BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), a Washington-based private college presidents association serving more than 700 colleges, universities, and organizations, recently released an important report on what private college presidents are thinking. Chris Quintana described its implications in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “What’s on the Mind of the Private-College President?…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL According to Inside Higher Education’s recent survey of college business officers, only 44 percent of those at private baccalaureate institutions believed that their institutions would be financially stable over the next decade. That means the leaders of these institutions – most of which lack a sizeable endowment – will need to…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Inside Higher Education (IHE) released its 2018 Survey of College and University Business Officers last week. While the findings vary across the different sectors of American higher education, many are sobering, especially for four-year private colleges. Many Small, Private Colleges’ Financial State is Perilous According to the IHE survey, conducted in…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL In our new book – How to Run a College: A Practical Guide for Trustees, Faculty, Administrators and Policymakers – Dr. Joey King and I lay out the case for revitalizing the shared governance structure under which higher education institutions operate. We see governance, especially at the trustee level, as a significant…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Several years ago, I spoke to a group of extraordinarily bright, committed colleagues from across a group of neighboring colleges and universities in a large metropolitan area. The subject – collaboration — was a precursor to a larger conversation about whether they might consider a merger of like-minded institutions to create…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL When its trustees shut down Mount Ida College, they unleashed a debacle that resulted in a torrent of criticism and considerable finger pointing. Rejecting a merger or acquisition (depending on the characterization) with Lasell College, the trustees opted to sell the campus to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, whose leadership…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL The following is an excerpt of my address to graduate students at the University of Rochester commencement. My full remarks are available here. I suspect that one of the reasons that the University asked me to serve as your speaker is that I have had many opportunities to re-invent myself in…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL In our new book, How to Build a College: A Practical Guide for Trustees, Faculty, Administrators and Policymakers, Dr. Joey King and I argue that the sky is not falling around higher education. By and large, colleges and universities are nimble and resourceful institutions, most of which will prosper in the…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL Inside Higher Education has released its annual “Survey of College and University Presidents.” The results, which cover a wide variety of topics, are revealing if not surprising. There are too many individual findings to discuss in a single article; therefore, we’ll concentrate on the findings that deal most directly with the state…
BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL American higher education is a complex, decentralized, and interlocking network of institutions that provide education to a disparate group of learners. Historically, many of the fundamentals build around an applicant cohort of 18- to 22-year olds. The demographics of the 21st century predict that this group will not be able to…