AT THE HELM

Dr. Michael Hoyle became president of McIntosh College in February. Photo:  Michael McCord

Michael Hoyle is in a hurry and with good reason. Hoyle, who was appointed president of McIntosh College in February, said the joke around campus is that for people to "get my ear, they need to walk along side me."

Hoyle is walking a lot because when he took the helm of the for-profit, two-year school in Dover, it was a study in contrasts "" institutionally adrift but still possessing a solid reputation due to strong programs in culinary arts, criminal justice, graphic design and medical assistance. "We were idling in the water with no momentum," said Hoyle, who joined the college in 2006 as the director of finance.

Hoyle admits he was an unlikely choice. He hadn't planned on a career in academia but it happened much to his delight as he became more intrigued by the leadership potential of academic institutions. It also happens that Hoyle, 42, is one of the youngest college leaders in the country (and he says many folks think he's even younger than his age).

"People tend to underestimate me," Hoyle told Ventures recently. "It makes me work all that much harder."

Hoyle has worked in Washington, D.C., as a Senate staffer, in state government at the Mass. Job Council and in academia with the for-profit University of Phoenix. All avenues pointed him to his place of transforming and modernizing a small college with big potential "" one with an $18 million annual budget and with more than 150 full- and part-time faculty and staff.

"I like its mission and what it's charged with," he said of McIntosh, which was founded in 1896. "I was looking for a new direction and this is a little college you can grow."

Ventures: Why did you choose academia? With your background in finance why aren't you a hedge fund manager or a corporate chief financial officer?

Michael Hoyle: Because this is important and exciting work.

At the Mass. Jobs Council, I saw the importance of education and job training. I became fascinated with how you can lead, have an impact on the community and be a pivotal engine of the local economy.

What have you learned about institutional drift?

MH: You read case studies about these but to step in is another matter. Organizations can stop quickly but to get them going in the right direction takes twice as much work.

Why are you considering turning

McIntosh College into a four-year school?

MH: We have a lot of strengths, including our most popular program at the Atlantic Culinary Academy, but we have more and more students who go on to other schools and say they would like to stay here. We are looking to provide more options while looking at the changing economy and where it's going.

Wouldn't this take McIntosh out of its educational niche and into direct competition with many other schools in the Seacoast region?

MH: Competition in the end is good. It's better for the schools, the students, and the local business community.

What are the some of the changes that have occurred since you became president?

MH: We are working on a new direction and creating a strategic plan for it. I believe we have created a lot more accountability. We had no dean of students but we added that position so we could be better in touch with our students. We've invested more in career services and are making more of our marketing dollars by advertising on radio and other places and to enhance our corporate partnerships with companies such as Liberty Mutual, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and the Portsmouth Police Department. We had no alumni association and we lost part-time students by cutting back on night programs. I have my team in place and we are working on all these fronts.