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 a factory line uses to track throughput. Under pressure from boards, legislators, and public skepticism, we have often treated student success as an isolated goal to be managed through transactional compliance.
How Leaders Shape, Signal, and Build Cultures: A Discussion Guide for Academic Leaders and Their Teams
Among the many desired traits most prized in academic leadership, the ability to shape (or reshape) institutional culture is sometimes overlooked in favor of fiscal acumen, the ability to drive
Lisa Jasinski
May 4, 2026