Today’s financial, political, and higher education environment poses unprecedented challenges. Public financial support and trust in quality, productivity, and value is eroding. Changing student demographics necessitate different models and solutions that new, burgeoning investments in learning technologies and alternative providers are delivering. Moreover, the 4th Industrial Revolution—an era of digitalization and the connected enterprise—is fundamentally changing what and how we learn and work.

This predicament leaves higher education leaders and practitioners having to figure out how to manage their own destinies, achieve future goals through new funding strategies, and change the way they do business by providing enhanced services and innovative solutions while increasing student success and eliminating achievement gaps. And, given the rapid pace of changing technologies, regional and state economies, market and workplace conditions, and learner characteristics and preferences, colleges and universities will need to remain agile and adept at continually evolving their programs, services, and business models. In essence, institutions and practitioners need to develop the capacity to be innovative—spurring change that creates a new dimension of performance; adds significant and meaningful value at scale; and holistically, measurably, and equitably impacts institutional and student success.

The League for Innovation and partner, The Collaboratory, are interested in knowing how community colleges are being organized to spur and increase innovation and begin to learn from those who are becoming more innovation-focused. Toward that aim, a short survey was distributed to individuals at League member colleges in fall 2018. Presidents (49%); vice presidents, senior executives, or equivalent (35%); directors or equivalent (8%); deans, managers, or equivalent (6%); and staff members (2%) from sixty-five institutions participated in the survey. A few key findings are featured on page 13. Access the full report at www.league.org/node/19052.

Mindy Feldbaum and Marcy Drummond