The forces impacting higher education add complexity to a carefully balanced system of leadership in our institutions. Unique issues face boards, administrators, and faculty, and finding alignment between them is key in demonstrating progress toward strategic goals. Today we begin a series exploring governance in higher education from the perspective of leaders across the institution. In a series of conversations with trustees, presidents, faculty and beyond, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright host a...
Feb 23, 2015•13 min•Ep. 90
Do you know your institutional research team? If not, you should. This question of data, and how we use it most appropriately and effectively is becoming an ever-increasing tool in driving change. But what comes with data is complexity. Today on the show, we welcome Terra Schehr, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Loyola University Maryland. Terra shares her experience leading the IR team in demonstrating and serving the institution through data. Terra is bei...
Feb 16, 2015•26 min•Ep. 89
Dr. George Martin has served as president of St. Edward’s University for over 15 years. In his tenure there, he has become an expert navigator of the waters of institutional change. This year, Dr. Martin has launched a new project, an administrative review designed to capitalize on the university’s successes, and prepare to face the challenging landscape of higher education before us all. This week on Navigating Change, Dr. Martin shares his experience in cultivating top-down and bottom-up decis...
Feb 10, 2015•23 min•Ep. 88
“In tasks of the mind, monetary incentives don’t improve performance.” So says today's guest Roger L. Martin, and in doing so he provides the foundation for our conversation on the role of incentives in delivering powerful creative solutions to our institutions' most challenging problems. Much of the work we do in facing the new normal in higher ed involves financial objectives. Shared services? Tenure? Consolidation? Program expansions or cuts? Whether you're in senior administration, staff, or...
Feb 02, 2015•37 min•Ep. 87
The 2015 National Conference on Trusteeship from the Association of Governing Boards is coming up April 19-21in Phoenix and this year’s event promises a rich line-up of leaders and board members tackling the biggest issues facing higher ed institutions around the world. Howard Teibel is on the docket this year, joining the list of facilitators for the Leadership Institute for Board Leaders and Executives the day before the main session, April 18. We’re thrilled to welcome AGB President Rick Lego...
Jan 26, 2015•31 min•Ep. 86
In Norse mythology, Loki was the trickster. In one of his particularly sticky exploits, he wagered his head with a group of dwarves and lost, creating a wonderful metaphor describing the complexities of difficult negotiations for us today known as “Loki’s Wager” — if a concept cannot be satisfactorily defined, it cannot be discussed. Seemingly impassable problems are common in the boardroom. But in most cases, such challenges stem from weak trust and a poor culture around handling conflict. Astu...
Jan 19, 2015•23 min•Ep. 85
Holiday breaks are coming to a close and students are heading back to classes as we celebrate one more trip around the sun. This week on Navigating Change, we take on four key trends bound to influence your decision making in 2015 as we reflect on the year gone by. In doing so, we’re setting the stage for our own conversation for year to come around institutional responsibility for external mandates, the role of academic performance measurement in data driven decision making, continued consolida...
Jan 12, 2015•21 min•Ep. 84
The 2015 National Business Officers Association Annual Meeting is coming up February 22-25 in Boston and this year’s event promises a rich line-up of speakers and educators tackling the biggest issues facing independent school business officers around the country. Howard Teibel is on the docket once again this year, delivering a pair of deep-dive sessions on impactful group decision making and strategic communication. We’re thrilled to welcome NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shield to the show this ...
Dec 15, 2014•31 min•Ep. 83
Over the last year, we’ve returned to the topic of administrative and academic collaboration a number of times. Our lesson: successful change projects are the result of academic leaders and administrative leaders working in concert with one another. This week we welcome Dr. Ahmed Abdelal, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at UMass Lowell. His work provides a framework for the structure and culture that makes for a collaborative leadership model that transcends competition and gridlock. This wee...
Dec 12, 2014•32 min•Ep. 82
Creating a culture adept at group decision making is one of the great leadership challenges. It requires alignment in the face of personal stakes on the team, political motivations, individual belief systems and ego. It requires individual contributors to have a keen ability to listen, and an even deeper ability to dig into a key question that is almost never asked, but may be the most important question for team processing: Why are we doing this? This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel il...
Dec 01, 2014•20 min•Ep. 81
For those who live with it, perfectionism can be a powerful tool for creating great work, or a blunt force impeding forward motion. In either case, we often refer to perfectionist traits as profoundly personal, a set of behaviors that impacts us, but that we confidently stow away when teams are involved. The truth: the team is an organism made of individuals. And as individuals, we bring all our behaviors with us. It is the collection of individual traits that determines the identity of the team...
Nov 17, 2014•17 min•Ep. 80
As leaders, it’s critical that we engage change on our campuses with enthusiasm, curiosity, and courage. Our teams are counting it, as are our extended constituencies — students, parents, and our community at large. In our efforts to engage with enthusiasm, our first and most important challenge is to embrace our own ignorance. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright discuss the key tenets of process consultation, and offer guidance for asking tough questions of our own assumptions ...
Nov 10, 2014•19 min•Ep. 79
This week on Navigating Change we’re coming to you once again from the EACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Speakers at the conference have been taking on some of the most challenging issues facing chief business officers in higher education. This week, we’re joined by all four regional CUBO presidents for a conversation on the challenges they’re facing in their regions. From dropping high school populations to a changing demographic landscape to dramatically declining state subsidies...
Nov 03, 2014•18 min•Ep. 78
This week on Navigating Change we’re coming to you from the EACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. Speakers at the conference have been taking on some of the most challenging issues facing chief business officers in higher education. We’re kicking off our EACUBO series with two people who serve as leaders in the effort to prepare CBOs for the demands of tomorrow’s institutions. Lynne Schaefer is vice president for finance and administration at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a...
Oct 27, 2014•16 min•Ep. 77
This week on Navigating Change we conclude our three-part series in which we share the administrative and academic review from the inside out. Our final guest is Terry Sawyer, Vice President of Administration at Loyola University Maryland, and it was under his guidance as co-chair of the "New Way Of Proceeding" committee that deep investigation into institutional operations occurred. Terry’s role in senior administration, in partnership with his colleague and faculty co-chair Steve Fowl, put him...
Oct 20, 2014•31 min•Ep. 76
When navigating complex change initiatives, there may come a time when your team will face the challenge of calling on outside support for expertise, guidance, and potentially even leadership as you cruise uncertain institutional waters. How do you engage the right support, at the right time, in the right capacity? This week on Navigating Change, Howard Teibel shares his experience in building outstanding relationships with external consultants as a consultant himself. From setting clear boundar...
Oct 13, 2014•24 min•Ep. 75
This week on Navigating Change we continue our three-part series in which we share the administrative and academic review from the inside out. Our second guest is professor Steve Fowl of Loyola University Maryland, and it was under his guidance as co-chair of the "New Way Of Proceeding" committee that deep investigation into institutional operations occurred. Steve’s role as chair of the faculty senate at the time made him the perfect representative in the review process. This week, Steve shares...
Oct 06, 2014•28 min•Ep. 74
The Central Association of College and University Business Officer’s Annual Meeting is coming up fast — October 5-7, Kansas City will play host to central region change leaders and business officers addressing the crossroads of higher education. Gail Gregory will be on-site at the conference delivering her presentation, “Communicating Financial Information Effectively.” This week on the show, Gail joins Pete Wright to share her perspective on strategic communication and the evolving role and res...
Sep 30, 2014•11 min•Ep. 73
This week on Navigating Change we begin a three-part series to share the administrative and academic review from the inside out. Our first guest is Vice President of Finance of Loyola University Maryland Randy Gentzler, and it was under his guidance that the project ensured its focus not only on ideas for change consistent with mission but also ones that would have a positive financial impact. As the chief business officer, Randy describes the project from its inception to deal with the short-te...
Sep 28, 2014•18 min•Ep. 72
There are two fundamental considerations when communicating complex information from the business office. First, do you have the right data for your audience. Second, are you communicating that data using the right tools. Our special guest Nicole Trufant has been polishing her communications practice from the business office as Vice President for Fiscal Affairs at University of New England Next month, Nicole will join Howard Teibel on stage at the EACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting in Orlando as present...
Sep 22, 2014•18 min•Ep. 71
Last week, Canisius College President John Hurley welcomed faculty, students, and staff to the 2014-15 academic year at the school’s convocation event. In his speech, he outlined a vision for college success by way of three key areas: Redefinition — understanding what it means to be a student-centered institution; Revitalization — embracing new approaches to the academic model; and Innovation — evolving the business model to support a more agile institution. This week on Navigating Change, Presi...
Sep 08, 2014•48 min•Ep. 70
This week on Navigating Change, we’re thrilled to have friend of the show, Michael Gower. Michael currently serves as senior vice president of finance at Rutgers University and the chair of EACUBO. He joins us on the show this week to share his insights on building trust, technology, and the forces impacting the changing business model in higher eduction. The EACUBO Annual Meeting 2014 will be held in Orlando October 19-22. Michael and the EACUBO leadership team are leading a shift in the approa...
Sep 01, 2014•29 min•Ep. 69
Howard Teibel will be joining the ranks of presenters at the Unimarket NOW user conference in Nashville October 22-24. To help us get ready, event co-chair Linda Penland joins us today with all the details. Linda has been a Unimarket customer since she lead the project to roll out shared services at her own institution, Creighton University. Today on the show, we talk about the challenges of such an audacious project, the hard work of communication and establishing cultural buy-in to new process...
Aug 25, 2014•22 min•Ep. 68
Part two in our Grant Lichtman interview picks up with the political challenges that erupt in districts across the country. In the face of these challenges are schools making the change required to live up to the promise of true innovation in education. We reflect on the shared challenges of broken business models — both in K-12 and higher education — and the responsibility leaders have in owning positive change in the classroom. As Howard notes, “we may not be able to see the end of the road of...
Aug 18, 2014•24 min•Ep. 67
Grant Lichtman has quickly become one of the foremost thinkers and advocates for innovation in the classroom. His latest book, #EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education, documents his 3-month journey across the United States, interviewing teachers, administrators, students, parents, and trustees to examine innovation in the K-12 classroom. This week on Navigating Change, Grant joins Howard Teibel and Pete Wright for part one of a conversation covering his exploration, and the evolution aw...
Aug 11, 2014•18 min•Ep. 66
Seasoned business officer Amir Rahnamay-Azar joins us on the show this week to share his leadership practices as a new member of the Carnegie Mellon University leadership team. Just celebrating his 1-year anniversary, Amir has developed a strategic plan for his division, illuminating the objectives shared by the institution and how his operation contributes to achieving them. His process for encouraging buy-in and developing a collaborative leadership relationship with the provost is a true high...
Aug 04, 2014•30 min•Ep. 65
NACUBO President John Walda joins the roundtable this week to share reflections on the NACUBO Annual Meeting 2014 in Seattle and the role of the conference in defining and supporting business officers in their work. In part two of our conversation, we discuss the importance of clarity and function of the business model to higher education, and John outlines a recently approved research project in which NACUBO will study the impacts of business model weakness. John and Howard share insights aroun...
Jul 28, 2014•20 min•Ep. 64
NACUBO President John Walda joins the roundtable this week to share reflections on the NACUBO Annual Meeting 2014 in Seattle and the role of the conference in defining and supporting business officers in their work. In part one of our conversation, we discuss the impact of higher education on the country as reflected by speaker Bill Gates, and the role of the business officer as it continues to expand in institutions in our country. NACUBO continues to move the conversation around strategic comm...
Jul 22, 2014•18 min•Ep. 63
University of Washington has become a beacon for organizational effectiveness in higher education. The work of building strength through communication and collaboration across the institution has helped to drive capacity for new projects and greater effectiveness in existing operations. This week on the show, UW’s Ruth Johnston joins us to share insights on developing a best-in-class program around organizational excellence. Her team is behind the upcoming workshop, Effective Group Decision-Maki...
Jul 14, 2014•24 min•Ep. 62
We’re gearing up for the NACUBO 2014 Annual Meeting in Seattle coming July 19-22. As usual, the NACUBO team has built an incredible catalog of events and learning opportunities and we’re trilled to be a presenting part of it. This week on the show, Howard Teibel and Pete Wright walk through the key strengths of the event, from developing new business officers and helping to cultivate a culture of collaboration across campuses, to their leading voice in public policy around higher eduction. This ...
Jul 07, 2014•16 min•Ep. 61
