Janet Napolitano had zero experience leading a college before she became president of the University of California last year. Yet after just four months on the job, Ms. Napolitano, 56, has outlined major goals for the system, including a reconsideration of tuition policies, improving cooperation with the other two higher-education systems in the state, ensuring the prominent role of research and graduate education, and making the campuses carbon-neutral by 2025. She even has a slogan for her agenda: "Teach for California, Research for the World." None of her goals are unusual in higher e...