The process used by community-college leaders in making decisions is very important, given the complexity and significance of their decisions to institutional quality and effectiveness. This article explores the degree to which leaders utilize research in their decision-making, the sources and usefulness of the research, and how the base of information for decision-making could be improved. While community colleges have not been institutions that focus on conducting research, there is a growing trend toward community-college institutional research. However, such research varies widely in quality and applicability outside of the institution conducting it. In 2002, the Community-College Leadership Initiatives conducted an investigation of decision-making practices of a group of leaders in 83 California community colleges. The results of the survey are presented and analyzed. The most important finding is that community-college leaders place a high priority on using research in their decision-making, however, they lack the time and resources to search for and review useful sources. This finding needs to be addressed by professional associations, researchers, conference planners, and others committed to strengthening the work of community-college leaders.