How can college and university presidents be persuasive to students and their parents about the benefits of a college education as well as to external constituents who question its cost or its substance? How can presidents decide which of the major shifts in societal values—in environmental sustainability or internationalism or social justice, for example—ought to be reflected in the internal values of the institution? How can presidents spur the implementation of such major changes? These were some of the questions and challenges explored at the 2008 CIC Presidents Institute, held January 4–7 in Marco Island, Florida.

This year’s meeting again set a record for participation of presidents (334) and spouses (192). In recent years, the Institute has become the largest annual conference in the U.S. of college and university presidents. Major speakers included Howard Gardner of Harvard University who discussed “Five Minds for the Future: Intellectual and Ethical Dimensions”; Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, and Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature and co-director of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, who together explored “Higher Education Leadership to Create a Healthy, Just, and Sustainable Society”; and Ann Austin of Michigan State University, who coauthored Rethinking Faculty Work (2007) and addressed that topic. Closing speakers Robert Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities, and Stephen Trachtenberg, president emeritus and university professor of public service of George Washington University, explored the future of higher education and whether there are aspects of higher education that need to be “revalued.”

For the first time, a number of the Institute’s sessions were covered by reporters from the Chronicle of Higher Education and InsideHigherEd.com. Many of the presentations and the media coverage are available here on CIC’s website.