Data

Here Are the Parts of Their Job for Which Presidents Want More Training

April 14, 2023

The college presidency — which has seen a wave of turnovers in recent years — has long been recognized as a challenging job that can sometimes put those in the position on the path to burnout. These are among the reasons that the average time presidents have been in their current position has dropped to 5.9 years, according to a new survey of college presidents.

That survey also offers some insights into what can make the job a tough one: If presidents are spending less time in their jobs, they also want to learn more about some segments of higher education.

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The college presidency — which has seen a wave of turnovers in recent years — has long been recognized as a challenging job that can sometimes put those in the position on the path to burnout. That’s among the reasons that the average time presidents have held their current position has dropped to 5.9 years, according to a new survey of college presidents.

That survey also offers some insights into what can make the job so tough: If presidents are spending less time in their jobs, they also need to quickly learn more about some aspects of higher education.

Illustration of mortar board as revolving doors

More on the ACE Survey

College Presidents Are Less Experienced Than Ever — and Eyeing the Exit

The latest American College President survey, released on Friday by the American Council on Education, asked college leaders about areas in which they would like more training. Of the 32 options that respondents could select, at least one out of five presidents said they wanted to learn more about roughly one-third of them. Among that group were topics like diversity and equity issues, fund raising, and capital improvement projects.

The survey, which embraced responses from more than 1,000 presidents, also revealed that the most popular professional-development prospects for men and women were largely the same. In the mix for women, however, was crisis management; for men, it was enrollment management.

Among the areas that nearly all college presidents reported feeling most confident about: student life or conduct issues, and the role of their spouses. Only 4.3 percent and 5.2 percent of leaders, respectively, said they wanted more training on those topics.

For more highlights about how presidents answered this question — “In which of the following areas would you like more training and/or development for your current presidency/CEO post?” — see below: