Why this is important.
Innovation is a critical driver of progress in higher education. As fiduciaries, board members are responsible for ensuring institutions utilize innovation to advance institutional missions and safeguard the future vitality of colleges and universities.
While there is no single formula for innovation in higher education, governing boards that embrace a culture of innovation are typically attentive to changing consumer demands, fostering institutional collaboration, proactively align technological innovations to their institutional priorities, and embrace experimentation as part of the process. Innovation requires an institution-wide commitment and governing boards must spearhead this challenging but rewarding task.
Source: AGB Board of Directors’ Statement on Innovation in Higher Education, AGB 2020
Questions for boards.
Click below to reveal key questions for your board to consider:
Commitment to Innovation
Consequential Questions:
- How has our board formally delegated the leadership for innovation to the president and signaled its commitment to support innovation to the campus community?
- Have our board and president discussed the need for patience, the potential for failure, and the risk involved when undertaking innovation?
- Is our board properly constituted for and engaged in discussions on innovation?
- How is our board building a culture conducive to innovation?
- How are faculty meaningfully included in conversations about change?
- Where are innovative ideas emerging on campus? How are these innovative ideas recognized at this institution, and how is innovation rewarded?
- Is technology sufficiently robust to support innovation at this institution?
Source:
AGB Board of Directors’ Statement on Innovation in Higher Education, AGB 2020
Financial Implications
Consequential Questions:
- How clear is our board’s understanding of the institution’s business model and its challenges?
- Has the board, in concert with institutional leadership, considered the financial implications associated with change?
- What kind of financial resources are required for innovation, and where should they come from?
Source:
AGB Board of Directors’ Statement on Innovation in Higher Education, AGB 2020
Recommended resources.
We carefully curated these staff-picked resources for you:
Innovations in Higher Education
Podcast
Featuring Nancy Zimpher and Paul LeBlanc
Fostering Change in Higher Education
Trusteeship magazine, November/December 2023
By Bridget Burns
The Art of Managing Change: How and When to Engage Stakeholders in Strategic Transformation
Webinar on Demand
Presented by Chris Moloney and Mark A. Heckler
A Question for Mary Papazian
Transforming Under Pressure
Trusteeship magazine, January/February 2024
By Erin Geraghty
The College of the Future, Part 1
Trusteeship magazine, September/October 2022
By David Tobenkin
