Strategic Transformation of Higher Education

Strategic Transformation of Higher Education offers readers a powerful rationale and strategy for change, as well as the global imperative to do so — and sooner than later. It is a must-read for all policy makers, college and university trustees, administrators, and especially the faculty of higher education who will find practical suggestions and strategies for moving forward with much-needed reforms in providing more students with successful learning experiences and an education that provides them with the skills they need for living and succeeding in an increasingly complex and competitive global environment. -- John E. Roueche Ph.D, president, Roueche Graduate Center, National American University
Strategic Transformation of Higher Education lays out the fundamental issues challenging all of higher education in the contemporary world where the basic goals and methods of education are more challenged than just about any period in our history. Even the challenges to America’s pioneering institutions — to create citizen leaders for a democracy unlike any ever seen in the world — did not match the challenges to today’s institutions who also face additionally a weltering array of modalities for delivering education, as well as a conflicting sets of goals for its purpose. This book is a fine overview of the elements and challenges to 'change' leadership in higher education, and is especially valuable in its global comparisons of the goals and funding of systems in many different countries. Also, its discussion of eight exemplars of change in the area of online and competency-based education is valuable for pointing ways that quality, skills, improved access, and affordability might be shared, and not conflicting, values. -- Esther Barazzone, President, Chatham University
Here is a book that demands our attention. Sutin and Jacob present a compelling case for the need for transformation of higher education if institutions are to survive. The authors point out the challenges of operating in an environment that includes decreased funding, cost increases, greater expectations from employers, global competition, a projected skills gap, and accreditation concerns. Globalization and advances in technology are affecting our society in ways that higher education can no longer ignore. The book’s brief case studies show how leaders who make plans and decisions without considering the consequences of unanticipated economic cycles jeopardize the existence of their institutions. To assist leaders to navigate in today’s challenging environment, the authors provide examples of institutions that are successful because they have undergone systemic reform. Higher education leaders, educators, and policy makers need to think seriously about the case for strategic transformation that Sutin and Jacob present so well. -- George R. Boggs Ph.D, President and CEO Emeritus, American Association of Community Colleges and Superintendent/President Emeritus, Palomar College
Strategic Transformation brings fresh and insightful focus to two critical challenges: how to address the gap in alignment between institutions of higher learning, both in the U.S. and abroad, and how to deal with the growing dysfunction of comparative funding models. The authors offer a pragmatic guide to systemic reform and highlight the essential qualities of transformative leaders. The further description of individual and institutional “exemplars” provides inspiration and encourages aspiration. -- Walter G. Bumphus Ph.D, President and CEO, American Association of Community Colleges
This path-breaking volume offers profound insights into how visionary leadership can serve to transform higher education in a time of crisis, characterized by escalating student debt and reduced state support. Illustrative vignettes of successful and failing institutions, also of the dilemmas facing individual students add vivid colour. International comparisons that highlight approaches taken by the UK, Australia, Germany and three of the four BRIC countries broaden the canvass for this critical yet constructive depiction of higher education leadership at a global turning point in America. -- Ruth Hayhoe Ph.D, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Sutin and Jacob come along at just the right time with just the right book for an industry in near-crisis. They provide a very useful (and readable!) global, policy, and industry context for what is in many ways becomes a playbook for institutional leaders confronted with failing business models and a need to reinvent their schools. This is hard work and everyone’s challenge will be different, but the authors provide clear, cogent ways to think through the issues, ask the right questions, and borrow from those who have successfully navigated these waters. This should be required reading for college and university leadership retreats across the country. -- Paul LeBlanc, President, Southern New Hampshire University