To a casual observer, recent federal directives and uncertainty confronting colleges and universities might read like a sudden onslaught. Chancellors, presidents, and higher education boards know better: There’s nothing sudden about it.
Chief executives and governing bodies have been living these challenges every day since the COVID-19 pandemic, when classes went remote overnight. Financial and enrollment headwinds haven’t let up. Federal student aid continues to be unsettled after a rough overhaul last year. Campus climate, culture, and the student experience remain under scrutiny.
Meanwhile, faculty, students, alumni, and other constituents are dialing up the pressure for their institutions to jump into national debates over any number of hot-button issues.
This all makes an increasingly complex environment fraught with risk for executives and board members — political hazards, competing needs, strategic opportunities, and outright personal exhaustion. As turnover in the upper ranks menaces institutional stability, it’s a prime moment for leaders to pause and refocus.
Evaluating their own effectiveness, resilience, and consistency with institutional goals can be an invaluable reset in this hectic spring season. Here are some best practices for executives and board members to avoid pitfalls in this political and regulatory environment.
Best Practices for Higher Ed Executives, Chancellors, and Presidents
1. Check personal politics at the door
These are emotionally intense times on both ends of the political spectrum. Focus not on your ideal scenario but on policy realities of the moment, how they affect the institution, and how best to strengthen and guide the community within those lanes. Doing ideological battle or waging a culture war every day won’t help fulfill core goals. Lean into pragmatism. And when you do raise your voice publicly, make sure it advances the institution.
2. Know your institution—and make sure it knows itself
Higher education is in an identity crisis. As competition tightens, it will be more important that each institution knows its distinct identity and mission, and how to communicate those pillars. Make every decision through the lens of that collective sense of self and purpose. Ensure the whole community—from faculty and staff to students and parents—understands the central vision, too. This is vital for expectation-setting.
3. Don’t just play defense—find opportunities
As the market for higher education keeps shifting, institutional mergers and acquisitions are likely to be more instrumental. Be ready with your strategy, even if an acquisition or merger prospect appears remote. When time is of the essence, it’s better to have even a rough game plan than to start from zero.
4. Support your personal well-being
Burnout leading to departures is a scourge for any organization. Turnover at the highest levels can be even more damaging. Recognize when you need time away to collect yourself and rejuvenate. Create guarded spaces to discuss problems and ideas—and accept counsel—without fear that your conversations will be recirculated. Outside strategic advisors can be instrumental in fostering safe opportunities to cultivate your best self.
5. Avoid speculation and maintain a working relationship with the federal government
With the federal landscape changing weekly, trying to plan for the unknowable can waste valuable time and resources. Center planning efforts on reasonably predictable developments. Given the sheer scope and impact of federal money, often a principal driver of college and university budgets, take the time to cultivate federal relationships.
Strategies for College and University Board Members
1. Educate yourself fully
The complexity of issues in higher education demands engaged, proactive board governance. Board members should take it upon themselves to ensure they are thoroughly versed on national concerns and how they translate at the local level. When board members are well informed, institutions are more agile, better able to respond to changing conditions, and act on opportunities.
2. Engage in capital campaigns, partnerships, and networking
Understand the institution’s long-term financial picture and the practical necessity of philanthropy and other external support. Corporate backgrounds and relationships can help board members become money-raising pace-setters in rocky financial times. Set an attitude of abundance to encourage hope, focus, and vision across the institution.
3. Support the chancellor or president
Partner with the executive leadership to make sure it has the resources and moral backing to perform well. Be clear about goal-setting, regular evaluation, and compensation.
You Don’t Have to Navigate Change Alone
Here’s the bottom line: In fast-changing times, higher education leaders can’t lean back just to watch what happens next. But they can’t react to every microdevelopment, either. Striking the right balance requires an inward look, perspective, collaboration, and often expert insight and active support from outside the institution.
There’s no time to blink.
Need help implementing these higher ed leadership strategies? Confidential advising from Credo informs tailored, nuanced approaches that capitalize on opportunities while tempering risks. Reach out and start a conversation to learn more.
Bill Fahrner, the president of Credo, serves as a college board member, has engaged with more than 200 institutions, and believes education is society’s greatest equalizer.