Mike Bills ’20 (GSLC, PhD) published an article entitled, “Optimism Bias: How It Can Impact Decision Making on Boards” in the May/June 2024 issue of the Trusteeship Magazine. The article focuses on the challenges that higher education faces today due to lack of enrollment and the complications of trustees over budgeting. It aims to educate boards of trustees on the problems of optimism bias and offers questions to ask themselves when approving a university’s budget.
Trusteeship Magazine is an award-winning magazine that reports trends, issues, and practices in higher education. It aims to educate board members and chief executives on how to better understand the roles they hold and how to strengthen board performance.
Bills is a trustee emeritus at Westminster University, a member of Antioch University’s Board of Governors, and President of AtlasRTX.
Learn more about Bills and read his dissertation Turning Around Small, Private, Tuition Dependent Colleges: How Boards of Trustees Impact Decline and Turnaround, which is focused on governance, higher education leadership, and policy here.