Higher Education

Running Toward the Crisis

A new doctoral program prepares the next generation of academic leaders to face the challenges of our times

Assaults and challenges are bombarding our colleges and universities from all directions – state and federal officials, an exasperated and disenchanted public, disruptive digital technology, and harsh demographic reality. 

Few academic institutions will go unscathed.

While some prominent schools face hostile government intervention and loss of financial support, another 4,000 schools cope with declining enrollments and threatening institutional competition. Many of these institutions will suffer from a massive redistribution of students, an identity crisis, and severe revenue shortfalls—leading some schools to shutter and many others to drastically cut programs and faculty and staff headcount.

This is not the environment that attracted the incumbent generation of higher education leaders. In a brief time, academic administration has shifted from comfortable stability to crisis management. The emerging generation of academic leaders must lead with a commitment to pragmatic innovation and the ability to embrace challenges and change.

In fall 2025, BU Wheelock launched an executive doctoral program to prepare the next era of higher education leaders. Our faculty built an innovative program from scratch that would respond to the challenges they saw for future leaders. A professionally developed online program, the Executive EdD in Higher Education Leadership offers:

• Academic content mixed with ongoing, live student interaction with one another, guest speakers, and professors
• Faculty with rich practitioner experience and accomplishments
• An emphasis on professional development as the common thread throughout an otherwise cohesive curriculum
• A dynamic cohort experience where students progress as a group through their coursework toward a relevant, problem-solving capstone project

I had the opportunity to teach our first student cohort during their first semester and was stunned by how this inaugural group embraced our vision and approach—and immediately devoted the time and energy to engage together in this effort. From what I observed, our students are thirsty to learn, collaborate, and develop skills and readiness for growth in their careers.

The first doctoral cohort comprises part-time students who are themselves immersed in their careers and anxious to take on greater responsibility. They chose the Executive EdD in Higher Education Leadership because they plan to be innovators in this new era. As one student told us: “The work ahead demands leaders who can think clearly about what’s broken, what’s worth preserving, and what needs to be rebuilt.”

Here’s what some of our other students have said:

“Participation in a new doctoral program during this moment in higher education is an act of optimism and courage. In a time when higher education faces unprecedented challenges, this program stands as a beacon of possibility—an opportunity to reimagine what leadership looks like.”

“I enrolled in this program because the current turbulence in higher education isn’t a signal to shrink back. It’s a call for those who still believe in the transformative power of education to step forward.”

“For emerging leaders, this is more than a degree; it’s a calling. It’s about stepping forward when others hesitate, embracing complexity, and shaping the future rather than waiting for it to unfold. Our program nurtures visionaries who will not only adapt to change but drive it—leaders who see disruption as a canvas for innovation.”

American higher education will someday come out of this upheaval and re-establish public trust—but with a very different model that those surviving institutions and their leaders will need to create.  From a professor’s place, our doctoral students’ drive, confidence, and optimism is inspiring and contagious. This brings me back to what I always found most fulfilling as an administrator: creating sustainable, meaningful programs and projects that made a lasting difference in the lives of our students.  In the years ahead, I look forward to the vicarious satisfaction as I follow the careers of our doctoral students and their future accomplishments and impact.  

The Executive EdD in Higher Education Leadership is currently accepting applications for fall 2026. Get more information about the program.

Jay A. Halfond is professor of the practice emeritus, a former dean, and now a faculty member in BU Wheelock’s Executive EdD in Higher Education Leadership.