12 People You Need to Know in 2014: Carol Taylor

Carol Taylor’s career in leadership wasn’t planned. She never looked beyond teaching elementary school.

Several notable university posts later, Taylor is president-elect and CEO of Springfield-based Evangel University. When she takes full reins in May after 40-year president Robert Spence retires, Taylor will be the first female president of Evangel and only the second at a Springfield-based institution of higher learning.

It’s a trail-blazing role with which she’s familiar: Taylor was the first female president in her previous post at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif. And just like with Evangel, she wasn’t looking to lead Vanguard.

Taylor says she was happy as a vice provost at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. When Vanguard sought a provost, Taylor was surprised at the pull she felt.

While aware of some financial challenges facing Vanguard, Taylor didn’t know the extent. Just before Vanguard was up for reaccreditation, its president quit, the university was put on probation and Taylor was asked to step in. The school was roughly $32 million in debt, and she was heavily involved in decisions to cut $1.7 million from the school’s operating budget.

“I looked up at the meeting room we were in and saw the exit sign. I thought, ‘I can exit.’ … I had other options. And then you just pause and think, ‘What if I came to help the school get through this?’” Taylor recalls. “At that point, you just kind of make a decision.”

Normally a two-year process, Vanguard was off probation in one year, and today the school operates in the black.

“It ended up being a pretty dramatic story,” she says.

Taylor wasn’t sure she would be offered the president’s post permanently, and she wasn’t sure she wanted it. But leadership again beckoned.

“It’s an incredible opportunity when you’re in a position to make a significant difference,” she says.

Taylor was in that position once again when her alma mater called.

“I care a lot about Evangel. It played a significant role in my life as a young woman,” she says.

Her turnaround skills will be an advantage as Evangel begins a new era after consolidating with Central Bible College and Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, which have a combined debt load of about $30 million. To move Evangel forward, Taylor plans to duplicate the restructuring she led at Vanguard, where every area of operations was examined, and outdated programs and classes fell on the chopping block.[[In-content Ad]]