The Community College Change Playbook: Defining Competencies for Leading Change in Community Colleges

• In Event: Equitable Education Systems and Perspectives on Institutional Change

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the leadership competencies that community college leaders perceive as critical for facilitating the large-scale institutional change of Guided Pathways. In-depth interviews with twelve California Community College leaders were conducted to better understand the knowledge and skills that are essential to successfully facilitating change in practice. The themes that emerged include: (1) setting conducive to transformational change; (2) focus and prioritization of change; (3) planning and action-oriented mentality; (4) institutional knowledge and intuition; and (5) connecting and empowering others. The competencies identified suggest that transformational change is not the product of one leader, but requires leaders to shift to a more collective, distributed way of leading change.

Author

• Cassie Donnelly