It's been a rough year for the City College of San Francisco (CCSF). After working to emerge from strict sanctions leveled by its accrediting board in July 2012, the college was notified earlier this summer that its accreditation would be revoked, effective in 2014. Though community college leaders and state officials vowed to return the…

In April, the "New England Journal of Higher Education ("NEJHE") launched its "New Directions for Higher Education" series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. In this installment, Philip DiSalvio interviews Richard Legon, president of the…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) rightly calls itself the Nation's Report Card. As the gold standard of educational assessment, it offers a picture of what U.S. students know and can do in a subject. There have been NAEP Geography assessments in 1994, 2001, and 2010. The next assessment is planned for 2014. Before reacting to…

Colleges and universities looking to recruit leaders from within the faculty ranks will face more and more difficulty. From their respective positions--as a provost (Janel) and a search consultant (Dennis)--they often hear senior executives in higher education say that building a new generation of faculty leaders will be a major challenge in the…

Governing board members bear major and ultimate responsibilities as fiduciaries of the college or university they serve. Calls for increased accountability and developments such as financial volatility, transformational technology, internationalization, and increased regulation of governance have led to mounting attention to the quality of…

While much research on quality assurance in higher education has centred on issues related to the impact on teaching and learning and academic staff, there is a significant gap in the area of quality assurance and academic governance. Within Australia the roles of university academic boards (also known as academic senates or faculty senates) have…

These are perilous times for community colleges. State and federal departments of education are pressing the nation's two-year career and technical colleges to be accountable while the colleges experience reductions in state funding and try to streamline services. That pressure is intensified by a growing national expectation that community…

Controversies over higher education governance are in the news these days. The most recent occurred this summer when several members of the board of the University of Virginia asked the president, Teresa A. Sullivan, to resign, only to be forced to reinstate her after protests from students, faculty, donors, alumni, and others. That situation…

Gettysburg College President Janet Morgan Riggs and Board Chair Robert N. Duelks are both members of the Gettysburg class of 1977, but did not know each other as students. As a member of the college's board of trustees, Duelks chaired the presidential search committee that selected Riggs as Gettysburg's 14th president in 2009. Then, one year after…

The challenges with which college and university boards must grapple promise to become only more complex in the coming years, placing ever-greater demands on the leaders of those boards. This article presents a conversation between Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) President Richard D. Legon and two AGB leaders who…

The work of state higher education system boards is changing. By "system boards," the author means governing boards for all of higher education in a state, governing boards for certain kinds of institutions (such as the Louisiana Community and Technical College System and the California State University system), and state coordinating agencies…

Personally, the authors have seen the evolution of teacher education for over 30 years. From "diagnostic/prescriptive teaching" through "reflective practice," the quality of the programs and students has improved greatly. Turning that subjective appraisal into a quantifiable evaluation is a tricky enterprise in education. However, the demand for…

The steep economic recession, coupled with increased national expectations and demand for higher education, poses serious challenges for board and presidential leadership. A special panel at the recent National Conference on Trusteeship of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), moderated by AGB President Richard…

The nation's next President will face a host of challenges, among them the economy, health care, an aging population, energy, the environment, and security at home and aboard. In this open letter, the leaders of higher education coordinating and governing boards across the country urge the 2012 presidential candidates to make improving the…

The author of this paper describes the responsibilities of the National Assessment Governing Board, of which she served as a member from November 1997 to September 2004. The Board is unlike any other board of which she has been a member. At the quarterly meetings, the Board not only discusses and makes major policy decisions but determines the…