Based on a national study of community college trustees, this book describes the role of trustees in college operations and provides data on trustee characteristics and attitudes. Introductory materials describe the purpose and methodology of the study, indicating that three distinct questionnaires were sent to 505 college presidents, 505 board of trustee chairs, and 1,063 non-chair trustees. Chapter 1 provides a historical overview of governing boards in American higher education and reviews the role of trustees in community colleges. Chapter 2 presents a profile of trustee characteristics based on responses from 618 trustees and compares chair and non-chair trustees, male and female trustees, and White trustees to those from other ethnic groups. Chapter 3 explores the president-trustee team, describing methods for building teams, trustees' perceptions of presidents, and presidents' perceptions of trustees, while chapter 4 discusses trustees' activities on the job and their perceptions of those activities. Chapter 5 focuses on trustees' relationships with their communities, and chapter 6 presents trustees' comments regarding the satisfactions they receive by serving. Chapter 7 offers trustee perceptions of what constitutes the ideal college president, as well as presidents' perceptions of the ideal trustee. Chapter 8 considers the influence of board expectations, goals, and assessment on trustees' roles and presents strategies for improving effectiveness. The final chapter summarizes findings from the study and offers recommendations. Contains 20 references. (BCY)