Leading in a Recession: A 2009 Higher Education Action Plan
Though often considered counter-cyclical, the higher education sector has been deeply and broadly affected by the financial crisis. To help make sense of this complex crisis and its impact on colleges and universities, Eduventures conducted interviews with some of higher education’s leading thinkers to learn from their experiences and about their plans for the future. We spoke with provosts, chief development officers, enrollment management executives, and presidents. We talked to representatives of for-profit and non-profit, two-year and four-year, public and private, large and small institutions. We asked about leadership, priorities, and the role of higher education in an economic crisis. This paper weaves some of the most insightful comments from our interviews into a 2009 timeline for university leaders and can serve as a reference and planning document as this highly anticipated year unfolds.