As student protests over race relations boiled over on the University of Missouri's flagship campus in 2015, top leaders were slow to respond. Both the university's chancellor and the president of the entire system resigned shortly after the incident. Academic leaders must build bridges well before a crisis arises so that when one does, there is already an established culture of openness and trust.
The Chronicle's report,
"The Challenge of Leading Today's Colleges," examines the complex factors shaping the presidency today: strained business models, transformational changes within the academic landscape, the importance of responding quickly to controversies, and the need to manage competing interests.
