Over the past several years, ACE has regularly
surveyed college and university presidents to capture their perspectives on key
issues facing higher education. Most recently, our survey series unveiled
insights on the institutional response to COVID-19. In this survey, 113
presidents* identified their most pressing current concerns and shared their
views regarding the impact that political discourse has had on their
institution’s ability to implement COVID-19 mitigation measures. What follows
is a summary of our key findings.
Most Pressing Issues for
Presidents
In the November 2021 survey, presidents were presented with a list of 19 issues and asked to select up to five that they viewed as most pressing (see Figure 1). For the seventh time since April 2020, “mental health of students" was the pressing issue cited most frequently by presidents. Nearly three-quarters of all presidents (73 percent) in the November survey identified student mental health as a pressing concern, the same percentage that chose it in the September 2021 survey.
- Slightly less than two-thirds of presidents (63 percent) identified “enrollment numbers for the next academic term" as a pressing issue, a slight increase from 59 percent of presidents who reported this in the September 2021 survey.
- Over half of all presidents (57 percent) selected “mental health of faculty and staff" as a pressing concern, a 3 percentage point increase from the total share of presidents who reported this as a pressing issue in the September survey (54 percent).
- For the second consecutive survey, the fourth most frequently selected pressing issue was “long-term financial viability," with 43 percent of presidents reporting this as a top-of-mind issue.
- “Retention of faculty and/or staff" was the fifth most frequently chosen pressing concern among college and university presidents, with 35 percent of presidents selecting this issue.
- “Racial equity issues" was selected by one-third (33 percent) of all presidents as a pressing issue, a 4 percentage point increase from the September 2021 survey (29 percent).
Politicization of COVID-19
Vaccines and Other Mitigation Efforts
Tensions and protests in response to some COVID-19 public health
measures have cropped up in a number of places across the country, especially
around the mitigation measures that businesses and governments can require,
including mandatory vaccination and mask-wearing. Higher education institutions
were not immune to these tensions as they brought their students, faculty, and
staff back on campus for the fall term, though these pressures were not felt
evenly across all sectors of institutions and all parts of the country.
Importantly, most presidents who responded to this survey noted that the vast
majority of campus stakeholders have been supportive of COVID-19 mitigation
measures.
Presidents were asked to identify their level of
agreement that political discourse about the pandemic negatively affected their
institution’s ability to implement COVID-19 mitigation measures (e.g., vaccine
mandates, mask mandates, testing) (see Figure 2). Presidents at public
four-year institutions (74 percent) were the most likely to indicate that they
agreed that political discourse affected their institution’s ability to
implement these measures, followed by presidents at public two-year
institutions (65 percent). Presidents at private four-year institutions (58
percent) were least likely to agree this was a problem.
Presidents were also asked to report their level
of agreement with this statement: “Federal government requirements related to
COVID-19 vaccines for faculty and staff had created tension with my state
government.” (see Figure 3). Overall, 21 percent of presidents strongly agreed
and 27 percent of presidents agreed that federal government requirements related
to COVID-19 vaccines for personnel have created tension with their state
governments.
As institutions across the nation continue to navigate the implications of COVID-19, presidents were provided with a list of six stakeholder groups and asked to indicate the level of support their institution received from each group surrounding the implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures on their campus (see Figure 4). Across the board, presidents reported that they received support from all stakeholder groups in the implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures.
- Nearly three-quarters of all presidents (73 percent) reported that their governing board had been very supportive in the institution's implementation of COVID-19 prevention measures. Just under half of all presidents (46 percent) reported that their faculty and staff had been very supportive.
- Overall, 88 percent of presidents reported that their students were very supportive or supportive in the institution's implementation of prevention measures. By sector, presidents at public four-year (94 percent) and private four-year (93 percent) institutions were more likely than presidents at public two-year institutions (81 percent) to report support from students.
- Presidents at private four-year institutions (84 percent) were the most likely to report some level of support from their local community as it related to their institution's efforts to implement COVID-19 prevention measures, the highest share of any sector. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of presidents at public four-year institutions reported that their local communities were “unsupportive," the highest share across all sectors.
We sought to better understand how presidents are navigating the
politicization of COVID-19 prevention measures on their campuses. Presidents
across the board expressed that they primarily avoid politicizing COVID-19 in
their institutional decision-making processes and based their decisions on Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state, and federal guidelines backed
by science. Presidents also shared that approaching conversations surrounding
mandates and COVID-19 mitigation measures with stakeholders requires a delicate
balance of consideration of stakeholder views and guidelines with communication
that is clear and consistent. One president stated, “We never make anyone happy
(we’re always doing too much or too little), but I think we’re consistent—we
follow CDC and state guidelines (and thankfully those are in agreement).”
Collectively, presidents reported that although
there have been “vocal critics,” those voices are minimal. The vast majority of
campus stakeholders continue to support university efforts surrounding the
implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures on campus, such as required
vaccination and indoor mask mandates. One president shared, “Our focus was not
on what divides us in this space, but how we live up to our notion that we are
a community of learners committed to doing all the good we can for and with
each other.”
* Of the
113 presidents, 45 lead private four-year institutions (40 percent), 30 lead
public four-year institutions (27 percent), 26 lead public two-year
institutions (23 percent), and 12 lead other institutions (10 percent).
The survey was
launched on November 5 and closed on November 22.
The brief was prepared by
Brianna C.J. Clark and Morgan Taylor, under the direction of Hironao Okahana.
Clark contributed to data cleaning and analysis, as well as development of the
written brief. Taylor contributed to the design and distribution of the
instrument, development of the written brief, and data cleaning; prepared the
figures; and supervised the project.
The authors would like to acknowledge the
following individuals for their support in the production and review of this
publication: Derrick Anderson, Hollie M. Chessman, Benjamin G. Cecil, Ty C.
McNamee, Ashley Gray, Mushtaq Gunja, Robin Matross Helms, Liz Howard, Sherri
Hughes, Anne Meehan, Jon Riskind, and Maria Claudia Soler, for their thoughtful
insights and review of the survey instrument and written publication, and
Lindsay Macdonald and Ally Hammond, for editorial support and making the data
come to life through design.