Community colleges face challenges with the high rate of retirement of community college presidents and the need to replace them with qualified leaders. Although leadership research has identified a number of desirable attributes of community college presidents, there is little research on the attributes sought by both faculty leaders and board members in an effective community college presidential applicant. This exploratory qualitative study sought to fill that gap. Its additional purpose was to examine how these two groups make a decision when differences occur. Attribute theory served as the conceptual framework that guided the study. Seven faculty leaders and 3 board members responded to questionnaires and participated in interviews on the attributes they deemed most important. Data were analyzed by using open and axial coding. Findings revealed that faculty and board members agreed on these key attributes of a community college president: communication skills, decision-making skills, honesty, problem solving skills, and vision. However, faculty discussed them from the perspective of what happens inside the institution, while board members discussed them from the perspective of what happens outside the institution. Applicants and committee members need to be aware of the importance of serving internal and external constituents. Both faculty and board members indicated using a democratic, collegial method to come to agreement when differences occurred. Social change implications include enhanced satisfaction and retention of community college presidents and thus better stability and performance of their institutions.

The purpose of this study was to learn how men and women who do not have an initial career goal of becoming a college or university president end up in such a position.The study was to gather information on the internal and external influences on that career path, and how each participant fits within presidential career patterns presented by Wessel (1991).A qualitative case study method was used for this study. The participants were chosen based on their institutions' membership in the Virginia Foundation forIndependent Colleges (VFIC), thus all participants were from private institutions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Twelve of the 15 VFIC presidents were interviewed; two declined participation; and one institution had an interim president at the time of the study.Each president submitted a copy of his/her curriculum vitae for review and analysis, and each president was then placed into one of the variations of the Academic or the Administrative Career Patterns presented by Wessel (1991). Additional data was collected through personal in-depth interviews with each participant, and an interview guide approach was used in each of the interviews.The results indicate that there is no single career path that leads to a presidency.Presidents experienced both external and internal influences on their career paths and these varied in strength of influence based on the individual. Several other factors were also explored including: role of the family, preparations for a presidency and institutional search process.There are several implications for future research based on the findings of this study. The first of these is continued research into the debate of preparation either through the academic model or the administrative model. The second need for expanded research is the role of the family in the career path of college and university presidents. Finally the issue of the need for a Ph.D. is a point for further investigation.

Recent studies reveal that a considerable number of U.S. community college leaders will be retiring in the next several years. The concern is that with the large turnover, history, culture, and important lessons of leadership will be lost. The current research on the lives of presidents, their career paths, and experiences in community college leadership centers on approaches to the study of leadership at the macro level. Limited research exists in the published literature that reports and analyzes the development of individuals as community college leaders at the micro level. This results in a gap regarding understanding leadership development and strategies to prepare leaders. This study addresses this gap by providing a critical description of the leadership development of one individual who became a community college chancellor and who the literature on the community context indicates contributed to the local and national context for community colleges. Biography is gaining prominence as a legitimate and viable tool in the study of leadership. Few biographical studies currently exist which focus on leadership development in context at the micro level. This dissertation is a biographical, qualitative study of the leadership path and legacy of R. Jan LeCroy, a community college leader. The study combined two viable approaches to biographical inquiry: a scholarly chronicle and the realist approach. Data included the use of primary and secondary sources and included interviews, document analysis, and archival data such as newspaper articles, memos, and minutes of meetings. The data were analyzed and the findings discussed using the theoretical framework of Gronn's (1993) career model of leadership, Vaughan's (1986) study of the career paths of presidents, and Sullivan's (2001) study of four distinct generations of community college leaders. The leadership path of R. Jan LeCroy paralleled the four stages in Gronn's (1993) career model of leadership; he shared characteristics of the presidents surveyed in Vaughan's (1986) study; and he fit the profile of the second generation of community college leaders as described by Sullivan (2001).

No description available.

The aim of this research was to determine the factors that influence retention of personnel at Cor Jesu College in the Philippines and establish guidelines for effective staff retention. A qualitative research design involving the descriptive sample survey method to collect data by means of self- administered structured questionnaire was adopted. The sample consisted of 70 Cor Jesu personnel. The information was statistically analysed with the aid of a computer after which it was interpreted. Results indicated that teachers were not satisfied with their jobs and that their retention was affected by several aspects of their work. Working conditions emerged as the major source of dissatisfaction while interpersonal relations were a principal retention factor. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Education Management)

Despite holding a majority of lower and middle management positions in public two-year institutions, women still hold only one-third of current community college presidencies. This study explored the gendered phenomenon of navigating the career pipeline in higher education to reach the office of community college president. The purpose of the study was to examine the educational backgrounds and career paths of recently-appointed female community college presidents, as well as the barriers and sources of support they encountered while navigating the career pipeline. A phenomenological approach was utilized for this qualitative study. Data was primarily collected using semi-structured interviews. Additional sources for data collection include reflection logs, memos, and document analysis. A modified van Kaam method of data analysis was used to code participant data and identify recurring thematic elements. These recurring thematic elements provided the foundation for individual descriptions of the phenomenon, which were later synthesized to create a composite description. Results suggest that study participants encountered three types of barriers while navigating the career pipeline in higher education: institutional, birdcage, and internal. The term “birdcage barriers” was coined here to describe scenarios in which aspiring female leaders could identify opportunities for professional growth or advancement, but were unable to access these opportunities because of situational boundaries. Findings also suggest study participants benefited from three sources of support: institutional, personal, and individual traits/strategies. Additional findings include: participants were reluctant to label gender a barrier; most of the institutional bias encountered by participants was second-generation; and, as aspiring leaders in higher education, participants required intrusive recruitment.

The aim of this research was to determine the factors that influence retention of personnel at Cor Jesu College in the Philippines and establish guidelines for effective staff retention. A qualitative research design involving the descriptive sample survey method to collect data by means of self- administered structured questionnaire was adopted. The sample consisted of 70 Cor Jesu personnel. The information was statistically analysed with the aid of a computer after which it was interpreted. Results indicated that teachers were not satisfied with their jobs and that their retention was affected by several aspects of their work. Working conditions emerged as the major source of dissatisfaction while interpersonal relations were a principal retention factor. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Education Management)