Case Studies

In 2013, a vote of no confidence in the then-president was the result of a series of decisions made by the president and approved by the board of Rollins College, chief among them the top-down creation of a College of …

Shared governance at Duke University is a healthy tradition both in terms of formal structure and policy and in terms of institutional culture and practice. Central to the faculty’s role in shared governance is a policy known as the Christie …

Dr. Timothy P. White became chancellor of the California State University (CSU) system in December of 2012. The CSU system is the largest four-year system of higher education in the country, with twenty- three campuses, nearly half a million students, …

In the past decade, Rhodes College, under the leadership of President William E. Troutt, has been impressively attentive to issues of governance and decision making. President Troutt had inherited a board structure and practice that were, to say the least, …

In 2013, a broad range of issues coalesced to create a situation that—if left unaddressed—had the potential to undermine the long-term health and vitality of Augsburg College. An adversarial relationship had developed between the president and the leadership of the …

Higher education institutions with a religious affiliation and a sponsoring congregation often have a two- tiered governance structure comprised of the normal governing board and a group of representatives of the religious sponsors who have specified “reserved powers” intended to …

The University System of Maryland (USM) is diverse public university system of twelve institutions and two regional centers. The system serves as a cross-section of U.S. higher education, containing three research universities, three HBCUs, the nation’s largest public online university, …

Unity College is a private liberal arts institution enrolling about 750 students on its campus in Unity, Maine. Known as “America’s Environmental College,” the institution is in the midst of a multi-year venture to redefine the higher education experience Unity offers, …

When Helen Drinan assumed the presidency of Simmons College in 2008, the institution was struggling to make its payroll. She soon found that the small women’s college had lost as much as $30 million on anoperating basis for the past several …

The 52,000 students attending Georgia State University exemplify the dramatic shift in the students served by American colleges and universities—60 percent non-white, 33 percent first generation, and 58 percent Pell grant recipients. These populations are historically associated with lower levels of …