A significant number of college and university presidents and senior leadership are expected to retire in the next decade. At the same time, an increasing number of candidates for higher education leadership are coming from non-traditional work experiences – both within and outside of academia.

In collaboration with current and former higher education leaders, the Edvance Foundation is developing a program that will meet the changing needs of institutions and their senior leadership.

The rising cost of higher education is a serious topic of discussion at various levels. Institutions constantly wrestle with the challenge of providing a quality learning experience with fewer available resources. Meanwhile, technology is enabling a revolutionary degree of collaboration among individuals and institutions, regardless of physical proximity.

With the goal of enhancing quality and competitiveness while controlling costs, the Edvance Foundation is exploring the feasibility of a program that would facilitate partnerships across institutions and sectors, creating economies of scale in business and academic programs when possible.

Often college professors enter the classroom trained as researchers and not teachers yet find themselves working at institutions that prize teaching over research, factor teaching more heavily into tenure decisions, and employ student evaluation forms to determine salary and promotion.

To better support faculty, the Edvance Foundation is looking into the development of a program that would focus on the creation of curricula and methodologies that promote excellence in both academic instruction and scholarly research among current and emerging college professors.

The world is becoming more interdependent every day. A first-rate education has to prepare students to successfully compete in this rapidly changing environment. To that end, colleges and universities interested in providing a global education must seek new ways to adjust their programs in order to meet the interests and expectations of 21st-century students.

The Edvance Foundation is investigating the possibility of a program that would help colleges and universities build a common, international admissions base and adopt a more globally oriented curricula and campus culture. Potential institutional benefits of the program would include more diverse and globally-based applicants, stronger institutional financial health, and decreased reliance on government tax support.