A Mindset to Meet the Moment: Generosity and Collaboration in Higher Education

In times of crisis, institutions frequently retreat into defensive postures, seeking to protect their reputations, their enrollments, their budgets, and more. Increasing isolation and competition are unlikely to provide a productive path forward. Survival requires solidarity. And yet the communal, collaborative, generous mindset needed to make this strategy successful has not been a strong characteristic of academic institutions and will require practice and intention. Drawing on their original research and long experience in academic administration, the presenters will make a compelling case for the power of working together to reimagine the future of higher education. Attendees will engage with strategies for cultivating cross-institutional collaborations and think through two collaborative projects and the potentials they present for building relationships of trust both among institutions and with the publics those institutions serve.