The Paradox of the Presidency - The Difference a President Makes in Institutional Functioning at Three Community Colleges

Oct 15, 2026

Explores whether presidents materially change how colleges and universities function, addressing long-standing debate on presidential impact in higher education. Draws on interviews with twenty-four Canadian community college governing board members to assess how presidents are perceived to influence institutional functioning. Concludes that board members see meaningful presidential effects on public and government perceptions, institutional decision-making, and preservation of college philosophy, while positioning the president primarily as an educational communicator of orientations and actions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Résumé

Introduction and scholarly debate

Research approach and conclusions

# The Paradox of the Presidency: The Difference a President makes in InstitutionalFunctioning at Three Community Colleges JOHN S.LEVIN* ## Abstract Do presidents make a difference?Presidential impact on colleges and universi-ties has been called into question for decades.Most recently,there is evidenceto suggest that institutional functioning may not be affected by who presidentsare or by what presidents do(Birnbaum,1989).Such questioning fits within themainstream of thinking on the presidency at higher education institutions.Thisthinking conveys a dualism of perceptions about presidents(Benezet et al.,1981).On the one hand,presidents are seen to have both power and authorityto direct their institutions;on the other hand,presidents are seen has havinglimited control over their institutions.Twenty-four governing board members atthree Canadian community colleges were interviewed to determine whether andto what extent presidents are seen to make a difference in institutional function-ing. This study concludes that from the perspective of board members,presi-dents do make a difference in institutional functioning.Presidential impact canbe seen in public and government perceptions of the college,in institutionaldecision-making,and in the preservation of college philosophy.Furthermore,the president is the educational leader,not as a determiner of educational pro-grams or teaching performance,but rather as the communicator of institutionalorientations and actions. ## Résumé Est-ce que les presidents,par leurs contributions personelles,apportent desmodications significatives au fonctionnement des institutions?Pendant desdécennies,l'impact presidentiel sur les colleges et les universités a éte l'objetde nombreuses contestations.Actuellement,il existe des preuves qui suggerentque le fonctionnement des institutions ne serait influence ni par la position du président ni par ses actions(Birnbaum,1989).De telles contestations ont bienleur place dans le courant dominant des opinions concernant la presidencedans les institutions d'education supérieure.C'est cette ligne de pensee quiexplique le dualisme de perceptions,vis-a-vis les presidents.D'une part,lespresidents sont vus comme educateurs ayant et le pouvoir et I'autorite néces-saires pour I'administration de leurs institutions;d'autre part,ils sont envi-sagés comme éducateurs n'ayant qu'un controle restreint de leurs institutions. Nous avons interviewé vingt-quatre membres du conseil d'administrationdans trois colleges communautaires.Ils ont egalement servi de sources de don-nées et d'observations afin de déterminer si les presidents apportent des contri-butions significatives au fonctionnement des institutions. Cette étude conclut que du point de vue des membres du conseil,les presi-dents contribuent de facon significative au fonctionnement des institutions.L'impact du president se laisse voir dans les perceptions publiques et gouverne-mentales du college,dans le processus démocratique par lequel les décisionssont prises aussi bien que dans la conservation de la philosophie du college.Deplus le president est vu comme un chef educatif,non pas dans le róle de celuiqui détermine les programmes académiques ou la performance des professeurs,mais plutốt dans le róle de celui qui communique aux autres les orientations etles actions de l'institution. Presidential impact on colleges and universities has been called into questionfor decades.There is recent evidence that institutional functioning may not beaffected by who presidents are or by what presidents do(Birnbaum,1989).Yetappeals for improved leadership of colleges and universities can be heard frompractitioners and scholars alike.Just as the literature on organizational leader-ship is divided on the basis of the effectiveness of leaders(Pfeffer,1981),so toois there division in the literature on the presidents of academic institutions.Thisliterature indicates that two patterns of thought dominate thinking about thepresiden

FAQs

What debate does the paper address about presidents in higher education?

It examines whether presidents meaningfully affect institutional functioning, a question long contested and associated with competing views of presidential power and control.

How did the study investigate presidential impact?

Twenty-four governing board members at three Canadian community colleges were interviewed to determine whether and to what extent presidents are seen as making a difference in institutional functioning.

What are the study’s main findings regarding institutional functioning?

From the perspective of board members, presidents do make a difference through impacts on public and government perceptions, institutional decision-making, and the preservation of college philosophy.

Oct 15, 2026

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