Campus controversies in the last few years have gained national attention. In 2005, American University president Benjamin Ladner resigned amid accusations that he had misused university funds for personal expenses. In 2006, Dartmouth College alumni voted overwhelmingly against changes to their historically significant role in governance--but the following year, the board of trustees at Dartmouth College voted to increase its size and diminish alumni input, kindling a national dialogue on the role of alumni and trustees in college governance. In 2007, student loan and study abroad scandals raised concerns that higher education administrators were receiving kickbacks for steering students toward particular lenders and programs.

In light of Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, increasing concern over the state of colleges and universities, and a post-Enron focus on best practices for corporate governing boards, several questions emerge: Would management and governance practices in higher education pass muster in the corporate world? What are the roles of college and university trustees in resolving and preventing these controversies? AEI director of education policy studies Frederick M. Hess and American Council of Trustees and Alumni president Anne D. Neal will host a conference on these and other questions.