Blog Posts

November 25, 2024 - On a crisp fall morning, the president of a mid-sized university received an urgent call: A ransomware attack had paralyzed the institution’s IT systems. Critical data—student records, payroll, even admissions files—were inaccessible. Across campus, faculty struggled to manage classes and …

November 21, 2024 - In 2019, AGB convened several chief executives/executive directors of institutionally related foundations to revisit the seminal 2005 AGB work Margin of Excellence: The New Work of Higher Education Foundations, edited by Richard D. Legon. Based on the group’s work and …

November 13, 2024 - Higher education institutions reported raising $59.5 billion from donors in the 2021–2022 academic year and $58 billion in 2022–2023—the two highest amounts of donor support for higher education in the United States on record, according to the latest Voluntary Support …

November 08, 2024 - The AGB Council of Board Professionals began its October meeting with members sharing their collective thoughts on the challenges facing higher education institutions during this fall academic term. The discussion encompassed a wide variety of both new and more-established themes …

November 04, 2024 - You are viewing the Institution version of this CEO Update. Institutionally Related Foundation and System versions are also available. As we approach the upcoming national elections, you may, like me, have an impending sense of unease. The challenges ahead—potentially wide political …

October 30, 2024 - In September, AGB hosted a webinar discussion concerning the Top Strategic Issues for Boards 2024-2025 report. This is the second in a series of blog posts that summarize the webinar discussion and explore the report’s recommendations. The webinar focused on …

October 16, 2024 - AGB recently hosted a webinar panel discussion about the findings from the Top Strategic Issues for Boards 2024-2025 report. The webinar focused on several themes from the report: business model innovation, digital transformation, enhancement of student success, the student experience, …

October 02, 2024 - College and university governing boards, perhaps accustomed to having ample time to make important policy decisions, should now be prepared to act expeditiously to help their presidents and institutions through free speech and campus inclusion controversies. With the increased combustibility …

September 23, 2024 - AGB has periodically collected survey data on board professionals since 1991. For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, “board professionals” describes staff who keep higher education governing boards functioning. In the last iteration of the AGB Survey of …

September 17, 2024 - Boards focus on the most important and inter-related institutional issues, such as mission, quality, outcomes, and financial sustainability. In that latter category, the key questions for board members are: Do we have the financial resources to fulfill our mission and array …