“Colleges and universities are experiencing a witch’s brew of challenges and uncertainty. In every sector of the world economy, enterprises, industries, professions, and the individuals in them are being disrupted, fundamentally and decisively. To the global observer, it seems no field of endeavor is immune to this disruption. Yet within higher education there is no emerging consensus on how and when these forces will affect the fortunes of colleges and universities and the stakeholders they serve.
Many inside higher education feel the threat of disruption is overstated. Others feel the most successful institutions will escape relatively unscathed or even benefit. Still others believe that the disruptions will surpass insider expectations and that scores of institutions will be forced to close and many more downsized, merged, or acquired. Further, they foresee these disruptions spawning a wave of newly invented modes and patterns of operation, focused on student learning needs and often driven by rapidly advancing technologies. When all is said and done, disruption in higher education will bring massive change and transformation, coming both with great opportunities and significant threats.
Excellence on the Edge provides numerous examples of change initiatives that demonstrate the successful application of resilience and performance excellence principles and an approach for their systemic implementation. No institution threatened by disruption and wishing to thrive can afford to ignore these principles in the coming decade. Applying these principles, these institutions will realign their vision, strategies, processes, practices, programs, experiences, and operations. This typically begins with a commitment by board and executive leadership to a campaign of realignment and transformation. Such campaigns require significant redirection, realignment and reinvention of institutional processes and practices. They require investment and entail risk in the face of uncertainty. But for institutions threatened by disruption, the greater risk is to settle for continuing, incremental improvements in existing offerings and capacities whose days are numbered.
This book provides boards, presidents, and senior institutional leaders with clear guidance on “Getting it Done” with a strong recommendation that this work begin now. This will enable institutions to develop strategies for success in disruptive times and then to execute those strategies over time to achieve new heights of resilience, performance excellence and success.”
Excerpt From: Gilmour, Norris, Speziale. “Excellence on the Edge.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=93D3954D6EB9FD3AA1544703DDE0C46E
