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).

Research studies show that potential barriers may hinder a successful accreditation process. This research study examined perceptions of Mississippi’s community/junior college administrators relating to the accreditation process in general, their communication with the regional accrediting agency, and their institution’s facilitation of the accreditation process. 150 administrators participated in an online survey containing 36 questions. Likert-scale response set type questions were used to provide precise information related to the research. Two open-ended questions were also used to provide for a deeper understanding of the administrators’ perceptions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. ANOVA tests were run to determine if differences existed in the administrators’ perceptions based on the administrators’ size of institution, latest accreditation process, or position titles. The findings of the study showed that the administrators agreed or strongly agreed with the majority of the survey statements related to the accreditation process in general, their communication with the regional accrediting agency, and their institution’s facilitation of the accreditation process. In addition, the findings indicated that there were no significant differences in administrators’ perceptions related to the accreditation process. An analysis of the responses to the two open-ended questions suggested the need for consistency in elements relating to the peer review committee’s training, experience, and size, and the need for consistency in information and communication from the accrediting agency. Responses also indicated a need for additional funding and personnel. Major themes drawn from the administrators’ documented perceptions included the following: (a) the self-study (compliance certification) was a major component of the accreditation process in general; (b) a liaison between the institution and the accrediting agency was a necessity for communication between the two entities; and (c) the leadership committee provided adequate assistance to facilitate the process at the institutional level. The size of the institution, the latest initiation of the process, and the position titles within the institution made no significant statistical difference in the administrators’ perceptions.

A study was conducted to gather information from department chairs serving in the 26 two-year colleges that are members of the North Texas Community College Consortium using the International Community College Chair Survey (ICCCS). The ICCCS is designed to gather insights into four aspects of the chairs' professional lives: personal characteristics, responsibilities challenges, and strategies. The study compared the demographic data and the respondents' perceptions of the challenges their units will face in the next 5 years to the original survey conducted in 1992. The regional sample included 616 first-line administrators, and a 30.5% response rate was achieved. The demographic distribution of the regional respondents shows significant shifts in gender, age, education, experience and release time but constancy in race and stability of the population. Similarities between the two samples exist regarding the challenges of maintaining program quality, providing technology, and managing financial issues. The regional sample expresses greater concern about the challenges of distance education, external accountability, and student matters.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Leadership and Foundations. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The need for a high-quality workforce to meet increased competition in the world economy has increased the need for competent vocational administrators in public 2-year postsecondary institutions. Researchers have agreed that vocational education is in a state of metamorphosis and must change to meet its challenges in the coming century. At the same time, more women are seeking and obtaining vocational administrative positions. Several studies have been done to identify the competencies needed by vocational administrators to perform their duties, but there has been little research on the actual ability to perform the administrative tasks identified by these studies. Two main purposes of this study are: (a) to determine the perceived level of administrative competencies possessed by women administrators in vocational education at the community college level in Texas; (b) to determine the adequacy of the preservice training received by these administrators to perform their administrative functions. Of the 175 women administrators randomly selected to participate in the study, 71% completed the Administrator Task Inventory. In addition to the descriptive statistics, two multiple regression analyses were tested. First, principal component analysis was used to reduce the number of dependent variables from 11 to 2, after which two multiple regression analyses were used to test the relationship between the two component scores identified as management-skills factors and educational-skills factors and the four independent variables of level of education, number of years of teaching vocational subject, number of years of vocational administrative experience, and level of vocational professional organization involvement. The results indicate that the women administrators possess the competencies needed to perform their tasks, but one fourth of the administrators need better preservice and/or inservice training on at least 7 of 11 competency categories studied. The results also show that a negative relationship exists between the number of years of teaching vocational subjects and management-skills competencies.

This study examined the extent of job-related burnout among Dallas County Community College Administrators. The levels of burnout among the participants were assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). This questionnaire seeks to measure the frequency and intensity of the three components of burnout—emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of a sense of personal accomplishment.

The retirement of community college administrators has led to the creation of leadership development institutes. Yet, few studies exist to understand their comprehensive design, practices, and effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of, and a framework for, creating and evaluating effective leadership development institutes. The framework was applied to the El Paso Community College’s Leadership Development Academy (EPCC-LDA) to examine how its program aligned with the framework; assess the EPCC-LDA’s success in meeting its own specified goals of creating more skilled leaders; and understand better how EPCC-LDA decisions, practices, program components and forms of evaluation have led to successful outcomes. The research design followed a descriptive, case study format utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. This study had several major findings. First, El Paso Community College demonstrated how an effective leadership development institute can be created by focusing its design and implementation on processes, core values, and human interaction. Second, the study’s analytic framework was validated through a triangulation of data: research recommendations; EPCC-LDA coordinating committee interviews; and program participant evaluations. Third, El Paso Community College was accomplishing and surpassing its mission of improving employee leadership skills. This study concluded with recommendations for the refinement of its analytic framework, for EPCC-LDA programmatic considerations, and for future studies. By instituting responsive and focused programming that continually meets the needs of the institution, the participants, and leadership in general, leadership development institutes can serve as one effective resource for increasing the flow into the community college leadership pipeline, increasing the skills of those within the pipeline, and improving the pipeline’s outflow of diverse leaders. / text

For many years, community colleges that chose to offer community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs were looked upon in a negative light (Rice, 2015). However, as the need for specialized baccalaureates within specific fields and job markets have continued to grow (McKee, 2005), CCB programs are becoming more widely accepted throughout the United States. In spite of this paradigm shift, Mississippi is one of the remaining states that have not embraced the idea of CCB programs, in spite of its statistical deficiency in regards to baccalaureate degree holding citizens (Williams, 2010). The focus of this study was to explore the perceptions of community college administrators in Mississippi with regards to the influence of CCB programs to the community college mission of institutions in their state. This study indicates that administrators in Mississippi recognize the benefits of offering CCB programs, but do not want CCB programs to take away from the well-established statewide higher education system through mission creep. Many of the strong position statements received overwhelmingly neutral responses. In contrast, Administrators who chose to give their opinion indicated that they are not familiar with how CCB programs are implemented, and do not believe that Mississippi is ready for CCB programs across the state. However, respondents felt that the community college mission is always evolving, should meet students’ needs, and varies from location to location. The findings also show that administrators are favorable to the piloting of CCB programs at a few (1-2) institutions, even though they believe the programs will take funding away from current programs and do not want community colleges evolving into 4-year institutions. The study also concludes that there is a significant difference between institution size and survey questions #18 and #20. There is also a significant difference between length of time in the community college sector and survey questions #15, #17, and #18.