The Leadership Imperative: The Report of the AGB Task Force on the State of the Presidency in American Higher Education

This report focuses on the critical relationship between the presidents and governing boards of this nation's higher education institutions. At the outset of the 21st century, colleges and universities face an array of daunting challenges. To name a few: intense global competition, rapid technological advancements, changing demographics, increasing demand for education and training, new ways of delivering instruction, greater pressures for accountability, and inadequate public funding to achieve societal purposes. Facing these challenges is critical to creating the human and intellectual capital to ensure the nation's continued social, civic, and economic well-being. The looming questions are whether colleges and universities will continue to attract high-caliber leaders to the presidency--and whether higher education as a whole will continue to earn the public trust. Appended are: (1) Guidelines for Board Oversight of Search Consultants; (2) Recommendations of the Report of the Commission on the Academic Presidency, 1996; (3) The Chronicle of Higher Education Survey of Presidents of Four-Year Colleges; (4) Works Consulted; and (5) Acknowledgments.