Table of Contents 

Features 

Student Affairs, Boards, and Rebuilding the Public Trust
By Kevin Kruger

Higher education pundits often produce lists of tricky topics they believe campus leaders should have on their radars in the coming year. What board members should recognize about such a list is that those responsibilities usually fall to student affairs professionals.

Who Succeeds in Online Education? The Board’s Strategic Role
By Rick Beyer and David Clinefelter

The burgeoning of online education calls for boards to fulfill their responsibilities in new ways. A vast sea of innovation is occurring outside of our campus walls, and emerging trends are starting to shape a dramatically different landscape for colleges.

Going all in for the Alfond Inn: How One Board Helped Bring a Big Idea to Fruition
By Julie Bourbon

Colleges and universities are in the business of education, are sometimes also in the business of managing art galleries, and occasionally are in the business of operating hotels. Rollins College is doing all three after building an inn and conference center that also houses a world-class art collection—the revenue of which is generating student scholarships.

The Bond Rating: A Financial Oversight Tool for Boards
By Scott D. Pattison

College and university boards have been inundated with reminders of the importance of upholding their fiduciary responsibility to provide oversight of institutional finances. They should not overlook one tool that provides valuable information in this area: the grading and analysis of the university’s debt, often referred to as the “bond rating.”

Public University Systems: A Checklist for Success
By Thomas C. Meredith

How can a university system and its board best serve the state, its citizens, and its students while giving each institution as much autonomy as possible? What are the essential responsibilities, functions, and obligations of an effective system? A former chancellor of two major systems provides some answers.

Departments

Legal Standpoint
Fashioning an Institutional Response to Government Regulations
By Lawrence White

Heat Map
Are You Sacrificing Your Reputation to Protect Sacred Cows?
By  Janice Abraham

Focus on the Presidency
Fostering Board Engagement
By  Janice Abraham

View from the Board Chair
A Commitment to Keeping College Affordable
By Thomas E. Spurgeon

A Question For…
Andrew Hamilton
How Can Universities Help Solve Global Problems?