Date of Award
Spring 2019
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
Committee Chair
Heather M. Annulis
Committee Chair School
Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
Committee Member 2
Quincy Brown
Committee Member 2 School
Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
Committee Member 3
Cyndi H. Gaudet
Committee Member 3 School
Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
Committee Member 4
Dale L. Lunsford
Committee Member 4 School
Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
Abstract
Leaders in higher education face more change than ever before in a complex, challenging, and continually shifting social, political, and economic environment (Kezar & Holcombe, 2017). As a result, presidents are increasingly accountable for performance and metrics serve as an important component of accountability (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2017). However, presidents may not possess the “rare combination of skills that enables them to be both strong transactional and operational leaders as well as more visionary and transformational ones” (Pelletier, 2016, p. 31). As a consequence, leadership failure produces significant adverse results for presidents and institutions including the loss of positions and the threat of college closures (Featherman, 2014). Therefore, the current study identifies and prioritizes the essential leadership competencies for college presidents in a metrics-driven environment. The purposefully selected participant sample consists of the System President and Institution Chancellors of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS), selected as a group of experts due to their participation and experience in the LCTCS metrics-driven environment of LA2020 strategic goals. This Delphi study focuses on the experiences of college presidents in a metrics-driven environment. Findings suggest the importance of metrics related leadership competencies and the balancing of factors relating to metrics. Recommendations are presented for a new higher education leadership competency model and framework for higher education transformation in a metrics-driven environment.
Copyright
2019, Mark McLean
Recommended Citation
McLean, Mark, "Essential Leadership Competencies for College Presidents in a Metrics-Driven Community College System" (2019). Dissertations. 1653.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1653