Currently, a majority of two-year colleges in the United States are located in rural areas. Small, rural-serving community colleges are instrumental to the survival of the communities they reside in, as well as vital to the stakeholders they serve. How does being a rural community college present specialized challenges and in what ways do the…

The role of a community college department chairperson is not well defined and the job is often perceived as more of a burden than an honor. Faculty come to the position frequently by "default" and without a ready set of management and leadership skills. The matter is of concern since chairs influence academic department strategy, culture, and…

Over the next decade, as the community college's current generation of leaders and administrators begin retiring in large numbers, important steps must be taken to identify and develop future leaders for the institution. A variety of internal opportunities (e.g., internships, leadership development programs, graduate school programs) provide…

A doctorate is increasingly a credential for community college leaders, yet much remains unknown about the structure of doctoral programs and links between course requirements and practitioner needs. Programs awarding an Ed.D. more often focus on skill-oriented coursework, whereas Ph.D. programs have greater emphasis on research. This study…

Community colleges, traditionally resistant to change, must undergo a major transformation in order to become major democratizing and economic forces in a rapidly evolving future. Strong leadership will be needed to bring about the changes. However, fewer and fewer well prepared individuals are entering community college administration, while…

The authors examine the current community college presidential pipeline and offer possible explanations for poor CEO representation from diverse populations. They explore a relationship between CEO satisfaction and diversity by testing whether CEO satisfaction is correlated to campus and administrative diversity. While data from the study…

In this article, the researchers describe a qualitative interview study in which three current presidents of community colleges in Florida shared their beliefs and perspectives regarding contemporary issues affecting the community college as an institution of higher education. The Florida Community College System, with its network of 28 community…

Over the next ten years, retirements will bring a leadership crisis in community colleges. One way to combat the impending crisis is to develop formal mentoring programs which nurture future leaders. One way to ensure the mentoring program achieves its objective is by using a framework to assess leadership strengths and weaknesses. Mentors who are…

This article presents a transcript of Steven Berg's interviews with James MacGregor Burns and Ritchie McKay regarding leadership. James Burns is a senior fellow in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Ritchie McKay is Head Coach of the men's basketball team at University of New Mexico. Steven Berg is an…