Community College Leadership: A Multidimensional Model for Leading Change

Recognizing that future community college leaders–at all levels–will manage increasingly complex organizations, and face very different challenges than their predecessors, this book provides a multidimensional model of leadership suited to these new demands and environments.

The model addresses issues of leader cognition, race and gender, the importance of culture, and the need for more collaborative modes of communication and decision making to frame and implement change. It recognizes that there is no longer any one way to lead, and that the next generation of leaders will be more diverse, possess experience and qualifications from a wider variety of careers, and follow new pathways to their positions. Leaders in the future will possess a cultural competency that is fostered by being lifelong learners.

Through over 75 individual interviews with leaders and campus members, Eddy is able to provide examples of the model's components in practice, and to illuminate which experiences proved the most relevant for these leaders on their route to upper administration. She shows how her model intersects with the new leadership competencies defined by the American Association of Community Colleges, and proposes strategies for future leadership development.