Last month, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges released a 20-page report, written by Terrence MacTaggert, about the challenges and opportunities facing university presidents in the 21st century.  Quoting from the webpage that links to the full report: “The 21st-Century Presidency: A Call to Enterprise Leadership is the latest in a series of periodic reports from AGB to examine the nature of the presidency and governance. Written by AGB Senior Fellow Terrence MacTaggart, former chancellor of the Minnesota and Maine systems, the report addresses the question of how the presidency has changed—and might need to continue to change—to meet contemporary demands on higher education.”

During the Board of Governors’ Retreat on August 3rd, MSU President Clif Smart praised the report, and read a few passages to the Board. The Blue Horizons Committee of the MSU Libraries has been discussing the report as well, noting possible ways in which the challenges and opportunities facing university presidents and governing boards in this century could dovetail with visioning, key initiatives, leadership roles, and organizational changes in university libraries. The charge to the Blue Horizons Committee is to “engage in blue sky thinking and scan the development horizons of computing, librarianship, higher education, and other fields of endeavor in order to discuss and explore possible preferred futures for the MSU Libraries.”