We can’t predict with certainty how changes in technology, student demographics, funding or government regulation will affect higher education institutions, but the need for certain leadership skills and traits will endure. In an interview with Academic Leader, John McKay, coordinator of the doctoral program in Community College Executive Leadership at Wingate University, offered the following advice for leaders as they face the challenges of today and the future.
Beyond the Credential Factory: Why Higher Education Must Shift from Management to Flourishing
For decades, higher education leadership has obsessed over “student success” as a purely operational metric. We track retention and graduation rates and postgraduation outcomes with the same linear precision that
Yoshitaka Iwasaki
August 3, 2026
