“This superbly documented book is a must read for anyone who cares about America’s universities and colleges and the invaluable role they play in our contemporary society.” Molly Corbett Broad, president, American Council on Education 

The Innovative University

 Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out

San Francisco, CA – For years traditional colleges and universities have competed against one another for students, and were not threatened by innovation occurring outside of their structured realm.  However, the landscape has now changed.  As the price of higher education continues to rise, new online institutions and learning tools are challenging the future of traditional colleges and universities.   How can institutions of higher education think constructively and creatively about their response to occurring and impending disruption?

In their newest book, THE INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out (Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley; August 2011; $32.95; Cloth: 978-1-118-06348-4), authors Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring offer a powerful set of solutions to the disruptive dilemmas and challenges that institutions of higher education now face.   They explore how and why universities must evolve to cultivate future success.  Also, they apply Christensen’s acclaimed model of disruptive innovation to the higher education environment, which is the idea that sustaining institutions or models exist, and then something will come into the fold and "disrupt" the traditional or "sustaining" model.

“Henry and I love higher education, and deeply appreciate all that it has done for us.  We hope this book will inspire people to utilize all of the new technologies to reinvigorate the traditional university and/or college - instead of letting it threaten and disrupt.   It is in the spirit of hope and love that we wrote this book, so that others can benefit like we have from higher learning,” Clayton Christensen

Together, Christensen and Eyring go back to the 19^th century where the roots of the modern day university were laid.  Through an in-depth study of Harvard, BYU-Idaho and other institutions they show how most universities follow the same formula, or in their words, are ‘made up by the same DNA’; however, by unraveling the strands that bind these organisms (or institutions) together, they decipher how universities can find new and less costly ways of performing their uniquely valuable functions.

THE INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY explores how systems of higher education can reengineer their DNA from the inside out – to transform pitfalls into opportunities, and uncovers how the traditional university can survive by breaking with tradition and thrive on building what it has done best.