A Multidimensional Leadership Model For Rural Community College Presidents

<p>A qualitative study involving six rural community college presidents was conducted with the intended purpose of understanding what dimensions of leadership emerge from rural community college presidents during times of sustained financial distress. Unexpectedly, the presidents pointed the study's discussions to insights much broader than the issue of leading institutions with decreased budgets and instead presented qualitative data that redirected the researcher to explore what dimensions of rural community college leadership emerge because of the "new reality" of higher education. The new reality describes a higher education environment that--along with significantly decreased funding--includes rapidly changing technology, competition from for-profit institutions, the expanding reaches of e-education, and next-generation students who demand a flexible and sophisticated educational delivery. The researcher discovered five dimensions of leadership, which describe the presidential roles necessary for leading in the new reality of higher education: discerning speculators, impassioned advocates, hope-builders, decisive action-makers, and relationship-architects. A multidimensional leadership model was constructed to demonstrate how the concepts work synergistically.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year

2013

Author dc:creator

• Raich, Michael John

Contributors dc:contributor

• Margaret Healy

• Community College, Higher Education, Leadership, Multidimensional, Presidents, Rural

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.und.edu/theses/1472

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.und.edu:theses-2473