Purpose: Adapting to technological advancements and fostering competitiveness poses compelling challenges for universities worldwide, including Indonesia. This prompts the implementation of varied policies, reshaping financial and managerial aspects across academic and non-academic spheres. In this transformative process, cultivating readiness for…

Individual trustees are often looking for different qualities in a community college president, and it can be challenging for a diverse group of stakeholders to agree on what they want. Boards that function most effectively work together to establish a clear set of criteria at the outset of the hiring process, and they share this list with…

Higher education in the 21st century is challenged by transformational changes resulting from factors influencing the educational landscape. The impact to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), where the pressures between trustee boards and administrations continue to escalate, is more pronounced than some other institutions. The…

College presidential transitions are inevitable. A successful transition, as measured by: (1) an effective and orderly transfer of executive authority and influence between the outgoing and incoming chief executives, along with; (2) the continued advancement of the college, can never be guaranteed. Conceiving, developing, and managing a deliberate…

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) hold an iconic position within American higher education. But HBCUs are at an inflection point. While HBCUs include iconic liberal arts colleges and leading research universities, many struggle financially and are finding it difficult to perform well in terms of student enrollment, retention,…

The California Community College system is the largest system of higher education in the world, with 115 colleges organized into 73 districts, serving over 2 million students. By design, California's community college districts incorporate all of the state's territory. Virtually all Californians are within commuting distance of a community…

Community college presidents and board members come and go. But a major driver of the continued success of two-year colleges is how fruitfully the relationships between CEOs and their boards evolve over time--from the onboarding process when a president first takes the helm to the "outboarding" process that starts with them giving…

While academic governance does not produce teaching and research, it provides the conditions that enable them to take place. The principal academic governance body within universities, the academic board (also known as the academic senate or faculty senate), therefore plays a key role in enabling universities to conduct their core business.…

A college and university board of trustees typically comprises people possessing great experience, wisdom, records of achievement, and a strong desire to meaningfully contribute to the institution. Such an asset is enormously valuable. Yet too often institutional leaders feel they are unable to tap all its benefits. For their part, board members…

Chief communicators at many U.S. institutions are interested in forging closer ties with governing boards. Proponents say such relationships can increase board trust and confidence in communicators before a crisis occurs, making it easier to manage the institution's reputation and limit negative publicity when one does. At some institutions, such…

These are perilous times for community colleges. State and federal departments of education are pressing the nation's two-year career and technical colleges to be accountable while the colleges experience reductions in state funding and try to streamline services. That pressure is intensified by a growing national expectation that community…

The report documents a major breakdown in governance at UVA, focusing on the role of the board of visitors and its rector, Helen Dragas, who initiated the effort to force the president's resignation. It finds that the events at the university resulted from "a failure by those charged with institutional oversight to understand the institution…

The purpose of this research study was to enhance understanding of successful conflict management by community college Presidents through highlighting and describing conflict experiences with the faculty union or the board of trustees in a community college context. The following questions guided the research: (a) How do community college…

Controversies over higher education governance are in the news these days. The most recent occurred this summer when several members of the board of the University of Virginia asked the president, Teresa A. Sullivan, to resign, only to be forced to reinstate her after protests from students, faculty, donors, alumni, and others. That situation…

The real danger with a successful president and a complacent board is that the board will no longer have the benefit of a "marketplace of ideas" when making critical decisions. Boards that rely on an experienced president as the major source of their information are just as likely as a student's single-source paper to arrive at…