2016 CEO SURVEY RESULTS
First annual temperature-taking of leader views on longevity and challenges
In their own words, leaders of California community colleges and systems believe that churn in their profession is largely due to conflicts between CEOs and their boards of trustees or constituent groups.
The majority of responding CEOs say they intend to stay in their posts three years of less, and one in three say one year or less. They cite several essential capacities for both sitting and aspiring CEOs, including the ability to manage internal relationships with trustees, faculty and other employees, and external relationships with regional business and K-12 sectors.
They underscore the importance of sustaining strategy and vision by building and managing effective teams that can handle the operational details of running complex institutions.
About the survey: The 2016 CEO survey was conducted electronically in Spring 2016 by Theresa Westover of the UC Davis School of Education. Emails requesting participation were received by 135 sitting district chancellors, superintendent-presidents, and college presidents, with follow up emails to encourage online survey completion. Sixty-four CEOs participated for a response rate of 47%. It is important to note that the responses may not be representative of those CEOs who did not participate. Any conclusions drawn from the responses are representative only of those individuals who responded to the survey. Download the survey results here.
