ABSTRACT
With the focus on narrowing resources and burgeoning expectations, there is a necessary redefinition of the higher education institution (HEI) model for sustainability, not austerity but frugality. This chapter interrogates how HEIs in the geopolitical Global North and Global South face the “doing more with less” constraint by integrating financial sustainability into the learner, staff, and the broader institutional ecosystem. Towards the centre of this framework are the “Four I's of Frugal Leadership (Innovate, Improvise, Imitate, Intuition)” – a grounded, pragmatic philosophy of leading through constraint. Viewing frugality not as a limitation but as a creative opportunity, this chapter makes a case for a future where universities flourish, not despite scarcity but through the wisdom it forces upon them.
