Autumn 2026 Roundtable for Senior Leaders
Partner Event
EAB invites you to join fellow senior university leaders in London on 13–14 October for a two-day roundtable focused on one of the sector’s defining leadership challenges: As institutions face continued enrolment pressure, shifting public expectations, and growing demands to demonstrate impact, how do we think differently about what sustainable growth requires?
Universities are under pressure to stabilise enrolment, strengthen student outcomes, rebuild public confidence, and clarify their role within their regions. This roundtable will explore those questions through two broad lenses. On the first day, we will examine how universities can build a more stable student base in a volatile and uncertain market, including by expanding reach through transnational education and improving student retention. On the second day, we will shift focus to examine how institutions can clarify their civic role, translating civic purpose into stronger regional partnerships, clearer external value, and a more compelling long-term strategy.
In addition to EAB-led research and facilitated discussion, attendees will have opportunities to compare approaches with peers, reflect on institutional priorities, and pressure-test how others are navigating similar tensions around growth and the increasing scrutiny on higher education’s ROI. The goal is not just to surface challenges, but to help leaders leave with clearer framing, stronger guiding questions, and a better sense of what it will take to build the conditions for sustainable growth.
2025 attendees valued peer learning, practical insights, and time to align on strategic change:
- “This meeting was a valuable opportunity to learn how peer institutions are tackling shared challenges—and I left with practical ideas I can apply immediately.”
- “This was a great forum to step back, challenge our thinking, and align leadership around meaningful, institution-wide change.”
Event Details
Audience: This session is recommended for chief operating officers and executive leaders responsible for institutional operations, education and student experience, international strategy, and external engagement. Registration is limited to two attendees per institution.
For travel planning: The roundtable will commence with lunch at 12:00 on 13 October and adjourn at 12:00 on 14 October. EAB will host a dinner for attendees on 13 October. Please view more logistical details below.
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Meeting Location
Convene etc.venues 8 Fenchurch Place
8 Fenchurch Place
London, EC3M 4PB
View recommended hotels in the area here.
Agenda
Day One
12:00 p.m.
Guest Arrival and Registration
Lunch Provided
12:45 p.m.
Opening Remarks and Introductions
1:15 p.m.
FOMO to Focused Growth in TNE
As TNE becomes more urgent, universities are facing a difficult tension: the pressure to move is increasing at the same time as the cost, complexity, competition, and uncertainty around TNE are rising. This session will explore how institutions can shift from reactive expansion towards more focused, financially sustainable TNE growth.
- Test the assumptions driving TNE FOMO against the realities of the market, including who is actually capturing TNE market share, how much scale most branch campuses achieve, and what the recent surge in activity does and does not mean for future growth.
- Identify where institutions can differentiate their TNE offer and make more deliberate choices about how and where they have a credible basis to compete.
- Build a more focused TNE portfolio by concentrating limited institutional capacity on partnerships with potential to scale, while actively managing what to grow, sustain, redesign, or exit.
3:00 p.m.
TNE Panel and Q&A
4:00 p.m.
The Other Side of Enrolment Success: Student Experience and Retention
As students and families grow more price-sensitive and outcomes-focused, institutions cannot afford to treat persistence as separate from recruitment strategy. This session will explore how universities can make the value of the student experience more visible and convincing over time, especially for students who are still deciding whether the investment is worth it.
- Align communications, services, and student-success efforts around a clearer lifecycle experience that reinforces confidence, belonging, and momentum to continue.
- Explore how ROI, readiness, and the communication of value are shaping sustainable growth and student persistence in a more competitive market.
5:15 p.m.
Wrap-up
5:30 p.m.
Dinner
Day Two
8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
From Civic Identity to Competitive Advantage
Universities have long described themselves as civic institutions, but what communities expect from that role is changing. As students, families, employers, and policymakers place greater emphasis on outcomes and value, this session will explore how institutions can make their regional relevance more tangible through the opportunities they create for students and the talent needs they help their communities meet.
- Reconsider what a meaningful civic identity looks like today, moving beyond broad commitments to place towards a clearer articulation of the value universities create for their communities.
- Strengthen the connection between education and regional opportunity by making career outcomes, employability, and return on investment more visible to students, families, and employers.
10:45 a.m.
Turning Regional Relevance Into Talent, Trust, and Growth
Universities can also strengthen their regional relevance through what they discover, build, and invest beyond the student experience. This session will explore how institutions can orient research and economic development more deliberately around community needs, translating institutional assets into visible regional impact.
- Align research strengths and economic development with regional priorities, identifying where the university can prioritise relevant research, communicate its distinctive expertise, and focus its institutional assets on areas where it can contribute to regional growth.
- Translate institutional strengths into a clearer regional proposition, making research expertise, distinctive capabilities, and existing partnerships more visible to communities, employers, and policymakers.
12:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks and Adjournment
Experts associated with this event
EAB Experts
