The 5-Minute Brief for Higher Ed Leaders
What campus decision makers are reading this week:
What’s Happening in Higher Ed:
New Report Quantifies Private Higher Ed’s Outsized Role in North Carolina’s Economy
Colorado Lawmakers Sign Four Bills Targeting College Costs, Access
Iowa Supreme Court Upholds Donor’s Intent for Black Chemistry Scholarship
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Meet the institutions driving innovation in 2026. This month’s issue of Insight Into Academia explores how colleges and universities are adapting to rapid change across leadership, student success, AI, research, mental health, and campus culture.
Inside, you’ll find reporting on how institutions are using AI in faculty scholarship, launching research incubators, building new industry partnerships, and responding to enrollment and funding pressures. The issue also examines major cultural shifts happening on campus, including faculty burnout, long-term interim leadership, free speech tensions, employee belonging initiatives, and the evolving role of faith-based colleges.
The issue also spotlights the inaugural Top Colleges for Innovation Award winners, recognizing institutions leading the way with bold, forward-thinking approaches to higher education. From innovative teaching models and cutting-edge research initiatives to creative student success strategies and industry collaboration, these colleges are redefining what innovation looks like on today’s campus and helping shape the future of higher education.
You’ll also find practical, forward-looking insights for higher ed leaders on topics like campus climate data, student services, shortened academic terms, and the future of institutional strategy in a rapidly changing higher education landscape.
Insight Into Academia now offers individual and institutional digital subscriptions to the only national publication dedicated to best practices in higher education. For more than 50 years, Insight has gone beyond the daily news cycle to spotlight the ideas, strategies, and innovations shaping colleges and universities nationwide.
Every subscription includes digital access to every issue of Insight Into Academia, years of archived content, exclusive best practices reports and toolkits, and the Viewfinder National Campus Climate Data Center—the only nationwide campus climate database in the U.S.
Institutional subscriptions offer seamless single sign-on via OpenAthens, allowing students, faculty, and staff to access resources anytime, anywhere. As a bonus, we offer the most content at the lowest price among other higher-education publications.
Subscribe today to explore actionable frameworks, proven institutional models, leadership insights, and data-informed strategies designed to help higher education institutions move forward.
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Is there an unsung hero on your campus that you think deserves to be recognized for all of the amazing work they do?
Higher Ed Heroes highlights faculty and staff members who are making a meaningful difference on their campuses and in their communities.
Know someone making a difference on your campus? Nominate them as a Higher Ed Hero and help shine a spotlight on the people strengthening higher education communities.
Submit a Higher Ed Hero Nomination
The Insight into Academia 2026 Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Award recognizes colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada that demonstrate a sustained commitment to academic excellence, belonging, and community-building at every level of campus life. This award honors institutions that have implemented comprehensive strategies to support student success, foster inclusive hiring practices, and cultivate welcoming learning environments for all.
Recipients of the HEED Award are evaluated on a broad range of institutional efforts, including recruitment, retention, policy, leadership, and campus climate. Each award winner exemplifies what it means to build a thriving academic community where students, faculty, and staff are supported and valued. The HEED Award includes several category-specific variations designed to recognize excellence across different sectors of higher education, including the Community College HEED Award and the Health Professions HEED Award.
The Health Professions HEED Award specifically honors medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, veterinary, and other health professions schools that demonstrate a strong commitment to academic excellence, student success, community engagement, and the creation of supportive campus environments in healthcare education.
The deadline is June 11th. Health Professions HEED is June 25th.
Flexible survey solutions for today’s higher education landscape.
Every campus has different goals, challenges, timelines, and budgets. That’s why Viewfinder® offers multiple survey options designed to meet institutions where they are, whether you need focused insight into a specific issue or a comprehensive view of campus climate and community experiences.
Do your students have survey fatigue?
Are your budgets for surveys tight?
Viewfinder® now offers a comprehensive, all-inclusive survey option that combines key institutional priorities into one coordinated survey experience, helping campuses gather meaningful data without overwhelming students, faculty, or staff.
This survey includes:
Campus Climate
Belonging & Engagement
Campus Safety
Title IX (Sexual Misconduct)
Title VI (Discrimination & Harassment)
Viewfinder® surveys are designed to deliver reliable, actionable insights from every part of your community—from students and staff to faculty and administrators. Every survey is fully customizable and built to meet your institution’s most urgent goals.
Whether you’re working to:
Reduce student attrition
Address staff and faculty burnout
Track belonging efforts over time
Learn about experiences of discrimination, bias, or harassment
Or prepare for accreditation requirements
Viewfinder® gives you the tools to do it with clarity, efficiency, and confidence.
Insight Into Academia Data Reports
Gain actionable insights, benchmarks, and proven strategies from some of higher education’s most successful, award-winning institutions.
Best Practices: A Compilation of Data, Programs, and Policies Led by Insight Into Academia HEED Award-Winning Institutions highlights initiatives and policies from colleges and universities recognized for fostering student success, belonging, and institutional excellence.
NEW!! The 2026 Insight Into Academia Top Colleges for Innovation Award Best Practices Report showcases innovative strategies from award-winning institutions, featuring AI-powered student success tools, curriculum redesigns, sustainability initiatives, research, partnerships, and more.
Purchase the latest reports to benchmark your institution, discover proven best practices, and gain practical ideas to strengthen programs, improve outcomes, and inform strategic planning.
Know what students and staff actually think before problems hit the headlines.
Viewfinder aggregates real-time climate data from 150+ campuses so you can:
Benchmark against peer institutions
Strengthen retention and belonging
Spot risks early and act before small issues escalate
👉 See the Viewfinder® National Campus Climate Data Center
Ready for what’s next? Visit our online Career Center to search for your next position with sought-after employers who understand the value of an inclusive workforce. Looking for fresh talent? Post your available position(s) with confidence—our reach spans every corner of academia.
Associate Director for Analytics, Amherst College
Instructional Specialist, Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute, Anne Arundel Community College
Director of Admissions and Student Services, CCPA, Binghamton University
Director of Budget & Financial Planning, Gonzaga University
Assistant Director, Office of Financial Aid, Louisiana Tech University
Associate Director of Counseling for Clinical Operations, Middlebury College
Confidential Executive Assistant to the President, Rockland Community College
Associate Vice President of Communications, Santa Clara University
Academic Program Specialist, Texas Christian University
Assistant Director Student Recruitment, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Cincinnati
Student mental health is no longer a side conversation on campus. It is the conversation.
In this episode of Beyond the Quadcast by Insight Into Academia, we sit down with Tremaine El-Amin, Vice President of Mental Health First Aid USA at the National Council for Mental Well-being, to unpack what it really takes to build a campus-wide culture of care.
From rising rates of depression and suicidal ideation among college students to overextended counseling centers, institutions are facing a defining moment. The question is no longer whether to act, but how.
Tremaine offers a clear, evidence-based roadmap for higher education leaders: move upstream, train your community, and create a shared language around mental health that empowers faculty, staff, and students to act early, not just react in crisis.
Tremaine El-Amin leads Mental Health First Aid USA at the National Council for Mental Well-being, a national movement focused on equipping everyday people with the skills to recognize and respond to mental health and substance use challenges. Under her leadership, the program continues to scale across communities, workplaces, and more than 1,500 college campuses nationwide. Follow Beyond the Quadcast for conversations that go beyond headlines and into the strategies shaping the future of higher education.
If this episode resonated, share it with a colleague, your cabinet, or your campus leadership team. This is the work that defines what comes next.
Upgrade your subscription today and unlock access to exclusive content, community forums, and actionable tools—designed for leaders and professionals across the higher ed spectrum.
Office Hours (Unhinged)
A curated corner of humor, listicles, and bite-sized inspiration to keep you grounded when campus life feels anything but.
Higher Ed Chat Forum
Your go-to spot for honest dialogue, peer insight, and real-time support—no name badges required.
Practical Toolkits
No jargon. No fluff. Just expert-built resources for your biggest campus challenges.
Plus: You help fund the journalism higher ed needs now more than ever. That glow? It’s mutual.
For less than a coffee run, invest in insight that lasts—clear data, smarter strategy, and real perspective on higher education.
Most colleges don’t suffer from a lack of programs.
They suffer from a lack of connection.
In our newest Beyond the Quad Toolkit, From Programming to Belonging, Stephens College President Dr. Shannon B. Lundeen challenges a common assumption in higher education: that student success can be solved by adding another initiative, event, or committee.
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