The Velocity Problem: Governance at the Pace of the Market
The systemic issues facing higher education today require a comprehensive approach to address short, medium, and long-term objectives.
The systemic issues facing higher education today require a comprehensive approach to address short, medium, and long-term objectives.
Governing boards are underestimating the time pressure to address complex issues and the speed at which institutions can act on them.
Velocity.
Velocity.
In the landscape of higher education, presidents and their governing boards are becoming aware of the challenges facing their organizations. These challenges include changing consumer behaviors, structural deficits, the emergence of innovative educational delivery methods, and the swift evolution of AI and technology. As a result, the strategic questions facing these leaders are becoming more evident and pressing.
What is less visible is whether our governance structure can respond at the pace the market now demands.
Today’s environment is different.
We cannot govern from a “steady-state environment” paradigm.
In today’s competitive environment, the speed at which institutions and their governing boards learn, decide, and act has become a strategic variable.
Many presidents feel this tension directly. They see the market shifts and understand that adaptation will require insights and difficult decisions about new operating models, policies, and practices. Yet translating strategic insight into institutional movement often requires navigating governance structures designed for a different era.
Governance structures typically operate at a slower pace. Important and strategic issues, such as understanding and alignment on an Institutional Prosperity Gap, can take many board meetings, with uneven participation and knowledge among board members. Even well-planned initiatives may take more than a year to progress from concept to implementation.
Governance at the Speed of the Market
Institutions navigating this period of structural change are beginning to rethink how governance supports strategy and the president. They are creating more intentional forums for presidents and boards to engage in structured strategic dialogue. The best are strengthening board fluency in financial architecture and margin dynamics. And they are using facilitated governance processes to translate strategic insight into disciplined action.
These efforts reflect a growing recognition: institutional transformation is not only an operational challenge.
It is a governance capability.
If an institution is to transform, it must start with the board of trustees and how it operates, including:
If an institution is to transform, it must start with the board of trustees and how it operates, including:
- Regular plenary sessions that allow for sufficient fluency in the financial architecture and margin dynamics and its strategic implications.
- Structured forums where presidents and governing boards can engage in deeper strategic dialogue beyond routine reporting.
- Committee structures that allow the board to effectively work on the most important issues facing the institution.
- Identifying and then removing barriers that slow down an institution’s ability to transform its financial model.
- Formally supporting the president and the administration when difficult issues need to be addressed.
Velocity, in this context, still involves prudence, but timely movement from the board will enable an institution to assess opportunities, understand financial implications, and respond with clear, meaningful actions. During periods of structural change, the institutions that succeed may not be those with the best ideas, but those that can execute in a timely manner.
Differentiation will come from governance structures that can act at the pace of the market and an operation than can execute using a new playbook.
