Written for community college presidents and others interested in community college leadership, this book provides a practical guide to the presidency based upon the author's extensive experience as a college president. The book is divided into four sections, each addressing a separate issue related to college presidency. The first section, "The Presidency in Transition," includes four chapters on the nature of the presidency, the preparation required of college presidents, searching for a college president, and methods for smoothing out transition periods for incoming presidents. The second section, "Effective Presidential Leadership," provides five chapters addressing the nature of the president's constituencies; internal and external governance of the college; the administration of personnel, faculty, finances, student affairs, facilities, and public relations; the need for the establishment of personnel policies and practices designed to procure, develop, and retain personnel; and the role of institutional research and planning. Section 3, "The President's Service Environment," presents chapters on the role of assessment and evaluation of outcomes in accreditation, the special case of the non-urban junior college, the perquisites of the presidency, and methods of evaluating the president and issues surrounding such evaluations. Each chapter in the first three sections concludes with topics for further study. The final section provides 56 case studies designed to show practical administrative problems faced by community college presidents. Contains 61 references. (MAB)