The Chief Academic Officer (CAO) is uniquely positioned to offer leadership and innovation. However, most chief academic officers are not formally prepared to launch innovations nor do they have a peer group to explore ideas. The continuing challenges of the pandemic, changing demographics, and decreasing enrollments have only exacerbated the need for Chief Academic Officers to drive innovation.

In September of 2021, the Gardner Institute created a pilot CAO Innovation Community with 11 CAOs from across the country. As a result of lessons learned from this cohort, the Gardner Institute is proud to launch The Chief Academic Officers Innovation Community. Recognizing that Chief Academic Officers need and deserve more peer support, tools, networking, and professional development. Designed to help leaders rise to this task and fulfill their potential. This community will provide an opportunity to transform how your institution responds to challenges and create better opportunities for your academic leadership teams to drive needed innovation.

We hope you will join us for this transformative learning experience.

Learn more about the community: