by Nancy Zimpher, Senior Fellow at NASH
I recall one of the very early conversations among NASH board members at precisely the moment our systems were called to shift to remote instruction, mid-winter 2020. You’d think all the talk would be about the immediacy of that moment. Fast action with little dissent, but a major undertaking, nonetheless. That transition to remote, almost overnight, was paramount. But in that moment, almost simultaneously, these leaders were beginning to reflect as well on the big picture — the really big picture.
It’s a concept captured in the work of Heifetz and Laurie, written in their 1997 text, called The Work of Leadership. The main thesis of this piece is that leading an organization through major changes, crisis or not, requires the leader to view organizational patterns as if they were standing “on the balcony.” As they note, “leaders have to see a context for change or create one;” elevating an organization’s history and what’s good about the past, as well as taking responsibility for shaping the future. This they call the capacity to move back and forth between the field of action and the balcony. All elements then flow from this ability to see the big picture.
That big picture, for university systems, assumes that we continue to internalize the profound effects of COVID-19 in exposing the limited access of vulnerable communities to quality health care; the overwhelming effects of deep and systemic injustices; and the severe gap in economic opportunity experienced by so many. Thus this crisis represents a major opportunity for us to get “on the balcony” and imagine a post-pandemic “new normal” for public higher education systems. We are referring to this consequential agenda-setting initiative as “The Big ReThink.”
Much thought is being given now to how together we turn this view from the balcony into a transformation agenda, with measurable metrics and an accountability system that truly reflect our collective ability to lead this nation’s recovery over the next five years. To accomplish this task together, our work will be divided into two parts as follows:
Part One: The Transformation Agenda for Public University Systems. As the leadership association for public university systems in the United States, NASH will develop a transformation agenda to help these important systems (a) respond to the health care crisis, calls for racial justice, and the need for economic recovery in the short term; and (b) transform themselves to ensure enhanced success for their students and the states they serve for the long term.
Part Two: Prepare a three-volume publication, called Public University Systems: Origins, Impacts, and Possibilities for the Future, with contributions from highly regarded higher education scholars, university system leaders, and visionaries that will:
- Describe the mission, history, structure, and functions of university systems;
- Critically assess the variety of barriers, leadership, innovation, and impacts systems are making on important societal goals; and
- Develop the transformational possibilities for how university systems can lead in a post-pandemic world.
We look forward to sharing updates on this transformation agenda, and invite you to follow us on the NASH website as our work proceeds.
Perhaps the best way to summarize such an effort is to underscore the significance of this opportunity. This “Big ReThink” is the first major examination of public university systems since Clark Kerr led the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education’s foundational studies in the 1970s. Now a half century later, and in the face of a global pandemic, we are called once again, as public systems of higher education, to show the way. We must be creative, innovative, compelling and willing to take risks in leading our collective work in this TRANSFORMATIVE MOMENT.