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.
Are you staying informed of the changes in higher ed accreditation and what those changes could mean to your strategic planning? Higher education institutions are increasingly being called to improve the quality of education they provide and to be more innovative. Institutional accreditation serves as quality control to ensure that institutions are remaining true to their mission and providing academic benefit to students.
Our institutions of higher learning must begin embracing a new model for higher education governance and shared governance. As change continually buffets colleges and universities, higher education boards are increasingly finding themselves in the hot seat. Trustees are facing challenges such as the pandemic, the enrollment cliff, declining state funding, and increasing online learning that ultimately will make or break the institution they govern and are responsible for.
Higher Ed News—Washington update—U.S. policymakers continue to focus on accountability, student loan debt, and online education announcing new rounds of Negotiated Rulemaking. Congress is focusing on The Build Back Better plan, The American Rescue Plan, The American Jobs Plan, The American Family Plan.
The need for enterprise risk management (ERM) in higher ed was underscored by the chaotic nature of 2020. However, as noted in two previous blogs, many higher education institutions are unsure of why and how to develop this type of plan and then administrators’ roles in operationalizing this effort. This post addresses the other major component that needs to be addressed in creating an ERM plan—the important part that the institution’s board plays in the ERM.
How some leaders in higher education embraced strategic change to survive the pandemic and how those changes will help guide future success for their institutions.
Sweet Briar College is a classic case of saving a college through transformational change management in higher education, as it redefines the purpose of higher education in the 21st century.
Enterprise risk management in higher ed is widely ignored, but in the traditional business world, enterprise risk management has become an integral part of the business vocabulary.
Living in a VUCA World: We currently live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment due to a myriad of factors that cause chaos. These disruptions, some of which can be forecast while others are unforeseen, create short-term or long-term change that can be positive or negative. Just think of the implications of COVID-19, which has turned everything in the world upside down.
Defining the role of academe in the future of America needs to be addressed and defined by leaders in the Academy. A new administration took office this week—and this is one of the most important transitions in our country’s history. The national acrimony and strife that has been building since the 1980s came to a head this year, exploding into the streets, on campuses and into the headlines. The sharp political divide, Black Lives Matter, the takeover of the U.S. Capitol, the rise of innuendo and slander and divisiveness brings us to a basic question – what is the United States about?
Strategic board leadership is an emerging paradigm of university governance that can help higher education institutions navigate multiple challenges. This podcast features Dr. Drumm McNaughton and Henry Stoever, president of AGB.
Changing Paradigm of University Governance
Typically, higher education boards are made up of individuals who are appointed as trustees because they have made significant philanthropic contributions, either to the institution or, in the case of public universities, to a political party candidate who then appoints the individual once elected. This approach is shifting as boards and institutional leadership teams begin to develop strategic partnerships.