Sheldon MacLeod, Ed. D

About Sheldon

A Higher Education Leadership Coach for Deans and Vice Presidents

Sheldon MacLeod helps deans, vice presidents, and senior administrators navigate the specific pressures of professional development, academic governance, enrollment uncertainty, and institutional change. With over twenty years of senior leadership experience inside a university and across the broader higher education sector, he guides leaders through the moments where a strategic plan either gains traction or quietly dies in committee.

As a Certified Leadership Coach with graduate and doctorate work in Education, Leadership and Values Formation, Sheldon brings both academic rigor and lived administrative experience to every coaching relationship. His approach is direct and grounded in real institutional experience, not only theory.

From Associate Vice Provost to Executive Coach

Prior to coaching, Sheldon spent two decades in post-secondary senior leadership, rising from Registrar to Assistant Vice President & Registrar, and then to Associate Vice Provost (Student Affairs & Services) at the University of New Brunswick. He leads CampusNB as Executive Director, representing New Brunswick’s postsecondary institutions on strategic initiatives, and serves as a Consultant with AACRAO on strategic enrollment management, retention, and student success across North America.

Sheldon’s experience spans the operational and political sides of university leadership: serving as adjunct faculty, managing teams of administrators, building credibility with faculty, and managing up to a provost or president. This breadth allows him to understand the real-world challenges higher education leaders face — not just theoretically, but from lived experience.

Educator & Mission-Driven Leader

As a sessional lecturer at Crandall University for over fifteen years, as well as at other institutions, Sheldon teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in organizational change, strategic vision, and managerial ethics. His background also includes time as a not-for-profit leader and pastor, alongside more than 20 years of involvement with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and executive roles with PAOC and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

Sheldon brings a rare combination of higher education administration, enrollment strategy, and pastoral and nonprofit leadership experience to help leaders develop lasting capabilities across both academic and mission-driven institutions.

Areas of Focus

As a higher education leadership coach, Sheldon’s work spans four core areas for higher education leaders across North America:

Higher Education Leadership & Administration
Working with deans, vice presidents, and senior administrators navigating academic governance. Sheldon draws on his own experience as Associate Vice Provost to help leaders manage up to a provost or president, lead through a board, and build credibility with faculty skeptical of administrative leadership. Clients build the political and structural fluency that academic leadership specifically requires.

Strategic Enrollment Management & Student Success
Supporting institutional leaders facing enrollment pressure, retention challenges, or student success strategy. Through his ongoing AACRAO consulting work, Sheldon translates sector-wide enrollment trends into a workable plan for a specific institution. Leaders move from reacting to enrollment numbers to managing them strategically.

Organizational Change & Strategic Vision
Helping leaders move a strategic plan from paper to practice, particularly in consensus-driven academic cultures. As both a real-world leader and an instructor in vision and strategic management at the graduate level, Sheldon understands why frameworks that work in corporate settings often stall in shared governance. Clients build buy-in instead of just building plans.

Mission-Driven & Faith-Based Organizational Leadership
Working with leaders of faith-based and nonprofit organizations navigating board relations, advancement, and the tension between mission and financial sustainability. Sheldon’s background includes time as a pastor, alongside executive roles with PAOC and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

Who Sheldon Works With

Sheldon typically works with:

• Deans, vice presidents, and senior administrators navigating academic governance and institutional politics
• Enrollment management and student affairs leaders facing retention or recruitment pressure
• First-time senior leaders in higher education who want a thinking partner who has actually sat in the role
• Leaders of faith-based or mission-driven organizations balancing mission integrity with financial sustainability

Location & Availability

Based in the Greater Moncton, New Brunswick area | Available for in-person and virtual coaching across North America. In-person available upon arrangement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sheldon MacLeod a good fit for a dean or vice president?

Yes. Sheldon spent over a decade in senior university leadership, rising to Associate Vice Provost at the University of New Brunswick, so he understands the specific pressures of academic governance, board relations, and managing up to a provost or president — not from theory, but from having held the role himself.

Does Sheldon have direct higher education leadership experience, or is he a general executive coach?

Sheldon’s coaching is grounded in direct higher education leadership experience. Beyond his time as Associate Vice Provost, he currently leads CampusNB as Executive Director and consults with AACRAO on strategic enrollment management across North America, giving him an ongoing, current view of the sector rather than a credential from years ago.

Can Sheldon help with strategic enrollment management or enrollment challenges specifically?

Yes. Through his ongoing consulting work with AACRAO, Sheldon regularly advises institutions on enrollment management, retention, and student success strategy, and brings that same lens to coaching leaders facing enrollment pressure at their own institution.

Does Sheldon work with faith-based or nonprofit organizations as well as universities?

Yes. Alongside his higher education background, Sheldon has executive leadership experience with PAOC and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and has served as a pastor. He works with leaders of mission-driven organizations navigating board relations, advancement, and the tension between mission and financial sustainability — not only with university leaders.

How is coaching with a former university administrator different from a general executive coach?

A general executive coach can offer leadership frameworks, but they typically haven’t sat in a faculty senate meeting, managed a registrar’s office, or navigated a board of trustees. Sheldon has done all three, which means the coaching conversation starts from a shared understanding of how academic institutions actually work, rather than needing to be explained first.

How quickly can I be matched with Sheldon?

If you’re specifically interested in working with Sheldon, submit a request.

What does a higher education leadership coach actually do?

A higher education leadership coach works differently from a general executive coach because the context is fundamentally different. Academic institutions run on shared governance, faculty culture, and consensus-driven decision-making — none of which maps neatly onto corporate leadership models. A higher education leadership coach like Sheldon helps deans, vice presidents, and senior administrators develop the political fluency, strategic clarity, and interpersonal skills that academic leadership specifically requires.

Is a higher education leadership coach useful for someone new to a senior academic role?

Especially so. The jump from department chair or director to dean or vice president is one of the steepest transitions in academic leadership — the scope, visibility, and political complexity change dramatically. A higher education leadership coach who has held senior roles inside a university can compress that learning curve significantly, helping new leaders build credibility with faculty, navigate board relations, and manage up to a provost or president from day one.

Does Sheldon work with Canadian institutions as well as US universities?

Yes. Based in Moncton, New Brunswick, Sheldon works with post-secondary institutions across Canada and the United States. As Executive Director of CampusNB and a Consultant with AACRAO, his work spans both sides of the border, and he is available for both virtual and in-person coaching engagements across North America.