Leveraging IT Skills for School Leadership with Dr. Marquis Scott
Presented by:
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,
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the show that plugs you into the important topics and trends for
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technology leaders all through a unique Independent School lens.
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We'll hear stories from technology directors and other
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special guests from the Independent School community,
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and provide you with focused learning and deep dive topics.
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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
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president and CEO of the Association of technology
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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,
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there was some travel delays. Summer travel is for sure, the
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pits. And I think that when you do it enough, you sort of just
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get in your vibe. You go with the flow. But man, that energy
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of people around you is always a little rough, which I would
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assume is probably translating to school skills, right? Like
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you may be calm having a good day, but somebody around you
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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
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definitely go through your incredible bio here in a second.
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But as a board member, all you needed to do was show up in
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Columbus, Ohio on a Friday night. And it didn't go that
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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
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terrible for your travel delays, but to be honest, you rolled in.
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We had a great dinner as a board, you were there in the
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morning as we went through some of our strategy on Sunday
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morning, so you got a very abbreviated board experience,
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but I'm glad you made it home, okay, and I am glad that you
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made the effort to get there. I think most people would have
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just thrown in the towel, but you were dedicated. Well,
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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
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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
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assistant at Atlas. Was I was couple years in. We were growing
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real fast, and I'm like, I got this, I can handle my travel. It
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wasn't until I was supposed to be in Columbus, and I booked a
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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
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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
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Lawrenceville school, and you've been in independent school
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leadership for a few decades here, right? Your focus in a lot
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of your work is around equity and inclusion, strategic
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planning, and lately you've been doing a lot of work in systems
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thinking. So we're going to kind of circle into that. But I'd
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like to start by asking you to just tell us a little bit about
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your journey, because part of why you serve on the Atlas board
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is that you also have a background serving as a chief
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technology officer. Tell us a little bit about your journey
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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
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with the advances office. Was working with auxiliary
Marquis Scott:
programming, and I said, this is really cool. This is really
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interesting. And all the great thing about it was I was doing
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that out of the IT department, and realizing that I had this
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unique problem solving skill set that I can apply to different
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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
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led to a number of different opportunities, and essentially
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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
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communications and branding, did some dei work, did some
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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
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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
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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
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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
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that in my fourth year, which is a great experience for me, and
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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
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through line here is it was just problem solving and working with
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people, but also staying ahead of the school to make sure that
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we were playing a long game and trying to roll the school year
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out. And this past year, I was acting go ahead of school for
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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
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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
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about our health system, we have these special houses on campus
Marquis Scott:
that each student belongs to. That they meet their family,
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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
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meet other students, you belong to a family, that really sets
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you off into what we believe is the promise of education, and
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the other side of it is well, like a small liberal arts
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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
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excitement that our team is can become a part of. And so for me,
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What I appreciate most about this position is, not only does
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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
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Sunday. I can do advisory duties. I can do all these
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different things that allow me to connect with our student body
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in really wonderful ways. And I think for those reasons, they
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make us unique. And then on the other side, we have a great
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academic experience where students can not only take
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advantage of core curriculum courses, but also I teach a
Marquis Scott:
course on managing technology and innovation, where, in many
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ways, it's an entrepreneurship course, where I give you some
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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
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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
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it recognized by your leadership, which is really kind
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of a special thing. Do you think that that was sort of the luck
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of the draw, or Was that intentional on your part in
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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
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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
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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
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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
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options. And that's worked well for me as we go forward. I think
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as we move forward here, you know, we spend a lot of time and
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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
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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,
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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:
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Narrator:
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