Over the past several years calls of a pending community college leadership crisis have been replete in the literature. Not only is there a need for new presidential leaders, but also upper level administrative leaders. This turnover in personnel sets a critical juncture in community college leadership and creates possibilities for envisioning new constructions of leadership at two-year colleges and an expanded composition of who makes up this cadre of leaders. Historically, community colleges have been structured bureaucratically, however, they were also sites at which women and people of color have ascended to leadership positions to a much greater extent than at other institutional types. Women comprised 27% of public two-year college presidents in 2001, while minorities made up 14.9% of college presidents at public community colleges (Corrigan, 2002). These levels of representation, while not reaching parity with the number of white male leaders, reveal 72% more women and 32% more minorities in top leadership positions at community colleges compared to the representation found at public, doctoral granting institutions during the same time period. This statistic highlights the fact that, relatively, two-year colleges provide underrepresented groups greater access to upper level leadership positions.

The traditional pathway to the presidency begins with a first position as a faculty member who eventually moves to the position of chair or dean, ascends to vice president, and finally president. Amey and VanDerLinden (2002) reveal this path is slowly changing. Leaders come to the position of the presidency via many routes, including some outside of higher education, often from the business sector. The expanding route of access also includes hiring individuals from community college administrative positions in areas not traditionally thought of as on the career pathway to a community college presidency. These areas include student affairs, information technology, and administrative affairs. While the chief academic officer position or a preceding presidency is still the most common previous position for new community college presidents, the expansion of alternative routes to the presidency is creating opportunities for people who do not fit the norm. This expansion comes at a time when it can aid in meeting the demand.

Not since the tremendous growth period during the 1960s have community colleges needed so many new leaders. Recent reports highlight that as many as 700 new community college presidents will be required by 2007 (AACC, 2004). The necessity to hire so many college leaders emphasizes the importance of institutions and hiring boards to closely consider how these new leaders will learn to lead. Discovering ways to create smooth transitions to the presidency and other senior positions is critical to both the leaders' success and to the institutional health of the colleges they will lead. Because increased pathways will result in many new leaders with diverse backgrounds, it is necessary to address the issue of how new leaders learn about the culture and mission of community colleges in general and the specific institutions they will lead. Moreover, as organizations have become more complex and as external pressures on institutions mount, new leaders must forego bureaucratic conceptions of leadership in favor of more dynamic and interactive ways of leading.

Research Project

The data for this research came from site visits, conducted between 2001 and 2003, at nine community colleges located across the country. Site selection criteria included campuses with new presidents, defined as leading the campus for five years or less. The research design employed case study methodology, with interviews conducted with the college president, members of upper level leadership ranks, faculty, and mid-level administrators. In total, the study included 73 interviews.

Findings

The research reported here reviews the impact of adult learning theory as a framework for thinking about the learning processes for new presidential hires, the influence of previous experiences on presidents' actions at their new campuses, and the role of situated learning for the presidents once on the job. The cognitive approach new leaders bring to their understanding of organizational operations also impacts their actions once on the job and is considered in the learning equation. A review of implications for the future looks toward ways in which to prepare leaders while in the pipeline to a presidency.

Adult Learning Theory

Aspiring college presidents approach learning the requisite skills of leadership as adult learners. Knowles (1989) identified a set of assumptions necessary for a learning environment using an andragogical approach. The assumptions include (a) the need for adults to know why they should learn something, (b) adults' desire to be validated by others as self-directed learners, (c) the use of adult experiences to enrich learning, (d) acknowledgement of adults' readiness to learn as a function of the need to perform social roles, (e) adults' problem centered orientation to learning, and (f) that adults' most potent motivators are internal. The research in this study validated Knowles' assumptions. The presidents interviewed referred to specific learning opportunities, including formal programs offered by the League for Innovation and the American Association for Community College's Presidents Academy , as critical to their success. Clearly, the participants noted the most helpful learning experiences included occasions when they could immediately apply information learned to practice.

Previous Experience

Prior work experience provided another learning venue for the new college presidents interviewed. They referred to accomplishments from previous positions and how they used this information to approach situations as a new president on campus. One president stated frankly, "I know this business." Not only did experiences guide their leading at their new colleges, but also their observations of how others led and the outcomes of those experiences. As one new president noted when reflecting on her experience as a vice president, "You find yourself watching your boss and thinking 'He's making mistakes that I wouldn't make.' "

Mentors also served to open up a variety of opportunities for the participants. These opportunities, however, were not always equally available. One female president reflected, "Maybe it's changing, but I just have a sense that some of my male colleagues have stronger mentoring arrangements than I did." The fact that some individuals are groomed for advancement, while others are not, may cause the pipeline to the presidency to narrow. One recent study on career pathways at community colleges concluded that two of the critical barriers reported by participants included a lack of opportunities at their current institutions and an unwillingness to move or relocate (VanDerLinden, 2003). Thus, how individuals experience opportunities while enroute to a presidency can impact how they construct their actions as a president and, more importantly, who is allowed access to advancement opportunities.

Situated Cognition

Individuals' underlying mental maps provide reference points as leaders learn to navigate in their new positions. These maps serve as guides to understanding what to expect based on previous outcomes under similar conditions. Complementing these maps is the situated learning that occurs in new contexts. Situated learning assumes that learning occurs not only by individual interactions, but also depends on the contexts in which the interactions happen (Lattuca, 2002). Thus, as leaders learn to operate in new environments, they receive environmental feedback that allows them to augment their thinking and approach to leading in their new context. When leaders are aware of the influence of contextual learning they can make better use of feedback loops. Otherwise, individual leaders may apply old mental models in situations that call for different actions. The outcome of success or failure can ultimately depend on the leader's ability to assess and adapt to the new environment in which he or she leads.

Cognitive Approach to Leading

The approach leaders take to leading can be a combination of frames of references. Bensimon (1991) concluded that presidents who use multiple organizational frames achieve more success because they see a wider view of the organization and can apply different approaches in a variety of situations. While no single organizational frame equated with more success for presidents in this study, a more favorable perception existed for those presidents employing a symbolic lens. The management of meaning that is central to this organizational approach provided a critical leadership component for the presidents who used symbolic references. How the president chose to frame campus events resulted in a particular campus perspective that could act as a powerful component for action. Understanding and learning to use this cognitive approach more consciously would give new leaders another lever for change.

Implications and Conclusions

As community college faculty and administrators anticipate a large turnover in campus presidencies, it is important to consider how to best prepare for the transition, both on an individual level and on an institutional level. Employing adult learning principles in leadership development programs would ease the learning curve for developing leaders. Aspiring presidents should also work to expand their breadth of experiences because research demonstrates that lessons learned in prior experience often have relevance in similar activities in future positions. For women and leaders of color, it is especially critical to create networks and learning opportunities that go beyond their positional duties. The expansion of work experiences for these groups may begin to address the lack of mentoring or institutional opportunities for advancement experienced by some members of these constituencies. Institutions should provide expanded experiences and formal mentoring programs to enable the growth of all individuals and to aid in succession planning.

The concerted efforts of professional organizations like AACC and the League of Innovation in offering leadership development opportunities provide a critical component to addressing projected leadership needs. Individuals currently in the president's position can further aid the development of their successors by providing a wide array of experiences for potential leaders. Thinking outside of the historical range of positions which may have excluded women and people of color would help expand leadership opportunities for these individuals.

Another source of learning about leading is afforded in graduate programs. Many future leaders are currently obtaining the credential of a doctorate as they prepare to compete for future promotion. As such, it is important for graduate programs training these aspiring leaders to teach not only the requisite skills of understanding organization, budgets, and laws, but also how to become reflective learners. The complexity of current organizations and the demands of the external environment on higher education in general make it necessary for leaders to be lifelong learners. Part of this process is recognizing that learning about leadership requires a foundation in adult learning theory and reflective experiences. The demands placed upon community colleges are too great to ignore the importance of providing comprehensive training and educational experiences for our future leaders. u

Pamela Eddy is an Assistant Professor of Educational Administration and Community Leadership at Central Michigan University . She can be reached via phone at 989-774-1162 or e-mail at pamela.eddy@cmich.edu.

References

American Association of Community Colleges. (2004). Leading Forward Overview . Retrieved October 25, 2004 , from http://www.ccleadership.org/leading_forward/overview.htm

Amey, M. J., & VanDerLinden, K. L. (2002). Career paths for community college leaders. Leadership Series. AACC Research Brief. Washington , DC : American Association of Community Colleges.

Bensimon, E. (1991). The meaning of "good presidential leadership": A frame analysis. In M. Peterson (Ed.), Organization and governance in higher education (pp. 421-431). Needham Heights , MA : Simon & Schuster.

Corrigan, M. (2002). The American college president: 2002 Edition . Washington , DC : American Council on Education Center for Policy Analysis.

Knowles, M. (1989). The making of an adult educator . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

Lattuca, L. R. (2002). Learning interdisciplinarity: Sociocultural perspectives on academic work. The Journal of Higher Education, 73 (6), 711-739.

VanDerLinden, K. L. (2003). Career advancement and leadership development of community college administrators . Paper presented at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago , IL .