The focus of this study is a search for the voice of African American
community college trustees as they work to impact the changes community
colleges must make over the next quarter century. It examined the lived
experiences and perceptions that selected African American community college
trustees have of their roles as trustees and the impact they think they are having on
the setting of priorities in the governance of their respective colleges. This topic is
significant since, arguably, community colleges are the quintessential democratic
institutions in society; their doors are open to everyone. In various ways,
community colleges are dynamically responding to the demographic changes that
are occurring in American society. Among those changes are an increasing number
of African American students entering college, especially community colleges, and
an increasing number of African Americans becoming community college trustees.
This study found that the elected African American community college
trustees who participated in this study are fully integrated into the governance
processes of their colleges, but do not think of themselves a being assimilated into
the culture of their boards. They believe that they bring a double consciousness to
their roles as trustees and that it allows them to perceive governance issues from
the perspectives of insiders who are comfortable with the status quo and from the
perspective of outsiders who have been traditionally removed from the locus of
institutional power. Participants see themselves as representatives of the interests
of their colleges as well as representatives of the interests of groups and
individuals who have little or no voice in the affairs of their colleges. Participants
are long-time community leaders whose influence extends beyond their colleges
into their communities; they see themselves as servant leaders dedicated to
working for change in society. / Graduation date: 2005
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/29923 |
| Date | 01 June 2004 |
| Creators | Hendrix, George A. |
| Contributors | Copa, George H. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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