In an era where many states' postsecondary education governance dynamics are evolving, we set out to understand whether state-level governing boards with centralized governance functions affected institutions' decisions to engage in in-person instruction during the fall of 2020, the first fall of the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined sociopolitical…

Strategic planning is a process utilized by numerous organizations, including K-12 school boards, intent on improvement and reform. A thoughtful strategic planning process can help develop a board's desired future driven by goals and strategies aimed at progress. However, improvement processes such as strategic planning are challenging. In fact,…

On June 7, 2007, the Antioch University board of trustees declared that Antioch College, an independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, was in a state of financial exigency, and, two days later, voted to suspend college operations after the next academic year. After that year, the board oversaw the closing of the college while…

This article presents the story of Wilson College, the only college in the United States where a group of alumnae took the trustees to court over the issue of the announced closing and won the case. The court reversed the trustees' decision on the grounds that the college had failed to seek approval from the court before announcing the change in…

The purpose of The Arizona Long-Range Strategic Educational Technology Plan is to map the future of the "education support systems" necessary for Arizona's children to succeed in today's world. The plan details goals and strategies for policy makers, the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, Institutions of Higher…

The responsibilities of university presidents and board chairs have evolved significantly from the early days of public higher education. There was a time when the power of the board was absolute, but those days are long gone, and it remains an open question whether the structures of public boards have kept pace with the complex social…

Although numerous theories have been proffered, to date activist boards are an empirically unexamined force in public higher education governance. Using the concept of institutional entrepreneurship, this case study examines the reciprocal role that board members and staff played in the organizational development of board activism. In the case of…

Increasingly, states are restricting tuition growth through political pressure and statewide governing and coordinating boards. During the 1990s, California, Virginia, and New York all cut or restrained tuition, and recently Michigan, Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey have restricted tuition growth either through legislation or intense…

The United States Office of Education through its Division of Higher Education has been conducting a series of studies on the general subject of the relation of the State to higher education. Four studies have already been published in bulletin form under the following titles: (1) The State and Higher Education, Phases of Their Relationship; (2)…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Oregon has been a leader in K-16 reform through its development of the Proficiency-based Admission Standards System (PASS), which articulated postsecondary expectations and linked them with K-12…

At a meeting of the Arizona School Official's Association held in April, 1915, a resolution was passed instructing the president of the association to appoint a committee to arrange for an educational survey of the State. Members of the bureau staff visited schools in 12 of the 14 counties, and in 22 of the 24 cities employing city…

Within the two years comprehended in this review, the Congress of the United States has been in almost continuous session and all the states, except Alabama have held meetings of their legislative bodies. Six states, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina hold annual meetings of their legislatures, and…