A mutual favor for higher education

Most campuses I talk with are being asked to do more with less—while expectations for transparency, assessment, and measurable impact only grow.

Across my career as a faculty member, senior administrator, and now consultant, I’ve seen how much depends on one thing: whether leaders have clear, usable tools for understanding how their institution actually works.

That’s why I wrote my new book, Metrics, Mapping, and Modelling for Masterful Management in Higher Education (Emerald Press, 2025).

It’s a practical playbook designed to help academic and administrative leaders:

• See how units truly fit together
• Build metrics that drive better decisions (not just more dashboards)
• Map processes so duplication, bottlenecks, and gaps become visible
• Align day-to-day work with mission, strategy, and student outcomes

Here’s the mutual favor I’m asking for:

• My favor to you: Through the book and my consulting work, I help strengthen the business acumen and operational coherence of your campus.
• Your favor to the community: As you apply these ideas, you share (anonymized, with permission) effective practices and lessons learned so we can grow a richer body of operational knowledge for higher ed as a whole through the next edition of the book and our online community.

If this resonates, here are three easy next steps:

1️⃣ Order the book for yourself or your leadership team (link in comments).

2️⃣ Reach out to schedule a brief conversation about your current operational or strategic challenges.

3️⃣ Share one operational challenge or effective practice from your campus that you’d be open to discussing and, where appropriate, contributing to a growing knowledge base for higher-ed leaders.

If you’re involved in higher-ed leadership, strategy, assessment, or institutional research, I’d love for you to take a look at the book and add your comments below. If you would like assistance implementing any of the ideas addressed, please compete a consultation request form – the first hour is free for any institution.

Stronger operations on your campus. Stronger business acumen across the sector. That’s the favor I’m hoping we can trade.