The role of politics, policies, processes, performance, and public relations on the Presidential turnover crisis in higher education.
Higher education institutions need to address financial barriers, provide transparent information, enhance support systems, foster a sense of belonging, align with students’ values, and adapt to the changing needs of students to overcome enrollment and retention challenges.
On June 21, 2023, Florida filed a lawsuit (Florida vs Department of Education) challenging higher education accreditation practices. The lawsuit questions the role of state governments in governing institutions and aims to reshape the Department of Education’s authority over accreditation. Florida’s case revolves around two main points: the constitutionality of outsourcing quality assessment to non-governmental entities and the ability of institutions to change accrediting bodies without federal restrictions. This lawsuit has significant implications for the balance between federal oversight and state autonomy in education.
In this article, we will explore the shift in public opinion regarding higher education, its challenges, and what higher ed needs to do to turn this perception around and ensure its sustainability.
Why is accreditation transparency important? Accreditors serve as the gatekeepers for over $150 billion in financial aid. Institutional accreditation is the gold standard for higher education institutions in the US and globally. Indeed, without accreditation, most employers and other universities and colleges will not accept a degree from a graduate, whether for employment or graduate school. Colleges and universities are only eligible for federal financial aid if accredited by a Department of Education-approved accreditor. And most importantly, they will attract quality faculty or students to deliver degrees only if an institution is accredited.
A comprehensive overview of the institutional accreditation process, including the initial accreditation, reaffirmation, and sanctions, and offers insights and recommendations for institutions seeking to obtain and maintain their accreditation.
Higher education institutions need help improving enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. Despite the pandemic “being over,” enrollments have not recovered to the pre-pandemic levels. Exacerbating this, higher ed is facing significant headwinds to recovering enrollments, including the demographic cliff, reduction of public funding, and a robust job market.
Successfully reinventing a college or university into a truly innovative school after cutting a significant portion of programs sounds near impossible. However, the experiences at National Louis University (NLU), a four-campus private institution in Chicago, proved that presidents and other decision-makers can turn around an institution without having the complete buy-in of faculty and staff.
The fifth and last installment in our series explores how higher education can reflect the ever-changing landscape of society and industry to meet their expectations. At The Change Leader, we propose a culture of continuous board improvement and accountability as a way to avoid the detrimental impact of stagnant governance.
In part 4 of the Embracing a New Model for Higher Ed Governance series, we’re diving into how board roles continue to shift, even as higher education’s focus evolves with the rapidly changing environment. These shifts bring pressure on the board to embrace their responsibilities for oversight as well as the opportunity to serve in a consultant capacity to the institution. These emerging roles are quickly becoming a requirement because of the rapidly changing external environment that is VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.
In our series Embracing a New Model for Higher Education Governance, part 1 discussed raising the bar for college and university leaders. In part 2 we covered the updated board duties. Now we continue the series and discuss how new board roles can facilitate institutional transformation.
Higher education continues to face continual transformational change, and to successfully navigate this change requires a new model of work. While much of this focus is rightfully placed on the operations and academic sides of the equation, the governance process also must change to give colleges and universities the ballast comprised of insights, flexibility, and foresight to move forward confidently in the changing global environment.
In this second post of our three-part series on the New Higher Education Governance Model, we discuss the updated board duties in higher ed and how boards can embrace their new roles and responsibilities as they work to meet the challenges facing colleges and universities today. As institutions continue to evolve, so must the way boards operate. Boards are charged with overseeing an institution’s mission, vision, values, strategic direction, financial health, academic quality, student success, community engagement, diversity, inclusion, research, faculty development, campus safety, and more. Evolving with a holistic approach is more important now than it’s ever been.