Trusteeship - May/June 2020 - 3

ON MY AGENDA

Strategic Board Leadership in a Time of Crisis
"Necessity is the mother of invention."
Never before has this proverb from the Greek
philosopher Plato been more pertinent.
While our higher education institutions were
already navigating a trifecta of challenges-diminishing enrollments, increased public skepticism
about the value of a college education, and low state
funding-we now find ourselves in a dire new reality: adapt, innovate, or become obsolete.
Since the COVID-19 global pandemic brought a
stop to life as we know it, AGB has been adapting to
meet the needs of our more than 40,000 members
and to help you navigate with knowledge and confidence. Many of you have asked-where do I start?
What is the role of my board during this crisis?
Here are three recommended steps you can take now to promote favorable outcomes
for your institutions, foundations, and communities:
1. Increase Communications: Establish
frequent-potentially once or twice per
week- communications between your
board and president. You may need to
include members of your executive team,
faculty, or student body in these discussions, for shared governance is even more
critical during crisis to both inform and
gain input from key stakeholders. As
many institutions are facing existential
threats, strategic boards should work with
their institution's leadership teams to
develop and prioritize action plans while
exploring alternatives to set a sustainable
path forward. As boards and leadership
teams collaboratively refine their strategic
plans within the context of the COVID19 pandemic, regular communications
with your institution's stakeholders is also
critical.
2. Oversee Rigorous Financial Analysis
and Planning: The board's finance and
audit committee members should work
with the president and finance team to
review financial scenarios on a recurring
basis. Boards should also oversee financial
stress test results to better understand
AGB.ORG

capital requirements that may be needed
to support operations based on assumptions such as when your institution will
announce summer and fall registration.
As the board oversees the institution's
financial status, it is essential to assess cash
balances and responsive access to credit.
Further, explore cash shortfalls from revenue losses due to refunded or diminished
tuition, room and board, and various fees
and events, as well as from incremental
expenses from new technology, staffing,
and programming.
3. Reexamine Academic Quality and
Admissions Through a Virtual Learning Lens: Given the accelerated shift to
virtual learning, how will your institution
need to change the methods and metrics
by which academic quality is evaluated
now and into the future? And how does
this new environment align with the skills
and workforce requirements that students
need once they graduate? From an admissions perspective, how is your institution
communicating with already accepted
students and reassessing wait lists to build
the fall class?

Within every crisis lies challenge and
opportunity. Or, as our AGB Senior Consultant and National Conference on Trusteeship speaker Terrence MacTaggart put it
in his session on crisis leadership: "Another
opportunity to excel." These unprecedented
times present a unique opportunity for you
to provide the strategic leadership that will
define a new course for your institution. A
strategic conversation between the president and board about lasting changes in
modes of working, teaching, and learning
may allow higher education to innovate
and surge to new heights in the future.
To help you on this journey of navigating COVID-19 and its myriad implications, I hope you will turn to AGB's
Coronavirus Resource Center, engage with
us in one of our widely attended webinars
on the various facets of governing through
this crisis, and read our newly released
publications on risk management, enrollment management, crisis management,
and top strategic issues.
In three short months, the turmoil of
this pandemic has required us to act with
unimagined speed, dwindling resources,
and uncertain technology. But our shared
response can achieve great progress if we
take steps now to reimagine our opportunities and chart a new path for the future.
Since the founding of our country, institutions of higher education in the United
States have contributed to the advancement
of society. From the arts and humanities,
to education and the sciences, the work
of our colleges and universities has led to
groundbreaking advancements. I am confident that in the years ahead, our presidents,
boards, and institutions will once again lead
the way in helping us overcome challenges.
The entire AGB team is here to help and
to be your partner in this journey.

HENRY STOEVER
AGB PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

MAY. JUN. 2020 TRUSTEESHIP 3

http://www.AGB.ORG

Trusteeship - May/June 2020

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