A CHRONICLE SURVEY: WHAT PRESIDENTS THINK

Leaders' Views About Higher Education, Their Jobs, and Their Lives

A new Chronicle survey uncovers concerns over faculty tenure and lack of training for the top job — and reveals that presidents like their exercise

Related materials

List: What worries college presidents

Table: Where college presidents differ: Men vs. women

Table: Where college presidents differ: Public colleges vs. private colleges

Articles: The Chronicle's special report on college presidents

Data: Tables and charts on the background, experience, institutions, demographics, and viewpoints of college presidents

Colloquy: Read the transcript of a live, online discussion about The Chronicle's survey of college presidents with John DiBiaggio, a former college president, and John Maguire, an educational consultant who analyzed the survey's results.

Printer friendly	E-mail article	Subscribe	Order reprints
	Discuss any Chronicle article in our forums
Latest Headlines Colleges See Slowest Growth in State Aid in 5 Years Annual state appropriations for higher education inched up by less than 1 percent for the 2009 fiscal year, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University. Data: Changes in State Appropriations and How the States Rank Recession May Drive More Adult Students to Take Online Courses Panel Urges Obama to Ease Limits on Scientific Exports and Visas Weak Economy Could Curtail Flow of Indian Students Into the U.S. A Young University in India Focuses on Real-World Industry and Sustainability Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 33 Universities Academics Seek the DNA Behind Medieval Poems

By JEFFREY SELINGO

While the job of college president is often still filled by former provosts, their top priority these days is more akin to that of a chief financial officer: a balanced budget. That's the number one performance indicator by which four-year college presidents measure their success, according to an extensive survey of campus chief executives conducted by The Chronicle.

The survey — the first of its kind and completed by nearly 6 in 10 four-year college presidents nationwide this past summer — shows that financial issues permeate almost every facet of the top job on campuses. When asked to rate their level of concern about 29 issues their institutions may face, the issues at the top of the list all affect the bottom line in some way: rising tuition, increasing health-care costs, inadequate faculty salaries, and student retention.

The focus on finances was also reflected by the presidents in their answers to questions about which areas of college management occupy most of their days and which college administrators or constituents they spend most of their time with. The activity that most presidents said they carried out daily was fund raising, performed by 53 percent of them. And while presidents still have the most frequent contact with the provost (53 percent of presidents report talking or meeting with the provost on a daily basis), the chief financial officer and the director of development are next in line (49 and 43 percent, respectively).

John Maguire, chairman of Maguire Associates, an educational-consulting firm in Bedford, Mass., which conducted the survey and analyzed the results for The Chronicle, says the overall findings indicate that many college presidents "have an obsession, day in and day out, with things related to finance."

Presidents who are most unhappy in their jobs, says Mr. Maguire, a onetime physics professor and former admissions director at Boston College, are those "living life on the edge, who face enrollment challenges, financial challenges, and retention challenges."

But few presidents seem to get so frustrated with their job that they decide to give up their position. Of all issues the survey examined, the one that respondents almost universally agreed on was this: If they had to do it all over again, 94 percent of them would still become a college president.

"Despite the many challenges, the university presidency in 2005 is one of the true dream jobs left," wrote a male president at a public university in response to an open-ended question in the confidential survey.

The Chronicle's 39-question, 12-page survey, with an option to answer online, was sent to 1,338 four-year college presidents and chancellors. A total of 764 executives from 48 states and the District of Columbia — Hawaii and Wyoming are not represented — responded between June 23 and July 29, 2005, a rate of 57 percent, which is considered a good response by survey standards. (See related data.)

The survey results provide a rare glimpse at the leaders of teaching and research enterprises who have become more like corporate CEO's in recent decades. The college presidency, according to the survey, is still occupied largely by white men (89 percent are white and 81 percent are men), who come from the academic side of the house (32 percent were provosts immediately before their current job) often at another college. (See related article.)

Despite their similar backgrounds, there is little agreement on major higher-education issues among a majority of presidents. There are a few exceptions: 93 percent say that a university should notify parents if their son or daughter is at risk of suicide; 77 percent say that there is still an important place for affirmative action in college admissions; and a surprising 75 percent say that colleges should be more accountable for their students' educational outcomes.

"Families should start insisting on proof of the value they receive for their tuition investment," wrote a male president at a private doctoral institution in response to an open-ended question. "Colleges are awful at documenting the value received."

Among the hot-button issues where presidents are more divided in their opinions: 53 percent say tenure for faculty should be replaced by a system of long-term contracts (See article, Page A31); 46 percent say colleges should not be held legally responsible for the consequences of excessive student drinking; 59 percent say big-time college athletics programs are more of a liability than an asset; and 30 percent agree there is little that colleges can do about rising tuition costs.

The job, one female president at a master's-level religious institution wrote in the survey, "just gets harder, particularly at a small tuition-dependent institution."

A Vote for Kerry

Sharper differences between presidents appear when the findings are examined on a more narrow basis, such as whether the president leads a public or private institution. But the overall results also reveal some interesting tidbits about college leaders. No political party boasts a majority of them (four in 10 are Democrats), although with 56 percent of the vote, John F. Kerry did garner most of their support in last fall's presidential election. (See related article.)

Thirty percent of them listen to music at home every day, 43 percent exercise on a daily basis, but only 20 percent say they have the opportunity to socialize with friends weekly. Still, they remain somewhat voracious readers — 23 percent read a novel or nonfiction unrelated to higher education once or twice a month. (See related article.)

"It's a 24-7 job," wrote a male president at a private nondenominational university in an open-ended response. "Unless a person has been president, it's impossible to know the stress and time commitments. I need to find more time for myself and to socialize with friends — not just people important to the university."

That open-ended question at the end of the survey — "Is there anything else you would like to tell us concerning the college presidency or issues facing colleges and universities today?" — elicited sometimes lengthy responses from presidents. They wrote about why they like their job or how the position is becoming more difficult because of increasing pressure from lawmakers and the public over issues like costs and curriculum. Some took the time to complain about decreasing public funds for higher education.

A few used the opportunity to call for more training for would-be presidents. "Preparation for the college presidency should be more intentional," wrote a female president of a private religious college. "As leadership talent is recognized, current presidents should take more initiative in mentoring senior and junior administrators."

A Need for More Training?

In the survey, only 41 percent of presidents said they were "very well prepared" for their first presidential job. Another 46 percent said they were "moderately well prepared." When asked what they were most unprepared for in their current jobs, the highest percentage (18 percent), listed "fund raising" first, with "budgetary issues" and "dealing with legislators and other political officials" tied for second with 11 percent each.

Unlike chief executives of Fortune 500 companies, college presidents "tend to be self-trained," says David Ward, president of the American Council on Education and former chancellor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "I'm not sure there is a magic training program for presidents," he says.

Most presidents who feel well prepared for their first job have usually worked under a president who helped train them, says Mr. Ward, who was provost at Wisconsin when Donna Shalala, now president at the University of Miami, was Madison's chancellor. Mr. Ward says he was prepared to move up because Ms. Shalala had included him in every facet of her job, except for dealings with lawmakers. ("They wanted to see the boss," explains Mr. Ward.)

Another critical training area for would-be presidents is working with a governing board, says Judith Block McLaughlin, who studies college-presidential transitions and directs a seminar for new college presidents at Harvard University. According to the Chronicle survey, only 11 percent of presidents who were formerly provosts deal with their governing board on a daily basis, compared with 27 percent of presidents who previously served as a president at another institution.

"People who have not been a president before never reported to a board," Ms. McLaughlin says. "They're not accustomed to reporting to a large number of people, resulting in sometimes difficult relationships." One recent example came in June, when Cornell's president, Jeffrey S. Lehman, who had been the university's president for only two years, announced he was quitting his job over differences with trustees about the institution's future.

But at least one president seems to believe that boards also need to be more supportive of their leaders as they learn the job. It "is critical for governing boards and others inside universities," wrote a male president at a private doctoral-level institution, "to remember that the life of a president is one of solitude in a crowd, and to take care that the person in the job is well supported both in her or his personal and professional life."