Community College Leadership and Administration: Theory, Practice, and Change

Citation

Clark, G. (2011), "Community College Leadership and Administration: Theory, Practice, and Change", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 216-219. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231111116743

The community college system is the largest system in higher education, with a unique mission centered on open access to education, serving the local community, and meeting the needs of diverse student learners with a variety of academic, professional, and personal goals. Carlos Nevarez and J. Luke Wood present a well‐researched and practical guide for community college leaders in their new book Community College Leadership and Administration: Theory, Practice, and Change. Nevarez is a Professor of Educational Leadership at California State University, Sacramento, with broad experience in the areas of leadership, equity, and organizational change. Wood serves as the Statewide Co‐Coordinator of the Arizona Program for Policy, Ethics, and Educational Leadership and holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Arizona State University.

The authors argue that “the roles and duties of community college leaders have changed greatly from previous generations” (p. vii). Specifically, today's leaders and administrators must build, sustain, and lead adaptive organizations focused on meeting accountability mandates, closing the achievement gap, and managing dwindling financial resources. The book is organized into 12 chapters covering:

1. 1.

   The community college vision and mission.

2. 2.

   The history and legacy of community colleges.

3. 3.

   Leadership theory.

4. 4.

   The achievement gap.

5. 5.

   Ethical leadership and decision making.

6. 6.

   Faculty.

7. 7.

   Demographic trends.

8. 8.

   Student affairs.

9. 9.

   Finance.

10. 10.

    Community college governance.

11. 11.

    Leadership development.

12. 12.

    Emerging trends.

The authors also provide insightful case studies focused on “real world” challenges written by chancellors, presidents, vice‐presidents, and other representative constituencies. In addition to general readership, this book would make an excellent text for a graduate education course because of its breadth, current research, and success bridging theory with practice.

After the introductory chapters on mission and vision, history, and leadership theory, the authors offer particular insight into the role of community colleges in closing the achievement gap. While more attention is given to this issue in K‐12 circles, Nevarez and Wood make a compelling case regarding the shared responsibility for student success between elementary, secondary, and post secondary schools. For example, they note that “only 6 percent of African Americans and Native Americans and 8 percent of Hispanics are at or above proficient in 12^th‐grade mathematics” (p. 74) and that this has “significant implications for high‐remediation needs for students entering the community colleges”. They go on to report how national high school graduation rates vary by race/ethnicity and these trends influence college enrollment: “80.6 percent of white students graduated from high school in 2005‐06; of these 68.5 percent enrolled in a two‐or four‐year college the following fall. While 59.1 and 61.4 percent of African American and Hispanics graduated from high school in 2005‐06, of which 55.5 and 57.9 percent, respectively, enrolled in colleges the following fall” (p. 75). Nevarez and Wood draw direct implications for community colleges by asserting: “In serving these students, community colleges are challenged to: (a) remediate a large percentage of students; (b) retain students by providing them with a supportive structure which facilitates their success; and (c) prepare students for the workforce and/or advanced studies at four‐year universities” (p. 79). While these are daunting challenges, community college leaders and professionals also have the opportunity to provide significant personal and societal benefits through their work.

Chapters six through ten include revealing statistics and provocative analysis concerning leadership implications among faculty, student affairs, finance, and college governance. The centerpiece of these chapters concerns the role of faculty. The authors note that faculty members are the “pillars of community colleges” and while university faculty is expected to conduct research and publish, the primary role of community college faculty is teaching. According to the authors, “In the community college, 89 percent of faculty report that their main activity is teaching; this contrasts with public and private four‐year faculty who report teaching as their primary activity at 63 percent and 72 percent respectively” (p. 129). Based on these statistics, perhaps it isn't surprising that only 1 percent of faculty at community colleges report engaging in research. Regarding the degree status of community college instructors, the authors report that: “while approximately 58 percent of public and 48 percent private four‐year faculty possess doctoral degrees, the vast majority of community college faculty do not. Only 17.9 percent of the faculty in community colleges possess doctoral degrees” (p. 130). This section also provides data on salaries, job satisfaction, and the role of part time faculty in community colleges. With the current focus in K‐12 on measuring teacher effectiveness, it would have been interesting to gain the authors' insights and application to community college faculty and the role of administrators in guaranteeing that the best, brightest, and most effective teachers are up to the task. The authors suggest that faculty data are important because they:

• •

  informs leader about faculty status in accordance with their salaries, workload, rank, and satisfaction;

• •

  provide administrators with the information necessary to create a system of support for faculty;

• •

  challenge leaders to expand the capabilities of their personnel, and the organization as a whole, to better meet the needs of their students; and

• •

  provide leaders with information needed to develop collegiality, solidarity, and mutual respect among campus personnel.

The final two chapters of the text address leadership development in the community college and emerging trends. Nevarez and Wood warn that “as retirements loom among executive‐level administrators, there is a critical need to develop the next generation of leaders who are prepared to assume the dynamic, complex, and challenging roles that their positions demand” (p. 252). Colleges can particularly improve in the areas of mentoring, support, and training of new and aspiring leaders. The authors discuss five specific challenges facing community college leaders:

1. 1.

   the complexity of the position;

2. 2.

   chronic funding shortages;

3. 3.

   academic success;

4. 4.

   assessment; and

5. 5.

   diversity.

Nevarez and Wood provide a synthesis of studies from the literature on the leadership skills needed for success as a community college administrator. They contrast these needs with the skills emphasized in doctoral programs. The authors conclude that: “it is apparent that the primary skills needed for community college leaders […] encompass two areas: human relations and budget/finance. In contrast, the preparation received in doctoral programs focuses on developing research skills and the technical knowledge needed for success in the professoriate” (p. 256). This is certainly food‐for‐thought – if not a wake‐up call – for graduate programs offering doctoral degrees in education. With possession of a doctoral degree an implicit requirement for gaining employment as a community college administrator, university programs play a significant role in preparing community college administrators for success in the field. In addressing emerging trends in community colleges, Nevarez and Wood circle back to the beginning chapters of the book, which emphasize the mission of community colleges. They note that the community college mission includes six areas:

1. 1.

   open access to education;

2. 2.

   comprehensive educational programming;

3. 3.

   serving the community;

4. 4.

   teaching and learning;

5. 5.

   lifelong learning; and

6. 6.

   students' achieving academic/career goals.

Community colleges are asked to provide a wide‐range of academic and social services. The expansive nature of the community college mission requires leaders to promulgate the historical roles of community colleges while simultaneously innovating, changing, and anticipating future trends and challenges.

In the preface to their book, Nevarez and Wood say that the current literature on community college leadership is “out of date, with the majority of sources being published two to three decades ago” (p. viii). They have done an admirable job bringing the literature up to date and providing today's leaders with a valuable resource to navigate the challenging and complex job of leading a community college institution.