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ACE Presidential Roundtables

Roundtable Essays
		Presidential Leadership in an Age of Transition: Dynamic Responses for a Turbulent Time (2011) - sold out
		Looking Beyond the Numbers: The Leadership Implications of Shifting Student, Faculty, and Administrator Demographics (2009) - sold out
		The Dynamic Nature of Knowledge: Future Challenges and Opportunities for College and University Leaders (2008)
		Collective Foresight: The Leadership Challenges for Higher Education's Future (2007)
		The Times Demand Innovation: Responding to Declining Resources and Heightened Accountability (2007)
		Toward Higher Ground: Reclaiming Public Confidence in a Competitive Environment (2006)
		Peering Around the Bend: The Leadership Challenges of Privatization, Accountability, and Market-based State Policy (2005)

Past Roundtable Series
•	The Changing Relationship Between States and Their Institutions
•	Transatlantic Dialogue

Effective Presidential Leadership:

Laying the Leadership Foundation for the Future

Little in higher education today is more high stakes than effective presidential leadership. The future of higher education is intimately linked to the abilities of its leaders. The higher education enterprise has evolved, becoming more complex, expanding its historic missions of teaching, research, and service; and the context in which higher education operates also has changed with increased competition, and the social compact between states and higher education being rewritten. In response to these changes, the work of the presidency has changed greatly during the past 15 to 20 years. However, the broad understanding of what constitutes effective presidential leadership has not kept pace given the demands and dynamics of the day and those of tomorrow.

Discussing the Future

Current challenges facing higher education and the nation at large underscore the importance of planning and positioning to prepare for the emerging and the unknown. Since April 2007, ACE has been convening small groups of presidents from diverse two- and four-year, public and independent colleges and universities to discuss forthcoming challenges and articulate a leadership agenda to best prepare for them. The fundamental assumption driving this series of presidential roundtables is that an essential task of campus leaders is to lay the essential groundwork now that positions their institutions to be successful and relevant in the future, however difficult today's demands.

This series of presidential roundtables brings together campus leaders to identify, discuss, and debate the current trends that will likely shape higher education's future. Participants explore the implications of these harbinger issues and begin to develop what we call "collective foresight." Predictions are difficult and rarely accurate; the best that one can hope for is foresight into possible scenarios that may emerge given trends and trajectories.

To begin this series of discussions about the future, ACE convened a group of 14 presidents from diverse types of institutions in April 2007. From that conversation, three key topics emerged that the participants thought demanded additional attention by campus leaders. ACE organized a subsequent roundtable conversation for each of the three issues and has or is issuing discussion-based essays for each:

• The Evolving Nature of Knowledge: Exploring the Potential Impact on Colleges and Universities
• Shifting Demographics, Shifting Expectations: How Can Higher Education Best Prepare for and Shape Its Future?
• American Higher Education’s Global Future: Preparing Now for the Increasingly Small World

Roundtable Background

Since 2004, the American Council on Education (ACE) has held a series of roundtable conversations with higher education leaders to explore the key trends colleges and universities are facing. These conversations provide opportunities for campus leaders to think aloud with their peers about a set of inter-related trends and challenges and to explore the implications for campus leadership. The conversations also formed the basis of a series of essays widely disseminated throughout the higher education community.

Getting Involved

ACE is committed to engaging presidents and higher education leaders in cutting edge issues and promoting a wider dialogue on these issues. To that end, we seek input on topics, issues and participants for future roundtables.

For further information, email leadershipprograms@acenet.edu.

Please direct questions about this page to
leadershipprograms@acenet.edu
This page was last updated on 10/07/2011