Key points:
- In higher ed, meetings are the lifeblood of governance, collaboration, and innovation
- Why education leaders must highlight their people
- 5 ways to maintain healthy relationships with your higher-ed coworkers
- For more news on campus procedures, visit eCN’s Campus Leadership hub
Meetings are the connective tissue of higher education. They are where strategy meets reality, where faculty and administrators align priorities, and where shared governance is exercised. Yet, for many academic leaders, meetings too often feel like the opposite of productivity. Meetings tend to be lengthy, unfocused, and occasionally draining. The paradox is clear: While higher education depends on collaboration, the processes designed to foster collaboration often hinder it.
To shift from “meeting fatigue” to meaningful engagement, higher education leaders can focus on six evidence-based strategies: clarifying purpose, preparing agendas, selecting participants, managing time, documenting actions, and continuously improving the meeting process. Together, these practices can transform meetings from perfunctory gatherings into purposeful, energizing moments of shared progress.
Clarify purpose and desired outcomes
The most effective meetings begin before the first person enters the room, or logs onto Zoom. Too often, meetings are scheduled out of habit or expectation rather than necessity. Every meeting should answer two questions before it’s even placed on the calendar: “Why are we meeting?” and “What will success look like when we finish?” If there is no clear reason to meet or the issues can be handled via email, cancel or postpone the meeting.
A clear purpose guides every other aspect of meeting design. Is the intent to make a decision, share updates, solve a problem, or gather input? Each purpose requires a different format and level of participation. For example, a decision-making meeting should include fewer people but more pre-meeting data; a brainstorming session may be broader but less structured. By articulating a desired outcome, such as finalizing a policy draft, approving a budget, or prioritizing strategic initiatives, leaders give participants clarity and motivation.
In practice, this could be as simple as starting every agenda with a meeting purpose statement. For instance: “The purpose of this meeting is to confirm the timeline and communication plan for the general education curriculum review.” Such clarity prevents drift, invites accountability, and helps everyone gauge when the meeting has achieved its objective. Meeting drift is common, and the leaders need to bring the group back on topic.
Prepare and distribute agendas in advance
A purposeful meeting without an agenda is like a well-written syllabus that’s never handed out. In higher education, where participants juggle teaching, research, and administrative duties, sending an agenda at least 24 hours in advance is a sign of respect and a signal that preparation matters. However, when possible, a longer advance is better. For meetings that involve substantial discussion and decision-making, providing the agenda at least a week in advance is a reasonable and respectful expectation. A strong agenda does more than list topics; it establishes structure, time limits, and who is responsible for leading the discussion on each item.
Such a structure provides transparency and predictability, allowing participants to prepare meaningful contributions instead of reacting on the spot. It helps the facilitator manage time and expectations during the meeting.
Facilitators should consider sequencing agenda items deliberately, placing items requiring action up front, when attention is sharpest, and put informational items later in the agenda. Too often, meetings run out of time before items requiring decisions can be addressed. As mentioned earlier, when a topic doesn’t require real-time discussion, consider using an email or shared update document instead. This preserves meeting time for engagement and problem-solving.
Invite the right people and only the right people
One of the most frequent complaints about academic meetings is the number of people in the room. The principle “include everyone who might be affected” often translates into “invite everyone just in case.” While inclusivity is a cornerstone of higher education, effective meetings require intentional participation. Smaller, focused groups foster accountability and efficiency. A committee designed to decide on resource allocations doesn’t need thirty observers; it needs five or six informed contributors empowered to make recommendations. Others can receive a summary afterward or attend when their input is directly relevant.
Leaders can use a simple participation framework–consult, decide, or inform–to decide who belongs at the table. People whose expertise is essential to the discussion are included under the concept of consult. Those with authority to act on the decision, decide. Stakeholders who need updates but not meeting time should be kept within the inform group. In an academic setting, this clarity is crucial for respecting shared governance while maintaining forward momentum. The goal is not exclusion. It is, however, to ensure that meetings are productive.
Start and end on time
Few actions build more credibility for a higher education leader than starting and ending meetings on time. It demonstrates discipline, respect, and empathy for participants’ schedules. In so many cases, teaching, advising, and research obligations are tightly packed, so it is respectful for everyone to be prompt and to immediately set about addressing the agenda. Begin on time even if not everyone has arrived; this reinforces the cultural norm that punctuality matters. End when promised, even if it means tabling less urgent items for next time.
Document and communicate action items immediately
One of the biggest barriers to effective follow-through in higher education is that meetings often end without clear next steps. Discussions are rich, consensus may even emerge, but if no one records who will do what by when, momentum evaporates. At the end of every meeting, take five minutes to summarize key decisions, action items, owners, and deadlines. Particularly for key governance or leadership meetings, distribute a short summary within 24 hours. This written record transforms conversations into accountability and continuity, especially when teams are dispersed across campuses or departments. Leaders who consistently provide clear follow-up notes improve execution and build transparency and trust. Such summaries are not intended to replace formal minutes, but are a way to keep all stakeholders informed.
Evaluate and continuously improve the meeting process
Just as academic programs engage in assessment and continuous improvement, so should the meetings that drive those programs. A simple reflection or feedback process helps leaders adapt and refine.
Every few months, ask participants two quick questions:
- What’s working well about our meetings?
- What one thing could make them more productive?
This can be gathered through a short anonymous survey or a brief conversation at the end of a meeting. The goal isn’t to add bureaucracy. It should be to model the same data-informed reflection that higher education espouses in teaching and learning. If meetings consistently fail to produce actionable outcomes, it may indicate that some meetings could be replaced by asynchronous collaboration or streamlined standing agendas.
By treating meetings as living systems subject to reflection and refinement, higher education leaders signal that time is a valued institutional resource; one that, like budgets or facilities, demands stewardship.
In higher education, meetings are the lifeblood of governance, collaboration, and innovation, but they don’t have to be the bane of productivity. By focusing on six essentials, campus leaders can elevate meetings from routine obligations to strategic assets.
When meetings are purposeful, concise, and well-facilitated, they can energize faculty, empower teams, and align actions with institutional mission. The ultimate measure of a good meeting isn’t how long it lasts; it is how much progress happens after it ends.
Baule’s scholarly interests focus on online student engagement, educational technology-- particularly the impact of 1:1 implementations, social-emotional learning, and the history of education. Baule led several efforts to improve student emotional health and reduce discipline issues prior to moving into higher education. He also writes on aspects of early American history.
Baule has held memberships in the American Association of School Administrators, the American Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Consortium for School Networking, the International Association of School Librarians, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Staff Development Council, and many of their state affiliates. He has served as a consultant in the areas of educational technology, facilities design, library program development, team building, and communications.
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