The Association of Governing Boards (AGB) framed its March Board Professionals Conference around a blunt message: governing boards and their staff must lead decisively as institutions face financial stress, enrollment decline, AI adoption, and threats to academic freedom. AGB materials emphasize trusteeship as an active, fiduciary role that requires technical competence in digital strategy, risk oversight and crisis response. Ellucian and AGB released a new guide urging boards to treat digital transformation as central to institutional resilience. The publication provides trustees with questions to probe campus IT strategy, procurement, data governance, and student experience. Authors told audiences that without board-level fluency in technology and finance, colleges risk losing strategic control as vendors and third parties shape core academic infrastructure. For board professionals, the guidance signals a shift from ceremonial governance to continual oversight: boards will be expected to evaluate major technology investments, conduct scenario planning for enrollment and revenue shocks, and insist on measurable ROI for digital initiatives.