This issue focuses on preparing department chairs for their leadership roles. It presents qualities that experienced chairs cite as being crucial to success, and asserts the need to develop formal training programs for people newly appointed to these positions. Articles include: (1) "Midlevel Management in the Community College: A Rose Garden?" (Rosemary Gillett-Karam); (2) "Meeting the Millennium's Challenge: Leading from Where You Are" (Robin L. Spaid and Michael H. Parsons); (3) "The Practitioner's Guide to Midlevel Management Development" (Mary S. Spangler); (4) "A Statewide Survey of New Department Chairs: Their Experiences and Needs in Learning Their Roles" (Albert B. Smith and Gloria A. Stewart); (5) "College Presidents Examine Midlevel Management in the Community College" (Rosemary Gillett-Karam, et. al.); (6) "The Need for Leadership Training: The Evolution of the Chair Academy" (Gary L. Filan); (7) "Situating Midlevel Managers' Training: Learning and Doing in Context" (John M. Pettitt); (8) "Understanding Managerial Leadership as More Than an Oxymoron" (Erika Yamasaki); and (9) "Sources and Information on Midlevel Managers in the Community College" (Elizabeth Foote). (AS)