and Other Ways to Look Like You are Building God’s Kingdom When You are Really Building Your Own! When I was studying at Fuller Theological Seminary, the library had a disturbing conundrum. Periodically, a student would pull a book off the shelf, only to find that it was the hardback cover with no pages. […]
The story of Dave from Bible International University[1]is increasingly common in higher education, including Christian higher education. After operating his own consulting firm for 19 years, working as a vice-president for a greeting card company for nine years, then filling the same position with a book publisher, the board of BIU* asked Dave* to serve […]
Coronavirus has essentially cancelled the Spring term as envisioned; i.e., on-campus classes were cancelled, and most moved online. There are serious implications for Fall enrollments and finances, and many are wondering if there will be a Fall term at all as talks of cancelling it arise. There will be winners and losers. Many will use […]
From deregulations to mergers to relaxed ethical standards, higher education issues and challenges continue to make headlines, especially in the current election cycle. Nonprofit Christian higher education institutions face unique challenges of their own. Here are nine trends to monitor that will impact Christian higher education in 2020: 1. Deregulation In October 2019, the United […]
Most Christian institutions understand the importance of developing and maintaining a High-Performing Culture based on Christian values interwoven with the school’s mission. But few know exactly what that actually “looks like” or how to establish one. In those special circumstances when it “clicks,” when there is a High-Performing Culture in place, nothing is as productive […]
Angry, hurt, resentful, and confused. That’s how an employee I used to supervise came to me with her latest performance evaluation. Though no longer under my supervision, I volunteered to sit with her to analyze the evaluation with the goal of helping her reframe the perceived injustice. My first step was to calm and reassure […]
I have spent more than 38 years of my professional life in Christian higher education, the first 33 years of that time in administration, before moving into my current consultative role in semi-retirement. Looking back on my varied professional experiences, I again consider the question that faced me when handling all the responsibilities of a […]
Seminaries have an incredible opportunity to reimagine what their future can be as a truly new version of themselves — Seminary 2.0. To accomplish that, they can’t simply update their existing program. They must be willing to adopt a “new version” mentality, as they say in the software industry. Creating a new version of your […]
Dr. Drumm McNaughton is the CEO of The Change Leader, a consultancy that helps Christian colleges educate students for a life of faith and service through holistic approaches to improving planning and change management, governance, academic and business operations, assessment and IR, leadership and culture, accreditation, and diversifying revenue streams. In this interview, he elaborates […]
The prestige of being a top higher education leader is highly alluring. The perks of the office, the collaborative leadership style, and the constant focus on maintaining positive public relations on behalf of the institution and the leadership can create a bubble of false security and pride. However, that bubble can quickly burst when fiduciary […]
