This study surveyed executive administrators of community colleges that had experienced a presidential transition between 2006 and 2009. Its purpose was to determine their perceptions of career risk associated with the community college position of president. The study compared the perceptional changes to a prior study on the same subject by…

Not all community college presidents begin their careers with the goal of becoming president, yet something causes them to alter their initial career paths to seek a presidency. Understanding how community college leaders make the decision to seek and subsequently prepare for a presidency can help identify candidates with the potential to fill…

Choice of a new president is a decision of great importance to individuals within the organization and to the community the college serves. An issue in the search process is the continued domination of presidential candidates by Whites, particularly White males, contrary to changing demographics of student and national populations. For the most…

The paper reports on a study of partners of USA university president/chancellors, a rarely researched population in scholarly literature. Interviews with 24 male and female presidential partners of state supported colleges and universities provided insight into a privileged yet perplexing position, rarely seen by the public. The study draws on the…

Executive evaluation and compensation are central to organizational accountability and governance. Driven by increasing public demand on justifications and accountability for substantial salary increases for public university presidents, this paper is intended to shed light on the linkage between performance and executive compensation in public…

The effect of charismatic leadership on organizational performance is contested. Yet despite the lack of consistent evidence of the value of charismatic leadership to organizations, presidential searches have increasingly favored charismatic candidates. This study shows how organizational identity mediates the relationship between charismatic…

Community colleges are expected to serve the needs of their local communities. Hence, college presidents are called on to lead this collaboration between the college and the community. Presidents, however, are affected by a multitude of factors that contribute to abridged tenures, a scenario that can have harmful effects on the educational…

When Geoffrey Sherington and I set out on our project on the Australian Public University, which culminated in "Sydney: The Making of a Public University" (2012), we wanted to move away from the emphasis of conventional institutional history on chancellors, vice-chancellors and governing councils in order to explore the university as a…

This study used the lens of Resource Dependency Theory to examine the mindsets of nine community college presidents in California as they responded to the decline in state funding. The literature indicated that community colleges are pursing alternative sources of funding and emphasized presidents' roles in leading and engaging in many…

Objective: To identify college presidents' support for tobacco-free campus policies (TFCP), perceived barriers and benefits to implementing such policies, and activities that might initiate policy adoption. Participants: Participants were 405 presidents (51% of 796 delivered surveys) from a national sample of eligible 4-year institutions in…

The impact of cosmopolitan and local latent social roles on different professional occupations and organizational behavior has been studied since Gouldner's seminal study was published in 1957. This study was conducted to understand the relationship between the latent social role of the public community college chief academic officer and his…

Journalism education traditionally has occupied an uneasy space on the fringe of the university. Recent trends have not made its footing any more secure. The tension between the professional nature of journalism education and its scholarly aspirations, which tend away from applied research, are confusing to upper-level university administrators,…

The system of electing university presidents in Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and the United Kingdom has distinctive characteristics. Almost all university presidents are elected by teachers and students, either directly or indirectly through elections with government approval of the appointment a mere formality. Principles of these elections include…

This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of ten Lutheran (ELCA) college presidents who had transitioned from the presidency. The purpose of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of former college presidents who were associated with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) colleges. The results…

Objective: To assess the perceptions and practices of a national sample of college and university presidents regarding their support for concealed handguns being carried on college campuses. Participants: The sample for this study consisted of a national random sample of 900 college or university presidents. Methods: In the spring of 2013, a…