Pass/Fail: The Urgent Need for Strategic Leadership in Higher Education

Higher education has arrived at a crossroads. Demographic changes, a significant student mental health crisis, and AI are just a few factors that will disrupt the industry as we know it in the next decade and beyond. Either colleges and universities figure out how to evolve alongside student needs, technology, and the labor market, or they continue to fall behind due to archaic and unenterprising processes and cultures.

What's at stake is the loss of many institutions that have facilitated social mobility, personal growth, and more connected and meaningful lives for a century or more.

How each institution navigates these headwinds will depend almost entirely on the quality of its leadership. Higher education administrators can no longer afford to just be subject matter experts in their areas and perpetuate the silos so common in academia. They must understand how to connect academic product strategy, brand, enrollment, philanthropy, and culture to drive entrepreneurial initiatives and change.

Those key areas of strategic leadership are what Pass/Fail centers on. Written by seasoned higher education strategist and marketer Dr. Suzan Brinker, the book is at once inspiring and practical, combining personal narrative with case studies from leaders at liberal arts colleges, large private universities, and public research institutions.