A curious board is university’s ally, writes higher education expert Peter Eckel

As university boards decide how to handle long-term challenges like broadening student access, fundraising, and reducing sexual assault, they would do well to stoke members’ curiosity, says Penn GSE Senior Fellow Peter Eckel.

Writing in Inside Higher Education with Trower & Trower, Inc.’s Cathy Trower, Eckel says a curious board is more likely to keep members engaged and cultivate the members wide range of skills.

“Boards that are intentionally curious develop deep investments in the institution and its trajectory,” Eckel and Trower write. “They create more rewarding experiences for individual trustees, are better strategic partners with the administration, challenge well-worn assumptions that may block progress and bring their collective expertise to the problems (and puzzles) the institution faces.”

Read Eckel and Trower’s full piece here.