These Leaders Experienced the Biggest Changes in Moving From One College to Another

Among presidents and chancellors who went from leading one institution to another in recent years, several made big changes. They moved, for instance, from a two-year to a four-year, a public to a private nonprofit, a smaller to a larger, or a master’s to a doctoral institution. On average, chief executives of doctoral, master’s, and baccalaureate institutions moved 659 miles for their new jobs, and leaders of associate and baccalaureate/associate institutions moved 501 miles. Nearly a quarter of the 59 chief executives in the analysis changed sectors. Around 29 percent moved from larger to smaller institutions, with 8,827 fewer students, on average. Those who moved from smaller to larger colleges took responsibility for an additional 4,721 students, on average. The chief executives listed below were given scores and ranked based on how great a change they made in distance, enrollment, sector, and 2018 Carnegie Classification. The scoring system and criteria are explained in the note below the rankings.

Doctoral, master’s, and baccalaureate institutions

Associate and baccalaureate/associate institutions

Note: The chief executives considered for this analysis are those who moved directly, or after a short delay, from the top leadership of one U.S. institution to another and whose appointments were announced in The Chronicle‘s Gazette from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2019. Leaders who moved to or from a campus that did not have enrollment and classification data listed separately in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System were excluded. Points were awarded on the following criteria, with the highest total number of points indicating the greatest change. The presidents or chancellors received one point for every 100 miles of distance between the previous and new institution, and one point for every 250 students more or fewer than at the previous institution. In the sector category, a leader was awarded 25 points for a change from two-year to four-year level or vice versa, 50 points for a change among public, private nonprofit, and for-profit control, and 75 points for changes in both level and control. In the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education category, leaders were awarded 10 points for a change within a broad category like master’s or doctoral (for example, a change from “master’s: smaller programs” to “master’s: medium programs”), and 25 for a move between broad classifications (for example, from baccalaureate to doctoral). Distances between colleges were determined through Google Maps. Total points are rounded, but chief executives were ranked before rounding. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education and The Chronicle’s Gazette data