis Scott:
12 members of our it. That was the biggest team I've ever had
Marquis Scott:
in my life. And then within that team, we had an operations team
Marquis Scott:
and we had a support team, and each those teams had their own
Marquis Scott:
individual directors. And then we had members of what we call
Marquis Scott:
faculty who were sort of the tech liaisons for different
Marquis Scott:
groups of people across campus that worked with a dotted line
Marquis Scott:
with us. And we had an academic liaison person who also worked
Marquis Scott:
with the academic department heads. So from a CTO
Marquis Scott:
perspective, you gotta have that global perspective what's
Marquis Scott:
actually and you can speak all those different languages of
Marquis Scott:
what exactly is going on here. So I start with that, because
Marquis Scott:
the difference in a boarding school is that people can work
Marquis Scott:
with different parts of the teams at any given time here. So
Marquis Scott:
for example, one of the changes I made over the last couple of
Marquis Scott:
years is our IT director sits on department heads because I think
Marquis Scott:
it's important for him to understand the academic pedagogy
Marquis Scott:
of teaching, learning and what they're deciding that's number
Marquis Scott:
one, two, if there are any questions that emerge there, he
Marquis Scott:
can jump ahead of it and be able to provide additional context.
Marquis Scott:
That's one piece of it. The other piece of it is most
Marquis Scott:
boarding schools have data integrity teams always just has
Marquis Scott:
nine people on it, right? So remember, data folds up through
Marquis Scott:
your department here, so we have a data director who all sees
Marquis Scott:
data, so he has to work with people across the school on data
Marquis Scott:
integrity, right? Because all schools have tried, years ago to
Marquis Scott:
have one database, which just does not work. So we have a best
Marquis Scott:
of breed approach, and most ed directors do not want to fight
Marquis Scott:
that battle, because you never win that battle here. So what we
Marquis Scott:
try to do is make sure we have a data person oversees that area,
Marquis Scott:
but there's nine people across the school here. So the point
Marquis Scott:
I'm making here is that there are different levels of teams
Marquis Scott:
that are individual pockets, and in most cases, your team is a
Marquis Scott:
liaison to those individual pockets. So for example, we have
Marquis Scott:
a support team that we have, sort of a technology trainer who
Marquis Scott:
works with teachers and our AI leaders on AI implementation and
Marquis Scott:
LMS coordination inside of rice life curriculum and housing
Marquis Scott:
here. So there's pockets of teams, and each year, team
Marquis Scott:
members always work with those individuals. Whereas in a day
Marquis Scott:
school, you see that complexity at that level, it's smaller,
Bill Stites:
yeah, yeah. And it's all about the org chart.
Bill Stites:
Thinking about this, I'm doing the mental gymnastics of kind of
Bill Stites:
drawing this all out and seeing what this looks like. And I
Bill Stites:
think that's the piece that is really interesting. And I think
Bill Stites:
that a lot of schools, regardless of size, boarding or
Bill Stites:
day, when you hear about the way in which these things are
Bill Stites:
structured, how can you boil that down? It might not be
Bill Stites:
people that are necessarily full time roles that you might have
Bill Stites:
at your school that are serving in these in this capacity, but
Bill Stites:
the ability to set up structures that allow for the level of
Bill Stites:
communications and information sharing as you're describing, I
Bill Stites:
think, is an incredible asset and something a lot of people
Bill Stites:
can really take away from what you've just shared.
Marquis Scott:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so this is what I mean
Marquis Scott:
when it comes to effective leadership in a complex
Marquis Scott:
environment, right? We have to have systems upon systems. You
Marquis Scott:
gotta have good people to put into those systems. So I think,
Marquis Scott:
when I think about it, leaders and IT directors and CTOs, our
Marquis Scott:
job is to have a holistic perspective from a big picture
Marquis Scott:
vision, and then we can sort of work down from that. But to do
Marquis Scott:
that effectively here, you have to be able to empower leaders.
Marquis Scott:
You have to be able to navigate confusion and anxiety, right?
Marquis Scott:
You gotta be able to bring people along those conversations
Marquis Scott:
here. So for me, when I think about the boarding school
Marquis Scott:
complexity. Year, and I think about my role specifically here,
Marquis Scott:
what I try to do with our IT team is and make sure you have
Marquis Scott:
the right systems in place, and then once you have that, then
Marquis Scott:
the communication is seamless, then the processes are up to
Marquis Scott:
par, and you have effective collaboration. But in the sense
Marquis Scott:
of systems, what you begin to happen is people work in
Marquis Scott:
decentralized mechanisms. So for example, I've been in schools
Marquis Scott:
where IT leaders will often work in a silo, and what you'll often
Marquis Scott:
see is they will have a Faculty Technology Leadership Team here
Marquis Scott:
that does not connect with the IT team because the IT director
Marquis Scott:
doesn't want to understand teaching and learning, or they
Marquis Scott:
don't want to collaborate. So here's a great example. You
Marquis Scott:
know, when we design our classrooms, we actually design
Marquis Scott:
them based on the teacher's input. Here we are the resource.
Marquis Scott:
Let them design their class, their basics, right? A smart
Marquis Scott:
board or bright link, an Apple TV, right? But beyond that, the
Marquis Scott:
teachers should be driving here, but our team knows and they
Marquis Scott:
believe in this here. If we don't have that input here, how
Marquis Scott:
can we have that effect on buy in or collaboration? So that's
Marquis Scott:
how we think about leadership here at the law school school,
Christina Lewellen:
can I ask you Marquis, how you guys are
Christina Lewellen:
thinking about AI? It's just something that all of our
Christina Lewellen:
listeners want to hear from a bunch of different schools. And
Christina Lewellen:
as complicated as your structure is, and the fact that getting AI
Christina Lewellen:
out into the hands of the users is complicated, even for a more
Christina Lewellen:
simply structured school. Tell us a little bit about how you
Christina Lewellen:
guys are thinking about that at Lawrenceville.
Marquis Scott:
Yeah, that's a great question. And you know,
Marquis Scott:
I'll start with this. Here's the truth of AI. It's here. We know
Marquis Scott:
that, and we want to ensure that we are helping schools. And I've
Marquis Scott:
always said that we want to approach AI with curiosity and
Marquis Scott:
care, because this is about balancing tradition and
Marquis Scott:
innovation. So when I think about that from a global
Marquis Scott:
perspective here, what we tried to do is two things. Number one
Marquis Scott:
is create joyful play with AI in partnerships with students and
Marquis Scott:
faculty. And what that has allowed us to do here is, not
Marquis Scott:
only do we have a new director of AI and student projects here,
Marquis Scott:
but she has done some great work in bringing our faculty along
Marquis Scott:
and understanding AI for those who are really interested in it,
Marquis Scott:
and we recognize some are going to say, No way, and that is
Marquis Scott:
actually Okay, as you understand the ethics around AI, how to
Marquis Scott:
maximize teaching, learning, and on the other hand, she has done
Marquis Scott:
some great work with our student AI team here, where they have
Marquis Scott:
worked with her and looking at our community, from operations
Marquis Scott:
to academics to begin developing programs to developing AI apps
Marquis Scott:
and stuff like that. But the point I'm making here is we're
Marquis Scott:
still playing with it, we're still testing it, and we're
Marquis Scott:
still learning here, but the key piece is we are upfront with
Marquis Scott:
what we're learning and with the some of the challenges and
Marquis Scott:
opportunities. So we're reporting back to the community
Marquis Scott:
as to our journey with this conversation, and we've done a
Marquis Scott:
lot of great work over the last two years, and one of my
Marquis Scott:
projects this year is to work with a small group of folks,
Marquis Scott:
including our director of AI, to develop an AI vision statement,
Marquis Scott:
which will help us, from a global perspective, understand
Marquis Scott:
the why and the how with AI. And of course, we want to make sure
Marquis Scott:
it's embedded into our mission and our vision. But here, at the
Marquis Scott:
end of the day, it's going to include a faculty piece, it's
Marquis Scott:
going to include a student piece, it's going to include
Marquis Scott:
some level of understanding around ethics. So we're going to
Marquis Scott:
have different including an alumni portion. We're going to
Marquis Scott:
have different elements of themes within the AI plan here,
Marquis Scott:
so I will work our school through those conversations
Marquis Scott:
here, but the key piece of that is that group of stakeholders
Marquis Scott:
that will help us get there will include students, faculty,
Marquis Scott:
parents, senior staff and alumni. So we have a statement
Marquis Scott:
here that's co created, that's built on tradition and shows how
Marquis Scott:
we want to step through innovation here. So I think
Marquis Scott:
that's the right approach moving forward here, because if we're
Marquis Scott:
not Cole learning with our students here, we're missing out
Marquis Scott:
on such a great opportunity of understanding exactly how we can
Marquis Scott:
infuse AI into our school life here. So that's how I'm gonna
Marquis Scott:
approach it this year. And here's what we're learning now,
Marquis Scott:
as our tuitions in many schools are north of 4050, in some
Marquis Scott:
cases, $80,000 value proposition will be an important
Marquis Scott:
conversation for our schools. And what we're seeing now in
Marquis Scott:
some of our revisit days and families are saying to us, one
Marquis Scott:
of these that shows your school is because of the fact that
Marquis Scott:
you're looking to AI. So in many ways, this could be part of our
Marquis Scott:
value proposition going forward. So in other words, we don't want
Marquis Scott:
to be the shiny new school that wants to shine a theme here. We
Marquis Scott:
want to make sure that we're being thoughtful, we're being
Marquis Scott:
intimate, or being deliberate and intentional as to how we
Marquis Scott:
approach AI going forward
Christina Lewellen:
100% and I have this conversation a lot,
Christina Lewellen:
which is that whether we lock it down for learning is kind of
Christina Lewellen:
short sighted, right, because of the fact that you're training
Christina Lewellen:
these kids to. Go out into the workforce and to work for people
Christina Lewellen:
who are expecting them to be aI literate. So I'm curious, then,
Christina Lewellen:
what you think the future of school looks like, because it's
Christina Lewellen:
all bundled together AI and the role of the teacher evolving. So
Christina Lewellen:
what is school gonna be? Do you have some predictions on that?
Marquis Scott:
This is the number one question that many
Marquis Scott:
schools are beginning to navigate, and we are hearing and
Marquis Scott:
we're seeing this at the board level, from a governance
Marquis Scott:
perspective, and that's partly because the evolution of change
Marquis Scott:
feels so much more rapid. On top of here's some trends that we
Marquis Scott:
know one employee well being, and this is your question. Bill
Marquis Scott:
around boarding school, lifestyle is, you know, our
Marquis Scott:
employees are navigating change in really complex ways, whether
Marquis Scott:
it's the political factors that are happening, whether it's
Marquis Scott:
financial sustainability, whether tuition, like we're
Marquis Scott:
seeing it work in ways that we haven't seen before here. So we
Marquis Scott:
got to make sure that employee well being, student well being,
Marquis Scott:
will be a priority here, because us, you know, we're talking
Marquis Scott:
about faculty and staff retention, the shortage of
Marquis Scott:
teachers is real, like they're not just walking down shit. They
Marquis Scott:
want to teach it, right? This is a market that's shrinking that
Marquis Scott:
we want to pay really close attention to. And so that's
Marquis Scott:
number two. We also know that innovation and balancing AI and
Marquis Scott:
traditional innovation will be important as we go forward. So
Marquis Scott:
that will be a part of the conversation. We also know that
Marquis Scott:
inclusion and belonging and the intersection of that and the way
Marquis Scott:
our students self identify and the way they are achievement the
Marquis Scott:
needs of what they need, today versus yesterday, is important
Marquis Scott:
to student well being right? So that will be important part of
Marquis Scott:
the conversation. We also now know that the whole visa
Marquis Scott:
situation that many of our schools have been dealing with,
Marquis Scott:
for schools who are net tuition driven, have to worry about with
Marquis Scott:
management, right, so that it will be a part of the
Marquis Scott:
conversation. And we also know that tuition affordability is a
Marquis Scott:
key aspect of farm sustainability. That's a recipe
Marquis Scott:
that we want to continue to understand here. So the reason I
Marquis Scott:
paint the picture for you here is we know the future of
Marquis Scott:
education is going to be a whole array of those things I've been
Marquis Scott:
talking about here. So it will be important for us to continue
Marquis Scott:
to drive home our mission around belonging and inclusion. We also
Marquis Scott:
have to make sure that we are mindful around balancing
Marquis Scott:
tradition innovation here, and we also know that we have to pay
Marquis Scott:
closer attention to the ways we think about the school business
Marquis Scott:
model. Will it be sustainable going forward, especially the
Marquis Scott:
college landscape, especially around the transfer portal.
Marquis Scott:
Whereas all these things are at play in ways that we as parents
Marquis Scott:
are asking much more direct questions. So when our kid goes
Marquis Scott:
to a great school that what they want to know is, is my child
Marquis Scott:
going to get into Harvard or Princeton for the value
Marquis Scott:
properties that we're paying here, and if not here, I'm going
Marquis Scott:
to have my kids stay home. You know, here's a trend that we're
Marquis Scott:
seeing now, is that some of our conversation now is families are
Marquis Scott:
just staying home. They're just staying home, right? So if you
Marquis Scott:
think about that from a community perspective, and the
Marquis Scott:
future of education here, it's gonna look rapidly different as
Marquis Scott:
you begin to have transactional conversations with our family
Marquis Scott:
here, which would be more important for us to take a step
Marquis Scott:
back and understand how these All intersections are planned
Marquis Scott:
and hitting each other. So I think the point here that I'm
Marquis Scott:
painting for you, it is really complex for us, because we have
Marquis Scott:
emerging themes that are complex, and we have a themes
Marquis Scott:
that we're still trying to unpack together here. So we look
Marquis Scott:
at the plate of menu here like, Whoa, what is going on here? And
Marquis Scott:
that's important for us to understand what's going on and
Marquis Scott:
be thoughtful about our next steps.
Hiram Cuevas:
So marqui, I want to take a step back for just a
Hiram Cuevas:
moment, because, if I heard you correctly, you mentioned that
Hiram Cuevas:
you have a director of AI. Was that your creation? And where
Hiram Cuevas:
does that stand in relation to some of the other directors
Hiram Cuevas:
within Lawrenceville? Because it sounds like because you've done
Hiram Cuevas:
this, you're walking the walk, and you're going from good to
Hiram Cuevas:
great. To use a quote from Jim Collins,
Marquis Scott:
yeah. You know what I appreciate most about the
Marquis Scott:
Lawrenceville school is we try to meet the students where they
Marquis Scott:
are. And our history shows that, whether it's coming out of the
Marquis Scott:
2020, racial pandemic and developing a DEI plan around
Marquis Scott:
inclusion belonging to make sure we are zoning in, or whether
Marquis Scott:
it's our work around developing a well being plan to address the
Marquis Scott:
student and faculty needs around well being, because it's no
Marquis Scott:
longer academic, right? It's social, it's psychological, it's
Marquis Scott:
all these different arenas that are important to children well
Marquis Scott:
being here. And the reason I paint that picture for you is,
Marquis Scott:
as we think about the version of AI, how it's influenced our
Marquis Scott:
community here, the way we approach that work is, first of
Marquis Scott:
all, Jennifer Parnell has done great work to the point where we
Marquis Scott:
realized there was a need to not only stamp that position, but
Marquis Scott:
also back her with the resources and support to make sure that
Marquis Scott:
she can do the good work that she is doing here. But that was
Marquis Scott:
based on the needs assessment. We didn't come out and just say,
Marquis Scott:
let's have a dark day of AI and let's push forward here. We had
Marquis Scott:
two years worth of great data, great information and
Marquis Scott:
conversations that led us to believe, okay, we actually just
Marquis Scott:
sort of create the position and structure it in a way that makes
Marquis Scott:
sense for her growth and school's ability to move forward
Marquis Scott:
in these conversations here, and what that has done for us is not
Marquis Scott:
only has given us a little more insight into not only the needs
Marquis Scott:
of our school here, but it's allow us to understand, and
Marquis Scott:
she's a great teacher, which is the key part of this, to
Marquis Scott:
understand how we balance innovation with tradition,
Marquis Scott:
because she sees both aisles of those
Bill Stites:
conversations. You know, if I was going to have an
Bill Stites:
inferiority complex, you would be feeding into it right now.
Hiram Cuevas:
That's not hard to do, Bill, it's not hard to do, I
Hiram Cuevas:
know.
Bill Stites:
But because we go back and I'm like, Oh, I
Bill Stites:
remember when Marky and I were both in the same job, and I look
Bill Stites:
at you now, and I'm like, Oh, my God, look at what Mike, he's
Bill Stites:
doing it. Look around. So 30 plus years at the same place. I
Bill Stites:
think we've evolved in our own different ways, in terms of
Bill Stites:
fulfillment, I'll say, but I want to point to the fact that
Bill Stites:
you've truly become, I think, the type of leader that you've
Bill Stites:
done multiple things, you've been able to make and take steps
Bill Stites:
from really starting at what I'll call that help desk level,
Bill Stites:
to go back to what you were saying, you know, loving to get
Bill Stites:
into the weeds on the help desk, and that being the thing that
Bill Stites:
you miss, to really a very highly elevated position at one
Bill Stites:
of the top schools, not just in New Jersey, but in the United
Bill Stites:
States, when it comes to the independent school community,
Bill Stites:
how have You over all of those different roles, right? Because
Bill Stites:
we've talked about this recently, this past weekend at
Bill Stites:
the board retreat, in terms of, how do we elevate the role of
Bill Stites:
the tech director? Where does that then lead? What have you
Bill Stites:
done? What have been, kind of some of the hallmarks of you
Bill Stites:
developing your leadership style and your ability to lead in
Bill Stites:
these different areas that have allowed you to make these
Bill Stites:
transitions to where you are now.
Christina Lewellen:
Yeah, I like that question a lot, Bill,
Christina Lewellen:
because I'm interested too like, that's a whole different
Christina Lewellen:
leadership skill than help desk. So where'd you get that from
Christina Lewellen:
school? From other people? I want that question too
Hiram Cuevas:
bit by a spider.
Christina Lewellen:
I know.
Marquis Scott:
Let me answer in this way. I think number one is
Marquis Scott:
my head of school is fabulous. And not only has he been a great
Marquis Scott:
mentor for me here, but he has also been a great supporter when
Marquis Scott:
I'm not in the room. And that matters in leadership, because
Marquis Scott:
when you have that and someone speaking on your behalf here, it
Marquis Scott:
allows the work that you're doing to thread through the
Marquis Scott:
school in ways that are important, whether you're at the
Marquis Scott:
table in the room or not. That's number one that, and I've tried
Marquis Scott:
to, in many ways, lead in the same exact way, right? If I can
Marquis Scott:
do anything to make you a better leader, be a resource. I'm happy
Marquis Scott:
to do that, and I think the benefit of that is I've been in
Marquis Scott:
a number of positions throughout my career where I think I can
Marquis Scott:
add value in school leadership, right whether it's
Marquis Scott:
communications or HR or well being or strategy, and I think
Marquis Scott:
it's important to give back that has always been my leadership
Marquis Scott:
style. However, I did recognize early in my career, when I was
Marquis Scott:
in technology, that I just was curious, and I realized that
Marquis Scott:
when I was met with different opportunities and challenges, I
Marquis Scott:
could actually pull on a different toolkit that I didn't
Marquis Scott:
know I actually had. So for example, listening and just
Marquis Scott:
learning, right? That is it. That's what we do, right? When
Marquis Scott:
you walk into a classroom and the teacher says, The Smart part
Marquis Scott:
is not working, you're saying, Well, tell me what's going on.
Marquis Scott:
How can I fix this? That's listening and asking questions,
Marquis Scott:
right? So that has been transferable for me, as I led in
Marquis Scott:
different arenas of the school, like I don't think I'll ever do
Marquis Scott:
HR again, the toughest jobs I ever had, but the most rewarding
Marquis Scott:
experience I've ever been a part of, because I was working with
Marquis Scott:
faculty in a different lens, and I learned so much about my own
Marquis Scott:
capacity to lead and articulate a vision, but also what it means
Marquis Scott:
to support faculty through that lens here. But again, I learned
Marquis Scott:
that from my early days in it, you know, I have an MBA, which
Marquis Scott:
is great and all, but I knew numbers before I had an MBA,
Marquis Scott:
because I had this budget, and I had to work with the finance
Marquis Scott:
department, and I had to work with operations that I was
Marquis Scott:
forced to understand that added value of $1 and what it meant to
Marquis Scott:
bring in vendors, right? I got that from it, and it's worked
Marquis Scott:
now in my own school leadership position here. And the other
Marquis Scott:
piece of it is the relational aspect of my role. You know, I
Marquis Scott:
have aspirations to run a school. One day. But I do think
Marquis Scott:
I have a different trajectory than someone else coming through
Marquis Scott:
the ranks, because I've done so much across the school. You want
Marquis Scott:
to talk about finance. Let's talk about financial and talking
Marquis Scott:
about relationships. Let's talk about any number of things here
Marquis Scott:
that I've been able to tap on. And I think what has allowed me
Marquis Scott:
to do that is a that because of my role. Now, instead of school
Marquis Scott:
here, assistant school, have this unique they have a gray
Marquis Scott:
area for a job. It's a gray area which is you have your job. But
Marquis Scott:
I cross the school depending on what the priority is of the
Marquis Scott:
school and the needs of the Head of School at the given time. So
Marquis Scott:
in my role here, I try to make sure that I set my head of
Marquis Scott:
school up for success. I try to stay five steps ahead of him to
Marquis Scott:
say, this has come online. This was coming on. How do you want
Marquis Scott:
to navigate this? And I'm off and running here. Or if I see a
Marquis Scott:
problem a solution, I sort of know when something escalates
Marquis Scott:
for me. So for example, in March, we saw the whole visa
Marquis Scott:
challenge happens. Oh, okay, this is a problem for us here. I
Marquis Scott:
need to organize a group. I gotta bring everyone together.
Marquis Scott:
We're gonna have communication like that was me helping to
Marquis Scott:
planning lead to just keep us going so that we're not doing
Marquis Scott:
all the work in June and in July this year. But where'd that come
Marquis Scott:
from? Because we know that in it, you start your summer
Marquis Scott:
planning in January or February of the preceding year here. So a
Marquis Scott:
lot of what I'm doing now is transferable from it. I just I
Marquis Scott:
didn't know I had these skills until I was put in position to
Marquis Scott:
actually leverage these skill sets here. So to answer your
Marquis Scott:
question directly, some of it was develop my own marketing
Marquis Scott:
brand and how I want to be known as a leader here, but also
Marquis Scott:
showing that I can be versatile when the time comes when I'm
Marquis Scott:
ready to lead a school that's
Christina Lewellen:
really awesome. You definitely have a
Christina Lewellen:
well rounded background. Thank you for that. You know, here we
Christina Lewellen:
sit heading into a new school year, and I'm curious if there
Christina Lewellen:
are things you're excited about. What's happening at
Christina Lewellen:
Lawrenceville this year. What kind of projects or initiatives
Christina Lewellen:
are you guys looking forward to? What does the school year look
Christina Lewellen:
like for you guys moving into 2526
Marquis Scott:
we're about three and a half weeks away from the
Marquis Scott:
first set of students to return to campus. And what I love about
Marquis Scott:
orientation is everyone's new, right? Whether you're returning
Marquis Scott:
or you're new to the building, you are just new. And that
Marquis Scott:
energy and excitement on day one is one of the best feelings,
Marquis Scott:
because they're coming in and they're eager to learn, they're
Marquis Scott:
hugging, they're high fiving at sports. So I'm ready to jump in
Marquis Scott:
full force. And I know this year here we have a number of
Marquis Scott:
projects that we're talking about. Like, number one is, you
Marquis Scott:
know, part of our work this year is just making sure that we have
Marquis Scott:
a finger on our pulse when it comes to community well being.
Marquis Scott:
So making sure, from a micro level, that we're engaging the
Marquis Scott:
faculty and staff and thoughtful and important discussions around
Marquis Scott:
what is happening inside the dorms, what is happening inside
Marquis Scott:
the classrooms, what is happening across the school, to
Marquis Scott:
make sure that we're supporting our employees from a global
Marquis Scott:
perspective, but also to have them having the resources they
Marquis Scott:
need to get through another successful year on the flip side
Marquis Scott:
of that and making sure that through our well being plan, we
Marquis Scott:
have a new dean of campus well being and making sure that she's
Marquis Scott:
off and running, but also working with her and our
Marquis Scott:
students and our Student Life team to look at student well
Marquis Scott:
being, to make sure that we are supporting all facets of student
Marquis Scott:
well being here. So that's our focus for us this year. And then
Marquis Scott:
we're having some really interesting discussions at the
Marquis Scott:
school around value proposition, right? We have value proposition
Marquis Scott:
since plural at the school, not just one thing, multiple things
Marquis Scott:
here. So we're going to delve into that this year with our
Marquis Scott:
community to understand what's working well, what are we
Marquis Scott:
seeing? What are some areas for growth for us? I'm really
Marquis Scott:
excited to delve into that, and that's really important for two
Marquis Scott:
reasons. Number one is our schools have high tuitions,
Marquis Scott:
right? It's prices to come through our schools here, and
Marquis Scott:
parents are asking us more and more about, who are you, what is
Marquis Scott:
the value? So I think just understanding who we are and
Marquis Scott:
having those thoughtful conversations are going to be
Marquis Scott:
intriguing as we head into the school year. So I'm excited for
Marquis Scott:
that and the work that we're going to do around our AI vision
Marquis Scott:
statement. It's going to be huge. You know, many schools are
Marquis Scott:
trying to be the first market for the AI vision statement, and
Marquis Scott:
for us, we just want to take our time. We want to rely on our
Marquis Scott:
community. We want to be, as I said earlier, intentional and
Marquis Scott:
deliberate about moving that forward will be important for
Marquis Scott:
us. So those are some of the projects that I'm interested in
Marquis Scott:
this year. They're going to be, in many ways, in my portfolio.
Marquis Scott:
So I'm excited to start the year off in those way. And then, you
Marquis Scott:
know, those are the day to day things that I worry about
Marquis Scott:
around, you know, new team members, making sure they have
Marquis Scott:
the support they need, making sure we're available for
Marquis Scott:
students. But those are the three hallmarks of things that
Marquis Scott:
we hallmarks of things that will be on my mind
Christina Lewellen:
as I head into the year. Those are really
Christina Lewellen:
great things. I can't wait to kind of hear how that all
Christina Lewellen:
unfolds.
Bill Stites:
Markie, one of the things I'm interested in, I'm
Bill Stites:
gonna take us back to the conversation where you were
Bill Stites:
talking about, like your organizational structure, but
Bill Stites:
also the number of roles that you. Had, and the number of
Bill Stites:
titles that you've held, because, you know, the idea of
Bill Stites:
tech director, the CTO, or maybe, you know, I didn't hear
Bill Stites:
you say it, but maybe CIO versus, you know, Director of
Bill Stites:
AI, and all of these different titles, I guess my question is
Bill Stites:
boiled down to, like, What's in a name, what's in a title, and
Bill Stites:
how do you see titles, and the way in which we talk about the
Bill Stites:
roles that we have in the tech world, throughout the various
Bill Stites:
positions that we have and hold, how do those titles have and
Bill Stites:
hold meaning in our schools? How do they allow us to, as I would
Bill Stites:
like to say, have the juice to get the job done, you know, to
Bill Stites:
put us in a position where we can truly influence, where do
Bill Stites:
you see those in the role of the tech department at schools, big
Bill Stites:
and small?
Marquis Scott:
Yeah, that's a really good question. You know,
Marquis Scott:
all of our schools are, in many ways, hierarchies of decision
Marquis Scott:
makers, and some of that those decisions are influenced by the
Marquis Scott:
title that you have. And I've seen in some schools where the
Marquis Scott:
title can sort of make or break your role depending on what
Marquis Scott:
you're doing, and because of that, the weight behind your
Marquis Scott:
decision making can actually follow suit. So for example,
Marquis Scott:
I've had unique titles throughout my career here, and
Marquis Scott:
I've only had as I think about my career at the Lawrenceville
Marquis Scott:
school, my title has been assistant head of school, but
Marquis Scott:
I've had these subtitles and roles I have led, whether it was
Marquis Scott:
in HR or communications. In many ways, titles give you the
Marquis Scott:
ability to be the decision maker, right to hold influence,
Marquis Scott:
to push initiatives forward. So when we think about titles, I
Marquis Scott:
try to make sure that titles reflect the work that you're
Marquis Scott:
doing now, and be open to flexibility in that title. So
Marquis Scott:
for example, it's actually not clear to me if schools still
Marquis Scott:
have direct of its anymore, and it's an interesting word we
Marquis Scott:
still use, because I think the IT director, the role continues
Marquis Scott:
to evolve and emerge in really wonderful ways. And I think
Marquis Scott:
schools want to just pause and ask ourselves, does that
Marquis Scott:
actually support the role of IT director? And do we have to
Marquis Scott:
shift that title? Because when you do that, it sends a signal
Marquis Scott:
that a this is important for the school and be the person sitting
Marquis Scott:
in that role has the authority to make the decision necessary
Marquis Scott:
to move that forward, because in absence of that here, IT
Marquis Scott:
directors can sometimes be met with confusion and frustration
Marquis Scott:
where they might not have the ability to make a decision
Marquis Scott:
because of their actual title. That's the hard line, key
Marquis Scott:
takeaway, and something that's really hard to navigate here.
Marquis Scott:
However, there's a ways to go around that even at
Marquis Scott:
Lawrenceville school, my title is my title here. I didn't
Marquis Scott:
aspire to be assistant head of school. I just wanted to do
Marquis Scott:
right by the school. And for me, at the end of the day, I just
Marquis Scott:
wanted to learn. Knowledge is key. If I could sit in a finance
Marquis Scott:
meeting and understand the budget process with my CFO.
Marquis Scott:
Awesome. If I could sit with my head of school and the strategic
Marquis Scott:
planning meeting just be a final wall. Awesome. If I could sit in
Marquis Scott:
the advanced meeting to understand stewardship and
Marquis Scott:
fundraising. Awesome. And here's why this matters, because
Marquis Scott:
whenever you are developing a position, there's always a group
Marquis Scott:
of people thinking about the position. And do we go internal
Marquis Scott:
or external? And what I've seen in many cases is those who are
Marquis Scott:
successful are the ones that keep raising their hands because
Marquis Scott:
they say, oh, Bill, oh, that person is everywhere. Let's give
Marquis Scott:
that person a role here. So I've tried to approach my own growth
Marquis Scott:
and my career by just raising my hand and learning and let the
Marquis Scott:
rest happen and the outcome will be the outcome. But I didn't set
Marquis Scott:
out for a title change here. I set out to sort of do what needs
Marquis Scott:
to be done here. So to answer your question specifically here,
Marquis Scott:
I think for individuals who are thinking about, how do I change,
Marquis Scott:
how do I have a discussion with the senior leadership about
Marquis Scott:
evolution change, I might start not from top down, start from
Marquis Scott:
bottom up, because when you have the experience and the data
Marquis Scott:
point to that, then the conversation is actually easier
Marquis Scott:
here. So for example, so many schools are thinking about AI
Marquis Scott:
innovation here, and some want to hire innovation directors.
Marquis Scott:
For me, I would say it directors, if you don't have
Marquis Scott:
someone meeting it, get ahead of it. Call a meeting with your
Marquis Scott:
senior leadership team or small set and say, I like to run with
Marquis Scott:
this. Here's how I want to do it, and then let that be a
Marquis Scott:
guiding principle and let the outcome be the outcome. So
Marquis Scott:
that's how I think about that transition. I'm not sure if
Marquis Scott:
that's helpful or not, but that's how
Bill Stites:
I think about it. It's great because I think about
Bill Stites:
what you've said in the context of when I started as Director of
Bill Stites:
Technology, my job is so much different than what it was 1015
Bill Stites:
1920, years ago, my title hasn't changed, but the job has, and I
Bill Stites:
think being able to use those experiences redoing that job
Bill Stites:
description, which none of us touch because I'm doing the job
Bill Stites:
I don't have time to document like, you know, my job
Bill Stites:
description, but that's an exercise we should all be
Bill Stites:
undertaking as we go through this process, so that when you
Bill Stites:
need to have those conversations, when you need to
Bill Stites:
have those either internally or externally, you can point to
Bill Stites:
those skill sets and those things that you've done that
Bill Stites:
really set you apart. Because one of the things that we
Bill Stites:
touched on in earlier conversations over the past
Bill Stites:
weekend and recently is again, that idea of what's in the
Bill Stites:
title, what's in the name, and that can be so different from so
Bill Stites:
many different places. So I think what you're saying in
Bill Stites:
terms of from the bottom up, looking at those experiences, I
Bill Stites:
think really hits home. I think in leadership,
Marquis Scott:
you have to be okay with being vulnerable.
Marquis Scott:
Totally you gotta be okay with being vulnerable. You gotta be
Marquis Scott:
okay with asking for help, you got to be okay with asking for
Marquis Scott:
support and feedback, and I am not here today unless I was
Marquis Scott:
given some feedback and I was able to respond to that
Marquis Scott:
feedback. I've had to be extremely vulnerable throughout
Marquis Scott:
my career to get to where I am. So for example, I did
Marquis Scott:
presentations in front of board members or senior staff. You
Marquis Scott:
know, I was like, Oh, my God, some things, I'm so scared, but
Marquis Scott:
I need to do it because that allowed them to see me in a
Marquis Scott:
different light here. So for example, for folks who are
Marquis Scott:
thinking about transition, I would say, do more internal
Marquis Scott:
presentations where they see you in a different light, not as a
Marquis Scott:
tech director, but as an expert around that specific item, you
Marquis Scott:
know, take 15 minutes of your senior staff and you say, I'd
Marquis Scott:
love to talk to you about some data that we're finding around
Marquis Scott:
enrollment management or AI, do it right, and that allows them
Marquis Scott:
to see you in a different lighting. And for IT directors,
Marquis Scott:
you have to, because otherwise they're going to always refer
Marquis Scott:
you as it at some point, you have to make that change here.
Marquis Scott:
Nobody can do that to being vulnerable and being open to
Marquis Scott:
feedback and support and then letting that feedback and growth
Marquis Scott:
allow you to shape your career. And that's how I've led my
Marquis Scott:
throughout
Christina Lewellen:
my career. So before we wrap this
Christina Lewellen:
conversation up, Marquis, you know, we jumped right into all
Christina Lewellen:
of your incredible journey and clearly your incredible school
Christina Lewellen:
but we know you on an outside of school level because you serve
Christina Lewellen:
on the Atlas board. You're really active in our community,
Christina Lewellen:
and you're a really funny dude. So my question, I guess, is
Christina Lewellen:
like, what do you do on the personal side? Tell me a little
Christina Lewellen:
bit about what sparks your interest, either the books you
Christina Lewellen:
like to read, the podcasts you like to listen to, what kind of
Christina Lewellen:
interests you have outside of school, we jumped right into the
Christina Lewellen:
official stuff. But tell us a little bit about the you stuff,
Marquis Scott:
the me and my kids. I love spending time with
Marquis Scott:
my family and our two active boys, eight and five, Carter and
Marquis Scott:
Gavin, and they just love sports and being outside. So you know,
Marquis Scott:
when I'm not in the business of the office, in many ways, I set
Marquis Scott:
up a situation whereby the weekends are with my family, and
Marquis Scott:
we love the boarding school experience, so they're part of
Marquis Scott:
the boarding school lifestyle. So whether I'm taking my sons to
Marquis Scott:
a play or an athletic event or an academic experience here,
Marquis Scott:
they just enjoy that. So it allows me not only to see the
Marquis Scott:
students at their best, but also integrate my family into my work
Marquis Scott:
on a different level. So I'm a big golfer. I love to play golf,
Marquis Scott:
I love to play basketball, and I like to spend a lot of time with
Marquis Scott:
my boys and family when I'm not in school, and my doctorate work
Marquis Scott:
is in systems thinking, and I spend a lot of time thinking
Marquis Scott:
about organizational leadership. And one of the books that I read
Marquis Scott:
every single year is the first 90 days that I have behind me.
Marquis Scott:
And I read it every single year, probably because I do different
Marquis Scott:
things every single year.
Christina Lewellen:
That's really interesting to read the
Christina Lewellen:
first 90 days at the beginning of every school year. You read
Christina Lewellen:
it every year,
Marquis Scott:
every year. Oh, I love that. And anytime we hire a
Marquis Scott:
new senior staff member, I give them a book, and I talk them
Marquis Scott:
about it throughout the year. And I think that's important for
Marquis Scott:
two reasons. Number one is we work in institutions where we
Marquis Scott:
are so relational, right? But when you approach our work from
Marquis Scott:
an inquiry based model here, so much comes out of that here. So
Marquis Scott:
the way I think about my work every year is, it's a reset,
Marquis Scott:
right? I'm asking different questions. I have different
Marquis Scott:
ideologies. I have different experiences here. So the reason
Marquis Scott:
I said my doctor is because when I think about my work in our
Marquis Scott:
organizational leadership, and the first in the days here, the
Marquis Scott:
way I approach the project last year is actually not going to
Marquis Scott:
work. This year it doesn't work, and I've learned that over time
Marquis Scott:
here. So I have to re approach the question again, making sure
Marquis Scott:
that folks understand the why and the how and the reasons, and
Marquis Scott:
then we begin to work every single year. So that's one of my
Marquis Scott:
favorite books. I'm reading a book called. Emotions right now,
Marquis Scott:
that was our faculty read that I think is really beneficial in
Marquis Scott:
the way that we lead independent schools right now, because it is
Marquis Scott:
complicated and it's complex, and our students, who are lovely
Marquis Scott:
and who are experiencing so much, are navigating so much in
Marquis Scott:
their life here. So if we are able to shape and foster the way
Marquis Scott:
we think about emotions, then we then can help our students also
Marquis Scott:
navigate that. I'm also completing that book too as we
Marquis Scott:
start the school year. So those are my favorite reads that I
Marquis Scott:
always come back to, and I love what I do. There's no other job
Marquis Scott:
in the world I would rather do, and Hiram and Bill can attest to
Marquis Scott:
this. I mean, if you think about the work that we do every year,
Marquis Scott:
we have the resources, we have the structure, we have the
Marquis Scott:
policies to put in place to help our community navigate change,
Marquis Scott:
and we're going to do it every single year. Sign me up, which
Marquis Scott:
is why I've been education so long
Christina Lewellen:
I love it. I can tell your passion is very
Christina Lewellen:
clear. It's been such a really great conversation. I've loved
Christina Lewellen:
getting to know more about your path, and I always knew you were
Christina Lewellen:
just like a bundle of energy that I loved being around. And
Christina Lewellen:
now I understand a little bit more why. Because I feel like
Christina Lewellen:
I'm the same way about the association community, like when
Christina Lewellen:
you fall in love with an industry with a group of people
Christina Lewellen:
who are doing great work. I don't even think about the work
Christina Lewellen:
as work. Yes, I need refreshing, and I need a moment to take a
Christina Lewellen:
breather like any human would. But part of my problem is I love
Christina Lewellen:
the work, and that is why my husband has to show up with my
Christina Lewellen:
coffee cup, because I just plow straight into my days, and it
Christina Lewellen:
sounds like you have that energy too, which I just love.
Marquis Scott:
Well, no, I appreciate it. I enjoyed this
Marquis Scott:
experience. You know, as I started with earlier, much the
Marquis Scott:
work that I've done will complete it to date, in part has
Marquis Scott:
because I've had, in many ways, an interesting technology
Marquis Scott:
experience, right? We can apply that work through all areas of
Marquis Scott:
school life and community life in intentional and wonderful
Marquis Scott:
ways. And as I think about you know, I've been in education for
Marquis Scott:
2324 years, I've learned to just try to capitalize on what I
Marquis Scott:
think is right for the community, but I've always tried
Marquis Scott:
to do what's best for the community here. But there's no
Marquis Scott:
greater reward than working education, and that's something
Marquis Scott:
that I think it has allowed me to not only reaffirm but also
Marquis Scott:
continue to take advantage as I continue to grow my own career.
Christina Lewellen:
Dr Marquis Scott, you are a delight. Thank
Christina Lewellen:
you so much for spending your time with us today. This has
Christina Lewellen:
been incredible. We really appreciate you. Thank you.
Narrator:
This has been talking technology with Atlas, produced
Narrator:
by the Association of technology leaders in independent schools.
Narrator:
For more information about Atlas and Atlas membership, please
Narrator:
visit theatlas.org if you enjoyed this discussion, please
Narrator:
subscribe, leave a review and share this podcast with your
Narrator:
colleagues in the independent school community. Thank you for
Narrator:
listening. You I'm.
