Smart Leadership for Higher Education in Difficult Times

As the US economy emerges from the severest recession in a generation, large questions regarding its long-term ramifications for higher education remain unanswered. In fact, the harshest effects of the economic downturn are likely ahead as campus leadership focuses on enrollment, affordability and fundraising. This volume of essays examines the challenges and opportunities for advancing higher education's core missions of education, research and service in a resource-constrained environment. Many parties will wish to return to the old normal, but fulfilling the mission of higher education will require implementing change in the face of opposition, gaining support from key stakeholders, and maintaining morale in the process. The new normal entails innovating to meet the needs for higher education among a growing population of potential students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are ill-prepared for a college education and unaware of how to access it, and a population of mid-career students seeking to retool or reinvent themselves for the labor market. The economic success of both individuals and the US economy are directly dependent upon increasing the share of the population receiving a higher education. Chapter authors include college and university presidents and chancellors, and other senior administrators and thought leaders from the higher education community. They provide new and actionable information to enhance decision-making and inform strategic planning as well as a contemporary examination of the business of higher education and areas of potential new research. This book is an excellent resource for academic administrators, as well as for researchers and students in business, management, economics, education and public sector economics.