An Award-Winning Issue

Gold Award:   Cover Illustration for the July/August 2020 issue
Silver Award:  Pandemic Coverage for the July/August issue

Table of Contents 

Features 

Academic Planning in a Pandemic
By Charlotte West

Weighing public health concerns against their academic missions, higher education institutions around the country have adopted a patchwork of approaches as they plan for fall 2020. These approaches include resuming face-to-face classes, staying virtual for the fall, and hybrid models that combine these two methods.

Building Institutional Resilience into Colleges and Universities
By David V. Rosowsky

Higher education was hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the large numbers of students on campuses, the timing of the outbreak, and the financial challenges many institutions already faced. For colleges and universities to successfully emerge from the pandemic, they will need to make important decisions and changes. Institutions must be willing to invest in ensuring resilience.

Board Chair: A Vital Bridge and Buffer
By Jill Derby

The term “bridge and buffer” has been used to characterize the role of higher education governing boards and could apply to the role of the board chair as well. The chair must navigate the two lanes of authority, the board and the president. This makes the board chair a “bridge” and “buffer” between the two. The board and the president must share a sense of partnership and common cause to effectively work together.

Rethinking Internal Audit
By Michael Vekich and Eric Wion

The leaders at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities recognized a need to innovate their audit system to respond to the accelerated rate of changes happening in higher education. They realized that internal audit could add greater value to the institution as an enabler of change in this time of many disruptions and started on a path to transform from an assurance function that was primarily reactive, backward-looking, and focused on financial matters to one that balances assurance with proactive, forward-looking, strategic advisory services focused on matters of systemwide significance.

Departments 

On My Agenda 
Building a Strategic Board Is More Important than Ever
By Henry Stoever 

News in Brief 
A sampling of national higher education news  

Inside AGB  
AGB Announces Innovative Virtual Events for Members
AGB Search Celebrates a Decade

Legal Standpoint 
The Role of Liability Risks
By Steve Dunham 

Voices
Containing Coronavirus?
An interview with epidemiologist Larry Brilliant
By Charlotte West 

Reflections
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and the Day After: Reflections on Planning in a Pandemic
By Carol Christ

Forum
The Responsibility of Choosing a College President in Times of Crisis
By Brian C. Mitchell

Foundations of Consequence 
University Foundations and Crisis Events
By Tom Heck

Focus on the Presidency
Five Steps Small Rural Colleges Should Take
By John R. Swallow

View from the Board Professional
A Strategic Response to COVID-19
By Jeffrey Garland

A Question For…
Julio Frenk, president of the University of Miami
How Can Boards Lead in an Unexpected Crisis Like a Pandemic?

Share on LinkedIn