The past academic year has not been a good one for college and university leaders. Leaders at all levels are responding to crises such as state-mandated changes to DEI policies, student and faculty protests of the enmeshment of institutional funds with the state of Israel and its military apparatus and the ongoing killing of Palestinians in Gaza, and financial worries stemming from changes in enrollment demographics. Not only are the issues to manage coming rapidly at leaders, but their responses are also undergoing deeper scrutiny from a broader swath of the public.
Connections Are Everything: Putting Relationships at the Heart of Higher Ed
As academic leaders, we are under so much pressure to deliver—enrollment targets, strategic plans, graduation rates, AI policies, and on and on—that we can lose sight of what our students