Crisis Leadership

October 19, 2020 - AGB’s Council of Foundation Leaders convened in late September to discuss current and emerging issues spanning the effects of the pandemic; financial sustainability; strategic alignment; cyber risk oversight; campus activism; and justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JDE&I). With timely topics …

October 7, 2020 - May 4, 1970 forever changed Kent State University and the nation, as four students...

October 07, 2020 - I recently met with AGB’s Council of Board Chairs to discuss current and emerging issues spanning the pandemic; financial sustainability; cyber risk oversight; strategy development oversight; activism; mergers and acquisitions (M&A); shared governance; workforce preparation; and justice, diversity, equity, and …

October 05, 2020 - With the fall semester underway for many institutions, I’m aware of the unprecedented challenges confronting your board, leadership team, faculty, and staff as you collaboratively address immediate short-term challenges. At the same time, although I know how significant these challenges are, …

September 09, 2020 - “I can lead with confidence when I know the board chair has my back,” observed one experienced chief executive. “But I’ll hesitate if I think my board members or the chair might second-guess the tough calls demanded by the current …

Three weeks before I was born on August 5, 1949, 15 brave men known as “smokejumpers” boarded an airplane in Missoula, Montana, to head to a forest fire near Mann Gulch for what they termed a “10 o’clock fire.” That …

August 12, 2020 - Endowment Management for Higher Education was published in June 2017 by AGB.  The lessons learned from the GFC was on our mind when we wrote it.  As we face the current economic and public health challenges due to the COVID-19 …

August 03, 2020 - These are extraordinary times in academia. In my role as systems thinker, strategy consultant, board member, and professor, I am often asked by university board members: What are the essential questions we should be addressing during these turbulent times? Here …

July 15, 2020 - While university administrators scramble to decrease costs and increase revenues, the forced move to online learning has substantially heightened cyber risk. Higher education already carries more cyber risk than most other sectors. Almost all of their internal systems are online, …

July 13, 2020 - One would assume every college campus in America has a thorough and current response plan for a shooter on campus. And it is likely every campus along the East Coast has a hurricane disaster plan, and California campuses have earthquake …