Presidential Perceptions About Graduate-Preparation Programs for Community Colleges

Abstract

ABSTRACT Community colleges are facing a growing need for well-trained leaders. These colleges have often looked to university-based preparation programs for their labor pools, yet few attempts at evaluating their effectiveness in leadership preparation have been undertaken. The current study was designed to explore both the current state of these university-based preparation programs in preparing community college leaders. It also tried to gain insights from current community college presidents about what should be included in graduate-preparation programs. Using a national sample of community college presidents, nearly 400 responses were obtained. Findings indicated that preparation programs, while well perceived, need to do a better job of interacting with the practitioner community and using real-world cases in their instruction.