Leading for the Future: Alignment of AACC Competencies with Practice New Directions for Community College, Number 159

by Eddy, Pamela L.

• ISBN13: 9781118540923
• ISBN10: 1118540921
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-11-15
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

The AACC competencies were initially developed to help provide guidance in developing community college leaders because of predictions of a leadership crisis in the two-year college sector. Since their creation, the competencies have been used to direct topics in leadership development programs and to guide future leaders about what skills are critical to master. Yet scant research exists on the use of the competencies in practice or on analysis of the competencies within the changing higher education climate. This issue provides a review of the research on the competencies in the field and posits several strategies for the future use of the competencies and potential changes to the competencies. This is the 159th volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Essential to the professional libraries of presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other leaders in today's open-door institutions, New Directions for Community Colleges provides expert guidance in meeting the challenges of their distinctive and expanding educational mission.

Author Biography

Pamela L. Eddy is a professor of higher education and department chair of Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership at the College of William & Mary.

Table of Contents

EDITOR'S NOTES 1
Pamela L. Eddy

1. Historic Overview of the AACC Competencies 7
Nan Ottenritter
This chapter provides background on the development process used to create the AACC competencies and describes the consensus-building strategies employed to assure agreement on leadership priorities.

2. Future Leaders Institute: Rising Leaders and the AACC Competencies 19
Desna L. Wallin
A review of the Future Leaders Institute and the Future Leaders Institute/Advanced provides links between these leadership development programs and the competencies.

3. A Holistic Perspective of Leadership Competencies 29
Pamela L. Eddy
This chapter argues for the use of clusters in thinking about the AACC competencies. Four clusters are presented that highlight the prominence of individual competencies in each cluster approach.

4. The AACC Competencies in Action 41
Chris Duree, Larry Ebbers
The research presented in this chapter draws from community college presidents’ use of the competencies in their own practice. The chapter points out highly used competencies, less used competencies, and strategies to develop the competencies.

5. Competencies in the Heartland 53
Brent Cejda
Rural community colleges face unique challenges given their locales. This chapter focuses on the impact of location on the interpretation and development of the leadership competencies.

6. Doing the Right Thing: Ethical Leadership and Decision Making 63
Regina L. Garza Mitchell
This chapter explores how community college presidents make tough decisions that meet the demands of internal and external constituents while maintaining the delicate balance between personal and professional ethics.

7. Reading the Competencies Through a Feminist Lens 73
Kristin Bailey Wilson, Elizabeth Cox-Brand
Using discourse analysis, this chapter reviews the AACC competencies to see if underlying assumptions are made regarding who can lead in community colleges and what is the most appropriate manner of leading.

8. Refl ections From the Field: Voices of Experience 85
Delores E. McNair, Daniel J. Phelan
Sitting presidents were interviewed to learn what they found to be most relevant about the competencies for their own leadership and for the development of future leaders.

9. Next Steps—Looking to the Future 97
George R. Boggs
This chapter provides a retro-refl ective view of the competencies by Dr. Boggs, the AACC president who fostered the initiation of the competencies. The chapter addresses how the current AACC leadership competencies might have to be expanded or changed.

10. Leaders, Leveraging, and Abundance: Competencies for the Future 109
Richard L. Alfred
Abundance involves leveraging resources to achieve greater outcomes than expected. This chapter describes the competencies leaders need to develop and deploy in colleges striving for abundance.

INDEX 121