Innovations Library

Search results ordered by: Relevance, Date Descending. Keyword search results do not display in date descending order.

Realigning a Community College Around Equity During Three Crises
Steve Quis July 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 7
Count all 195
On March 20, 2020, the final key turned in the last lock of the administrative building at San Diego Miramar College. At the time, it was unimaginable that the lock would remain latched for over a year and counting. The campus was closed indefinitely, and the first pandemic of most of our lifetimes was upon us. Little did anyone know that COVID-19 would be the first of three significant disruptions to hit not only the college, but also the nation.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Student Services, Access, Diversity, Equity, Organizational Culture, Innovations
Leadership Through the Lens of Empathy
Shai James Boyd June 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 6
Count all 317
The politics of the past several years have taken a toll on the American public. Amidst the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, social injustice, and civil unrest, common courtesy seems like a distant memory. Empathy lets us see the world from other points of view and helps us form insights that can nurture more profound ways of thinking, being, and doing (Ventura, 2018). Empathy means understanding and sharing other’s feelings, connecting two core themes: respect and compassion.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Innovations
Hiring Faculty of Color for Student Success
Cassandra Fluker May 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 5
Count all 345
Higher education has evolved in many ways over the past century, but still falls short of adequately establishing a diverse workforce that reflects an ever-changing student body (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017; Umbach, 2006). The American Association of Community Colleges (2020) reports the demographics of students enrolled in for-credit coursework at community colleges as 45 percent White, 26 percent Hispanic, 13 percent African American, 6 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 4 percent Other/Unknown, 4 percent two or more races, 1 percent Native American, and 2 percent International.
Tags: Teaching and Learning, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Learning Environments, Innovations
A Journey or a Destination: Leadership in Uncertain Times
Lindsay S. English April 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 4
Count all 271
After a turbulent year of quarantining and remote teaching and services, daily and professional habits have changed in higher education. COVID-19 has transformed us and our institutions. New realities have provided a unique opportunity for us, as institutional leaders, to reflect and learn more about our leadership philosophies, styles, and skills—particularly as we lead our institutions into a new and dynamic landscape.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
Supporting Equity-Oriented Online Professional Development
Jennifer Schneider March 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 3
Count all 325
As online learning and remote work continue to grow, both out of necessity and by choice, the need to explore interactions among and between professional development opportunities and school policies related to online learning environments grows in parallel. Concerns about isolation on the part of teachers are important to address. Related concerns regarding equity and how best to support equitable learning for all learners, both educators and students, grow, as well.
Tags: Learning and Organization, Learning Environments, Learning Resources, Innovations
Effective Virtual Leadership in Higher Education During a Pandemic: Reflections From My Couch
Heidi L. Marsh February 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 2
Count all 615
The question of what makes a good leader is hardly a new one. Arguably, the question is as old as humankind, and literature on more formalized organizational theories has flourished for more than a century (Grint, 2011). But despite the breadth and depth of expositions on the topic, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that even the brightest organizational theorists couldn’t have predicted the situation that we, as a global community, have found ourselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
Collaborating for Change: How Leadership Transformed Police Academy Curriculum
Angela Guy-Lee January 2021
Volume: 34 Issue: 1
Count all 298
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed while in custody of Minneapolis police officers. People in the United States and around the world took to the streets, protesting police brutality. As a direct result of this incident, Delta College determined that it was vital to infuse antiracist education into its police academy curriculum in order to best serve the community and respond in a positive way to a highly charged social and political movement. For the purposes of this article, antiracist education is defined as education that “considering class, race, and gender inequity, . . .
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Community Relations, Diversity, Innovations
So, What Do We Do Now? Adaptive Leadership Capacity for Community College Leaders
Jill Channing, Pamela Scott, and Alicia Abney December 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 12
Count all 499
In times like these, when leaders face seemingly impossible challenges and constant flux, adaptive leadership provides a helpful framework for maximizing change management. Teahen (2019) recently discussed adaptive leadership in the community college context and framed the current adaptive challenges as related to “declining enrollments, state disinvestments, public scrutiny, changing demographics, complex problems” (p. 1).
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
The President as Academic Leader
Terry U. O'Banion November 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 11
Count all 310
Leadership has many dimensions, and community college presidents come to their positions with a variety of skills in a variety of areas. Some are highly competent and highly successful as fund raisers; others make their mark by building gymnasiums, libraries, and workforce development centers. Still others are extraordinary politicians, creating productive alliances with their boards, local and state legislators, and even national legislators and policymakers. Some have built creative partnerships with business and industry in their communities and regions.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Innovations
Using Innovative and Strategic Solutions to Focus on Equity
Lee Hampton October 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 10
Count all 235
Jackson College (JC) serves approximately 6,000 students a year in three largely rural counties in Southcentral Michigan. Of the 20 percent who identify as students of color, African American males have the lowest rates of successful course retention and completion, and, therefore, are most in need of academic support. To effectively address this concern, JC hosted an African American male summit in 2008 to help the college better understand the students’ needs and specific barriers, and to identify effective strategies to improve academic outcomes.
Tags: Student Services, Access, Community Relations, Diversity, Inclusion, Mentoring, Partnerships, Student Retention, Innovations
Necessity Is the Parent of Innovation: Virtual Leadership Team Development
Annette Parker, Christine Johnson McPhail, George R. Boggs, and Narren J. Brown September 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 9
Count all 241
The emergence of COVID-19 and its rapid spread across the United States severely impacted operations at educational institutions, including community colleges. Faculty and staff scrambled to convert classes to online and videoconference formats, performances and athletic events were cancelled, and graduation ceremonies were rescheduled or held at a distance. With student and employee health and safety as the foremost consideration, administrators had to develop new procedures for conducting college operations that accommodated staff working from home.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Leadership Development, Leadership Development, Learning Environments, Innovations
Supporting the Academic Enterprise: Entrepreneurial New Revenue Streams for Your College
Ken Steele August 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 8
Count all 230
The traditional higher education business model has more in common with a medieval monastery than a modern corporation, largely dependent upon state largesse, charitable contributions, and generous payments from wealthy novices. For the past half-century, public colleges around the world have faced unprecedented budget pressure driven by declining government funding, aging demographics, steadily rising costs of technology and talent, and expanding expectations for student support.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Fundraising, Organizational Culture, Innovations
Coping Mechanisms and Support Systems for African American Male Administrators
Michael Couch II July 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 7
Count all 307
The higher education landscape is continually evolving. One of the main catalysts for this evolution is the changing demographic makeup of the United States. Based on factors such an aging White population, immigration, and birth rates, data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2014) indicate that minorities may be the majority by 2050.
Tags: Innovations
Leading an Institution in Unprecedented Times
Justin Hoehn June 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 6
Count all 285
At this point in any normal year, the campuses of Kirkwood Community College, like those of colleges across the U.S. and beyond, would be enjoying the relative quiet of another summer term. There would be some campus and classroom activity, of course, but compared to the hustle and bustle of fall and spring, the hallways would have a serene and peaceful quality to them. In many ways, it would seem as if the college itself was resting as it prepared for the grind of another fall semester. But this is 2020—and it is not a normal year.
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Policy and Practice, Innovations
Committing to Equity: Building New Approaches Upon Old Systems
Michael H. Gavin May 2020
Volume: 33 Issue: 5
Count all 325
In spring 2016, Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) began what would be a transformational process catalyzed by its participation in the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U) project, Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence: Campus-Based Strategies for Student Success. Using the framework of examining student success outcomes from an equity perspective, AACC developed a strategic plan—Engagement Matters: Pathways to Completion—with a central goal to “eradicate achievement gaps.”
Tags: Leadership and Organization, Administrative Services, Equity, Inclusion, Organizational Culture, Innovations

Pages