Facing Vexing Problems for Community College Leaders

Written scholars and past community college presidents, this book provides unique perspectives and tools for facing some of the most vexing problems for community college leaders. Structured for both current and aspiring presidents, the book introduces the 'challenge framework' and is structured the same way including the process for collecting information for the challenge, the approach to analyzing that information, a glimpse into how to structure potential initiatives to address the challenge, and a discussion on the follow-up processes for each challenge. By using the framework in this book to examine nine of the most significant challenges that college leaders face, the work shows how to apply the framework to common challenges and wicked problems in higher education.
The nine main challenges addressed in this book are situated in current research focused on executive college leaders and supplemented by the lived experience of college presidents to create a blend of theory and practice that best informs and prepares college leaders. The challenges focused on in this book include the executive leader search process, strategic enrollment management, board engagement, talent management, institutional politics, institutional finances, fundraising, inclusive programming, crisis management, and personal health. The challenges span the experience of being hired as a community college leader to the impact of leadership on one’s personal life. Taking this wholistic approach is critical because too much of the current research only focuses on the day-to-day work of presidents.