It’s Exhausting

Higher Education is under fire from every direction. I retired from Ohio State in November 2019, almost six years ago, and looking back, that world seems almost quaint. Yes, careers in higher education have always been challenging, and I was closing a career of 31 years. There was pressure, as always, and we were in the midst of major cloud modernization. But I don’t think any of us could have imagined the higher education world we live in today.

If my colleague Matt Winn will allow me this brief moment of nostalgia (Matt recently posted a great article, saying, “This is not a time for nostalgia. It’s a time for clarity, courage, and commitment.”), 2019 was pre-pandemic, before rampant AI, before direct federal government attacks on higher education and research. We felt like we were moving quickly, but we were moving at a pace that does not cut it in 2025.

I have the privilege of working with great leaders – institutional leaders and vendor leaders that truly serve our industry. I get to advise them, learn from them, research how they are flexing to accommodate the latest twist in our financial and mental models of the industry, and write about what I see, and I have thoughts…even seemingly conflicting thoughts.

Modernization is an imperative. Institutions on aged, on-premises platforms will continue to waste time and money as they try to pivot their institutions with solutions that are too limited in scope and require too much time and money to change. (If you want a fight, come to me with a best-of-breed strategy in core higher ed solutions in 2025…)

Technology can’t solve (any of) our problems. That’s what you are here for. Technology is necessary, but not sufficient. We must rethink the business model, the curriculum, the alignment to outcomes, the pedagogy, the facilities, and the technology (and more, I’m sure). The great news is that higher ed leaders have been rethinking these strategies and assets for years, in pockets. Radical ideas about the institution of the future need to be on the table, shared, tested, and refined.

Leadership is an incredible asset to an organization and the people who work in it. Yes, this is obvious, but it is also easy for those with great leadership skills to focus on specific problems, not on their broader role — to provide direction, stability, calm, and clarity. Yes, leaders need to lead on specific issues, but creating the culture, impetus, and space for teams to reinvent is critical.

Leaders cannot solve (any of) the problems higher education faces alone. Our industry is facing the most significant brain drain in decades. I talk to leaders every week whose teams have been decimated by retirements, poaching from the commercial sectors, and budget cuts. Your people strategy is one of the absolute keys to making progress.

Collaboration is crucial to the industry — So is audacious decision-making. There are countless examples of where our collaboration has brought great value to many institutions. But it can also create follow-the-leader patterns, even imperatives. What is the audacious option that you have considered for your institution? How does your leadership team look for opportunities outside of the current orthodoxy? What can your institution do that is unique?

These are the right conversations to have, even while under duress from every angle. Join the conversation – and tell me what I’ve missed!

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Originally posted by Dave Kieffer on LinkedIn. Be sure to follow him there to catch all his great industry insights.