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Articles
2007
Grocery Store Politics: Leading the Rural Community College Grocery Store Politics: Leading the Rural Community College
Pamela L. Eddy
College of William & Mary
, pamela.eddy@wm.edu
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Eddy, Pamela L., "Grocery Store Politics: Leading the Rural Community College" (2007).
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Grocery Store Politics: Leading the Rural Community College
Abstract
Rural community colleges comprise slightly less than one-half of all two-year colleges, making a
review of the leaders of these institutions critical—especially in light of predicted leadership
shortages impacting community colleges. Rural America is characterized by decreasing
populations, increasing poverty, limited economic growth, and limited access to cultural events.
The context of the rural environment makes leading colleges in these locations different than in
larger, more urban regions. In remote areas, students have different needs, faculty composition
involves fewer numbers, and leaders have a unique role, both within the college and the
community. The research reported here investigated the experience of rural community college
leaders to determine more about the phenomenon of how they constructed their leadership given
their rural context. Findings indicate less anonymity for rural community college leaders, a
reliance on relationship building to accomplish goals, and a smaller local peer network to aid in
reflecting upon the duties of the president. In light of future shortages in campus leaders, rural
colleges may want to consider programs that help “grow their own” leaders.
Rural community colleges make up 45% of all two-year colleges and educate one third of
all community college students per year (Katsinas & Hardy, 2004). Definitions of rural consist of
“a set of identifiers that include the words low, slow and high-low population density, low total
populations, low per-capita income, low levels of educational attainment, slow job growth, high
poverty, high unemployment, and high rates of illiteracy” (Gillett-Karam, 1995, p. 43). Given the
particular context of needs of rural areas, leaders of the community colleges in these regions may
face different types of challenges and as a result, construct their conceptions of what it means to
be a community college leader different than their suburban and urban counterparts.
Current conversations about leadership at community colleges have involved pending
shortages of leaders. A recent report by AACC predicts a turnover for 70% of presidents within
the next 10 years (Shults, 2001). With the national demand for community college presidential
replacements and the fact that nearly half of all community colleges are rural, the question is
how will rural colleges compete in attracting new leaders? Less cultural events, lower pay, and
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more isolated regions all create different challenges and resource issues for leaders of rural
colleges.
Coupled with the issue of numbers of new leaders required at two-year colleges are
expanded conceptions that define leadership itself. Historical theories of leadership evolved from
trait theory to behaviorist approaches to the need for transformational leaders (Bensimon,
Neumann, & Birnbaum, 1989). More recent approaches to leadership involve the notion of
leadership as learning (Amey, 2005; Davis, 2003). These latter perspectives rely on leaders using
individuals throughout the organization for leading. Learning as a foundation for leadership also
means that leaders are constantly adjusting their actions given feedback they receive.
Given the role rural community college presidents play in the community college system,
the call for new leaders, and the rethinking of leadership itself, the question at the heart of this
research asked how do rural community college presidents construct their leadership given their
rural locales?
Literature Review
Research on college presidents often focuses on leaders of four-year institutions.
Attention to community college presidents is not as prevalent and research on rural community
college leaders even less evident. Twombly (1995) noted different phases in the history of
community colleges and identified contextual influences of each era, particularly noting
prevalent leadership theories of the time. The first age relied on leadership theory based on trait
theory and the “great man” and corresponded with the founding of the first community colleges
[1900-1930s]. The next phase identified by Twombly occurred during the time frame when
community colleges were seeking an identity separate from secondary schools [1940s-1950s]
and during which funding availability created a huge demand by veterans for postsecondary
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education. This period of time corresponded with the behaviorist theories of leadership which
placed emphasis on the behaviors of leaders relative to subordinates (i.e., the Ohio State studies
and the University of Michigan studies—as cited in Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2004). The third
phase covered the period of expansive growth of community colleges in the 1960s and 1970s.
This founding time period created the system and structure of community colleges as we know
them today. During this period of expansion, prevalent leadership theory focused on contingency
leadership (Fiedler, 1967) and the use of power and influence of leaders and followers (Burns,
1978). The next phase of development [1980s-1995] highlighted an attention to resource issues
and brought in leadership models from business with a focus on efficiency and effectiveness.
Cultural theories of leadership focused on the influence of the interaction of leaders and
followers in socially constructing leadership based on context (Baker & Associates, 1992).
Roueche, Baker, and Rose (1989) further examined and categorized exemplary community college
leaders using transformational behavioral attributes, noting the role of leaders in changing the beliefs
and actions of followers.
It has been a decade since the publication of Twombly’s (1995) article and I would argue
that a new phase of transition now faces community colleges and their leaders. The latest phase
for community college leaders that Twombly did not address might be characterized by a focus
on leaders as learners and community colleges in a period of redefinition. The environmental
context of this current period requires institutions to be poised to address new challenges and
complexities and to alter course to meet changing demands. The demand for more organizational
flexibility requires a learning foundation (Amey, 2005) for community college leaders and their
institutions.
Senge’s (1990) work on the learning organization spotlighted attention on how leaders
need to be concerned with personal mastery and how they must aid their organizations in the use
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of continuous feedback so the organization learns from its actions. The foundation of Senge’s
conception of a learning organization builds on the mastery of the five disciplines of systems
thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, and team learning. Vaill
(1997) builds on the ideal of leaders facilitating team learning when he presented his concept of
the “learning premise” (p. 4). Here Vaill argued that leaders are constantly under a barrage of
new information, situations, and insights into themselves. Learning occurs, therefore, when
leaders are able to see these circumstances in a different light, which may require unlearning old
ways of dealing with problems. Davis (2003) emphasized the importance of learning about
leadership at multiple levels of the organization. Specifically, Davis discussed how leadership
can bubble up through various locations within the organization and how a key role for the
positional leader is preparing and mentoring leaders within the institution.
The literature on community college leadership and organizational development indicates
the changes in this sector of higher education over time. This background provides the context
for the review of the data collected for this research and serves as the foundation from which to
determine how these rural leaders constructed their leadership.
Methods
The research reported here is part of a larger study investigating the role of community
colleges presidents and organizational change. The sites chosen for investigation for this study
were two rural two-year colleges located in the same state. These colleges were selected since
the presidents had similar contextual issues regarding state politics and were located only a few
hours from one another, thus providing similar geographic and demographic contexts as well.