Every year, almost all boards have an action item on their agenda to approve their institution's tuition and fees for the next year. Yet few of them are involved in discussions about the values and policies embedded in what they are being asked to approve or how the institution decides what to charge different students. That could very well change…

This report examines the rationale for creating a tobacco-free campus to utilize in passing antitobacco policies, and recommendations for overcoming barriers. As with any type of advocacy effort, a variety of impediments exist, including lack of administrative and staff support, absence of student involvement, and sparse resources. A variety of…

In 2011, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations, and communications and marketing programs. A goal for the center is to collect data on best practices at…

The University of California became a "public trust" in 1879 as part of a larger revision of California's Constitution approved by California voters. The University henceforth gained the exclusive power to operate, control, and administer the University of California, becoming virtually a fourth branch of state government, a…

Higher education is in the midst of a deep financial crisis, and the failure of governing boards to focus on academic programs is arguably the single greatest cause of overspending. This brochure shows trustees both why and how to prioritize academic programs. All too often, attempts to reduce expenses have concentrated on the administrative side…

In the face of rising costs and a prolonged economic downturn, public colleges and universities are being challenged to increase their sources of private support and philanthropy. Drawing on the findings of a recent AGB survey of public college- and university-affiliated foundation board chairs and chief executive officers, Foundations for the…

Higher education is facing a series of tough questions: (1) Is its business model broken beyond repair?; (2) How can costs that are fast outpacing median family income be reined in?; (3) How can higher education demonstrate that students are getting the quality education they expect and deserve?; and (4) Is higher education competing in ways that…

In today's world, managing a campus crisis poses special challenges for an institution's governing board, which may operate some distance removed from the immediate events giving rise to the crisis. In its most challenging form, a campus crisis--a shooting, a natural disaster, a fraternity hazing death, the arrest of a prominent campus…

The success of an institution's fundraising program increasingly relies on the leader's ability to nurture relationships with major donors and alumni and articulate, as well as execute, a vision for the institution donors can support. Leadership stability becomes critically important because longer spells of service by presidents, deans, and heads…

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…

The Montana University System Strategic Plan is the primary planning document of the Board of Regents. The Plan sets forth an agenda for higher education in Montana by delineating the strategic directions, goals, and objectives that guide the Montana University System (MUS). It is comprised of three primary goals that contain a series of sub-goal…

The changing landscape in higher education is increasingly forcing institutions to examine their long-standing business models and to start making changes. Leading those changes and overcoming internal resistance to them will require strong oversight from governing boards. What might an institution's review of its business model actually look…

Boards of trustees are enduring rough waters, churned by scandals at prominent public universities. In the wake of cases of institutional turmoil, board members at U.S. public universities are navigating myriad challenges facing higher education, including funding shortages, technological changes that are reshaping the way teaching and learning…

Social justice pertaining to diversity issues in higher education grips the nation, yet Christian higher education (CHE) has moved slowly to address the diversity in our institutions and society. Christian higher education faces the same challenges with growing diversity as secular higher education. Diversity impacts every aspect of institutional…

What exactly is accreditation? The current system was created by the federal government during the Great Society era to ensure that federal funds flowed only to high-quality educational institutions. In passing the Higher Education Act over 40 years ago, Congress linked accreditation and federal student aid to prevent students from squandering…