AGB History final highres - March/April 2021 - ABG36

The Recent History
of AGB
2006-2021

AGB

has evolved with the needs of its members to serve higher education institutions, and ultimately students, throughout its 100-year
history-and the last 15 years are no exception. With a momentum to move higher education forward despite any challenge, AGB has worked to become
a trusted advisor regarding institutional governance to its members and to the higher
education sector at large. AGB's accomplishments in these past 15 years show that the only
national organization providing university and college presidents, board chairs, and individual trustees with the resources they need to enhance their effectiveness has been successful
in its goal to be the trusted source to advance the practice of citizen trusteeship and help
ensure the quality and success of our nation's colleges and universities.
" We are a trusted voice, " said Richard
Legon, who was the president and CEO of
AGB from 2005-2019. " In fact, embedded
in one of the associations strategic plans
with which I was proud to be a part of, that
was actually an objective. That AGB would
increase its influence by becoming the
trusted voice on issues of governance, obviously, but also on broader matters facing
higher education. "
Higher education has always been connected closely with the historical events in
society. As a result, AGB has played a significant role through much of that time in
helping boards evolve in various epochs of
its history, including in its recent history.
" The relevance of AGB is still very much
connected to what's happened in history,
how higher ed has worked through those
moments and the changing role of boards.
So by necessity, AGB had to be relevant to
help those volunteers who served on the
boards address the challenges that were
confronting their respective institutions, "
said Legon.
One of the most unique aspects of AGB
throughout its history, and especially in the

last 15 years, is its adaptability and responsiveness to its members.
" We're a listening organization. We
never stopped reaching out to draw from
our members what their concerns are. And
we worked really, really hard to make sure,
again, that they saw AGB as an organization they could trust and that they could
rely on, again, both for making sure that
their boards and their presidents understood the basics of best practice in the
boardroom while also supporting some of
the initiatives that I think define the association, " explained Legon.
Over the last decade and a half, higher
education has faced numerous changes.
Some of these challenges include student
demographic shifts, less funding for public institutions, the rising cost of higher
education, an increasingly skeptical public
perception of the value of higher education,
a growing need for understanding risk
management and crisis communications,
and business-model pressures, which have
caused some institutions to merge or close.
Many of these challenges continue to drive
boards to be even more committed than

36 AGB: A CENTENNIAL HISTORY | March 2021

ever to their work to ensure successful student outcomes and the financial viability of
their institutions.
A new era of the association began with
Henry Stoever becoming AGB's fifth president and CEO in July 2019. In the short
time since, AGB has sought to provide even
more member service and engagement
by increasing digital content and virtual
engagement and has faced the unexpected
crisis of the global COVID-19 pandemic
and its impact on higher education.
Throughout all of the challenges and
changes, AGB continues to serve its members and be an organization that others can
look to and rely on to help boards and institutions respond to the crises and emerge
stronger and more resilient. Upon celebrating AGB's 100th anniversary, now is an ideal
moment to review AGB's recent history in
the last 15 years, from 2006 to the present
in 2021.
One of the most significant moments
driving AGB at the beginning this most
recent 15 years in AGB history was the
implementation of a five-year strategic plan
that AGB's board of directors approved in
2006. That five-year plan that highlighted
some key priorities: research, service, communications, and advocacy. AGB committed itself to fulfilling these priorities during
that time period.
" We saw opportunities to build additional businesses within the construct of
the association. A couple of years into my
leadership, we established an organization that conducted presidential searches
and some number of years after that, we

AGB History final highres - March/April 2021

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