This case study of leadership in crisis at Meadow View
Community College (fictitious name) was undertaken to add to
the practical and theoretical knowledge and understanding of
presidential leadership issues that actually occur in
American community colleges. The college under study
one of nearly one-third of the community colleges in a
western state that recently experienced conflict,
controversy and crisis in leadership. The leadership crisis
was defined as the college president and members of his
administration receiving from campus constituents three
votes of "no confidence" in approximately two years. The
study focused on the problem of what can be learned from a
case study of one community college enduring a crisis in
leadership. Research questions guiding the study were: (a)
what does the literature have to say about leadership and
leadership in crisis; (b) how did the crisis in leadership
occur at the Meadow View Community College and what were the
situational preconditions and catalytic events surrounding
the crisis; (c) what were the perceptions of the leadership
crisis as viewed by the Board of Trustees, administrators,
faculty, staff, student leadership, and the college
president; (d) what did Meadow View Community College
constituents learn from the leadership crisis experience;
and (e) what can this case study of leadership in crisis
contribute to the body of knowledge in community college
leadership? The case study utilized naturalistic,
qualitative research methods, triangulation of data, and
rich "thick description" of respondents' constructions of
the leadership crisis context. Respondents (N=34)
included the college president, board members,
administrators, faculty, staff, and student leaders.
Events, patterns and themes which characterized the
leadership crisis context were described and fixed and
variable factors were identified. Findings suggested how
the college president and Board of Trustees may have averted
the crisis in leadership. / Graduation date: 1998
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34196 |
| Date | 04 August 1997 |
| Creators | Leinbach, William T. |
| Contributors | Kenneke, Larry |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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