The decisions that administrators make touch every facet of the institutional experience and fundamentally affect teaching and learning. Research shows, however, that administrators do not always recognize their influence nor their responsibility for the quality of instruction. A study of one urban community college district revealed an unforeseen and unintended impact of administrative decisions in the classrooms, even though only 2% of the Chancellor's Executive Council's decisions over an 18-month period were concerned with instruction or curriculum. Illustrating this point was the Executive Council's decision to emphasize marketing activities. This approach succeeded in recruiting more nontraditional students, but the students' lack of adequate preparation limited their success in the classroom. To deal with the challenge of providing leadership to achieve the quality of education expected by the public and needed by students, administrators should: (1) emphasize assessment and mandatory placement to allow appropriate standards of performance without increasing attrition; (2) provide high quality advisement for students with degree or transfer objectives; (3) define exit competencies; (4) label transfer courses and restrict enrollment in these classes to students with the commensurate preparation and objectives; and (5) ensure that information sent to secondary schools does not present the community college as compensation for poor high school preparation. One important way for administrators to prepare for this challenge is to renew their knowledge of student needs, capabilities, and aspirations by periodically returning to the classroom as teachers. (EJV)