Higher education is evolving

Over the past decade, institutes of higher learning have grappled with a rapidly changing landscape. They’ve faced decreasing government funding, rising demands from students and donors for fast access to information and services, more competition from international institutions and enhanced reporting requirements. All of these illustrate how the higher education industry is being influenced by the marketplace. These emerging trends require institutions to adapt quickly in an environment that demands a steady flow of unique educational offerings.

Realizing maximum business value

To effectively tackle these challenges, higher education institutions — just like businesses — require good governance. This means growing stakeholder value along with defining stakeholder decision rights, ensuring strategic alignment of decisions and enforcing accountability at all levels. In practical terms, good governance is about applying processes at every level for mitigating risks and escalating issues, tracking and reporting status and costs and managing scope and change.

Indeed, all successful organizations — including those in the business of higher education — rely on good governance to support effective decision-making, meet key objectives and realize maximum business value. Leaders in higher education must adhere to best governance practices to ensure their institutions stay competitive in a rapidly evolving industry.