Catholic Higher Ed Governance in Flux

Governance structures at Catholic colleges and universities are rapidly changing as their sponsoring orders of nuns and priests shrink in size and relinquish some of their historic leadership responsibilities. A new report by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges details the varied strategies university leaders are using to retain their missions and a sense of religious identity amid the shift. Ninety percent of Catholic higher ed institutions in the U.S. were founded by religious orders whose members often served as presidents, trustees and faculty members, the report noted. But the numbers of sisters, brothers and priests has fallen precipitously across the country as religious orders age and struggle to attract new members.