Analysis of Two-Year College Presidents\u27 Ranking of the American Association of Community Colleges\u27 Leadership Competencies

Two-year colleges face a leadership shortage in the next decade. Those who lead two-year colleges need to be prepared to meet challenges of the 21st century and demands of the institution internally and externally, of new technology, and of curriculum. Research led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has resulted in the identification of six leadership competencies needed for the two-year college presidency: organizational strategy; resource management; communication, collaboration, advocacy, and professionalism. To determine sitting two-year college presidents\u27 ranking of those competencies, the researcher adapted an AACC survey that was sent to 425 two-year college presidents in the Southern Regional Educational Board service area. Using the Freidman two-way analysis of variance by ranks led the researcher to reject the hypothesis that the competencies were equal; thus the researcher used the Wilcoxon signed ranks test to determine where the differences were located. The major finding indicated that organizational strategy is relatively more important than resource management, communication, collaboration, and professionalism in the current role of leading two-year institutions. 2 To determine if institutional or individual factors affected those rankings, the researcher used the Mann-Whitney test and the Kruskall-Wallis test to detect group differences in the rankings. When considering how the factors of gender, institution size by Carnegie classification, or length of tenure affected the relative importance of the competencies, female two-year college presidents consider organizational strategy and communication relatively more important than male two-year presidents. Regardless of institution size, the six competencies were equal. Resource management is relatively more important to two-year presidents who have served 4-10 years. Further investigation needs to be done on how the competencies are being used by two-year institutions of higher education, non-degree leadership programs, and staff development trainers

African Church Assets Programme ACAP II : workshop report, Nairobi 2017

This book is a report of the second African Church Assets Programme (ACAP II) Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, which is a continuation to strengthen the capacity of church institutions (such as educational centres, health care services, seminaries, etc.) and asset managers to develop strategies and tools for more efficient and sustainable manag e ment of human and material resources. This workshop i s a result of cooperation between Globethics.net and the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), with the support of Bread for the World. This report is a detailed overview of the presentations, outcomes and follow up of the workshops that took place from 21–23 September 2017, that brought together over 26 auspicious leaders and individuals from various religious institutions

Informing consent: A grounded theory study of parents of transgender and gender diverse youth seeking gender confirming endocrinological interventions

Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) identity during the Twenty-first Century in the United States has been associated with pervasive patterns of mistreatment and discrimination across social, educational, occupational, legal, and healthcare experiences (Drescher, 2010; James et al., 2016; Stryker, 2008). Despite these trends, affirming stances toward TGD identity has been developing almost simultaneously tracing its roots to Christine Jorgensen’s transition in the 1950s. About a decade later, endocrinological interventions were pioneered that aimed to medically support TGD patients who wished to feminize or masculinize their bodies to be more congruent with their gender identity without surgery. These gender-confirming endocrinological interventions (GCEI) have been associated with positive physical and mental health outcomes and have been made available to people across the developmental life span from pre-puberty through late adulthood. However, nearly all of the research regarding GCEI has been conducted on adults. GCEI have been growing in popularity among TGD minors, but in the United States minors almost always need their parents or legal guardians to provide informed consent for GCEI. The literature on the long-term risks and benefits of GCEI on minors is ongoing but not complete. This leaves both TGD youth and their parents in a position to make meaningful decisions without a body of rigorous research to instill confidence in giving or denying consent. This qualitative grounded theory study is the first of its kind aimed at better understanding the decision-making process that parents and guardians of TGD youth go through when providing informed consent for the minor in their care to undergo GCEI. Using primarily intensive interviews supported by observational field notes and document review, this study examined the decision-making processes of a national sample of participants who identified as a parent or legal guardian of at least one TGD youth and who have given informed consent for the youth in their care to undergo GCEI. A variety of inhibiting and contributing factors were illuminated as well as a “dissonance to consonance” model that participants used to combine contributing factors to overcome inhibitors and grant informed consent. Implications for professional counseling practitioners and counselor educators are discussed

The impending retirements of community college presidents: A higher education leadership crisis

The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the phenomenon of the small pool of qualified and interested candidates to replace retiring community college presidents and senior level officers and to learn if or how organizational changes and leadership during the growth and expansion of the community college system have impacted or contributed to this phenomenon. The unit of analysis for the study was a public community college in Southeastern Michigan (the pseudonym of SMCC was assigned). SMCC provided the environmental setting for the researcher to observe, record, and interact with the system being examined. SMCC was used as a vehicle to better understand how or why the phenomenon, a shortage of qualified presidential candidates, may have occurred over time in relation to organizational characteristics, leadership, and environmental factors. The data sources for the proposed study were documents, archival records, and interviews with community college leaders. A conceptual framework based on Deegan and Tillery’s (1985) historical framework on the four generations of community colleges provided a lens for understanding the development of community colleges as institutions as well as the presidents who have led and currently lead them. The concepts embedded in Cain’s (1999) systems approach to understanding community colleges and the organizational change theories of Fullan (1993, 1999, 2001) also contributed to the development of the conceptual framework. This study explored the growth and changes of the role of the community college president in tandem with the perceptions of the role held by potential applicants for the job. Further, this study examined the organizational and structural changes that are unique to the community college and how those changes may have resulted in the current shortage of prepared leaders to replace retiring presidents. It is anticipated that this study will add to the body of community college literature and potentially provide timely and useful insight to avoiding similar shortages in the future. The qualitative case study method was employed in an effort to investigate “how” or “why” the changing organizational characteristics and presidential roles over time may have impacted the community college’s ability to continually produce an interested and qualified pool of applicants to replace retiring presidents. This research explored and concluded that there are a number of disconnections between the role expectations of today’s community college president and the professional and personal expectations of potential candidates to fill the upcoming vacancies. These disconnections and their application for practice are outlined in the conclusion chapter of the dissertation document

Corruption-Free Churches are Possible

In spite of all the efforts and successes during the last twenty years corruption remains a major ethical challenge around the globe and one of the main obstacles to development. This study concentrates on a sector, on which not many publications are available: churches, mission organizations and development agencies. Both are sometimes part of the problem and can contribute a lot to solutions. Experiences of and with churches and development agencies during the last fifteen years (1995-2010) are herewith described and reflected. The author shows that ethical and theological orientation motivates for action. By collecting successful codes of conduct and guidelines the study focuses not on problems, but on solutions. The study includes 35 concrete recommendations. It further contributes to resist resignation and gives hope: corruption-free churches are possible

SWOSU One Hundred and Fifteenth Annual Spring Convocation

This is the program for the SWOSU One Hundred and Fifteenth Annual Spring Convocation Exercises, held at the Pioneer Cellular Events Center on Saturday, May 4, 2019, at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Opening Remarks were presented by President Randy L. Beutle

A study of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System\u27s Leadership Development Institute and the impact of participation

Begun in 2001, the Leadership Development Institute (LDI) was created by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) as a means of improving the leadership abilities of faculty, staff, and administrative personnel throughout the system, a “grow your own” leadership program (Leadership Development, 2006). LDI has evolved into a nine-month program of presentations, lectures, mentoring, self-exploration activities, and internships. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the impact of participation in LDI on the career and educational goals of former cohort members. Phase One of this research project, the qualitative portion of the study, was composed of individual interviews with 5% of located former LDI cohort members. The interviews were completed over the phone so as to allow for participation by former LDI participants located throughout the state of Louisiana. The qualitative portion of the research and a thorough review of the literature provided the basis for the Leadership Development Long-term Impact Survey (LDLIS) that was developed by the researcher. The second phase of the research, the quantitative phase, was the administration of the LDLIS to all identified LDI former cohort members. The survey results were tabulated and indicate that LDI participation does significantly impact the career goals of former cohort members. Although the results for educational goals were not significant, a positive impact was noted. The following information could be used to develop new or improve existing leadership programs for community college or university leaders