PROFILING CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICERS IN PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGES

A survey of chief academic officers (CAOs) at public community colleges belonging to the American Association of Community Colleges was conducted in 1998-1999. The personal and professional characteristics of respondents are reported in this article. A profile shows the average CAO to be a married White man with a doctorate. He is 52 years old and has served in office for slightly more than 6 years. Women represented more than one third of the respondents. The average female CAO is a 51-year-old married White woman with a PhD. She has served in her current positionfor slightly more than 5 years. She has heldthree previous positions in higher education, two administrative and one faculty. The study indicated that female CAOs differ from male CAOs in four ways. The continued low representation of ethnic minority group members in the CAO position is noted. The importance of the CAO position to the community college and the community college to higher education in general calls for systematic inquiry regarding such profiles on a longitudinal basis.