Higher education simultaneously faces an enrollment and equity crisis, but it’s one that institutions can solve if they focus on the students for whom the traditional university was not designed.

Building a better society with more equitable futures means more equitable post-college outcomes. And that requires more than a cliched promise to “meet students where they are;” it demands that institutions redesign themselves so students can become more than they—or the current statistics—ever imagined.

During the past year I have considered how to take my personal mission to scale—how to impact the higher education sector, not just a single university. I am excited to share that I have accepted a role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to do just that.

Issuing an institutional statement is important, but the daily choices you make about bias and equity, both institutionally and personally, are the choices that make a real difference.

Investing in higher education during crisis leads to social mobility and economic strength. But, the investment has to be bold and focused to transform our economy and nation.

Higher education has just been jolted into a more accessible and productive post-COVID world. Colleges and universities are changing during COVID.

University students impacted by COVID have four ideas they want university presidents to hear.

University presidents, as you prepare for the new norm, take a clear-eyed view and make bold, necessary changes. Make them with the intent of moving forward, not to return to the pre-COVID world. These changes will help you and your students navigate the crisis, and it will energize your leadership team and board to prepare your university for its next era.