Academic department chairs are middle managers in higher education that have unique positions within an institution. This study examined novice department chairs' leadership identity within eastern United States community colleges. Novice was defined as a person having three or fewer years of experience in the department chair position. The gap in…

Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to obtain community college career technical education (CTE) department chairs' lived experiences toward synthesizing leadership skills. This study sought to identify the lived experiences of CTE department chairs at community colleges. The research question was "How do CTE department chairs…

Department chairs serve a vital function at community colleges. They are middle managers, mid-level leaders, and faculty members. They serve a unique position within the organization because they interact with nearly every unit: academics affairs, student affairs, senior administrators and students. At a time when professional organizations are…

Department chairs are tasked with a variety of responsibilities including informing institutional decisions, yet approximately 65% of department chairs have reported receiving no training, and two-thirds of those who received training believed it was not adequate. I conducted an external program evaluation of a department chair institute for…

The purpose of this study was to explore community college athletic departments and how they connect and facilitate messages to their stakeholders. With limited resources, it's important to understand how the athletic departments are applying best strategies and principles of relational management. Therefore, the goal and importance of this…

This study examined the experiences of faculty members who transitioned into the role of department chair at community colleges in the United States. While there is research on faculty transitioning into department chair roles at four-year colleges and universities, there is very little research on this transition within community college…

The purpose of this qualitative multi-case research study was to analyze the perceptions of academic leaders (faculty [and] department heads) within subcultures (academic units) on a community college campus. A subculture is a subdivision of a macro-culture that formed through differentiation. Differentiation, led to the development of subgroups…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine how faculty chairs at a large, Midwestern community college understand and engage with the assessment of student learning outcomes within academic programs. This study was informed by two conceptual paradigms of assessment: accountability and improvement. Sensemaking was used as a…

STEM leaders, deans and chairs who oversee three or more academic disciplines, tend to leave their posts at a fast pace. This can cause disruptions within an academic unit for both students and faculty. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate the rate of attrition among community college Science, Technology, Engineering and…

Community colleges throughout the United States have declared "global competence" as a learning objective for their students since the last decade of the 20th century. The North Carolina (NC) Community College system is no exception, as its statewide mission statement lists preparing students to be globally competent as a goal for all 58…

The purpose of this action research study was to investigate the perceived status of adjunct faculty and improve their sense of belonging and organizational inclusion in a community college English department. Adjunct faculty are the majority in public two-year campuses, yet they are not fully included in college activities or organizational…

Advancements in technology have altered the skills sets needed by the workforce. The demand for increased knowledge has created a skills gap in the nation's workforce. A large number of middle-skill jobs are left unfilled; jobs which require more than a high school education but less than a four-year degree. Community colleges have the ability to…

As the complexities of the departmental chair continued to increase, so did the importance of having a process to use to fairly assign the teaching load for departmental chairs. In 1982 Carolyn Branch conducted a survey to identify the factors that were being used. She received input from the chief academic officers that a process, procedure or…

This study investigated the interaction of institutional culture with transformational change in the technical studies department of a medium-sized community college in the west. The department, chosen because it was undergoing transformational change, contained programs connected with industry in the local community. The ensuing institutional…

The purpose of this study was to research the specifics of the role of community college English as a Second Language (ESL) academic department chair (ADC) through the perceptions of the deans, the ADCs, and the departmental faculty in two large suburban community colleges in the northeastern United States. A mixed methodology was used and…