Case Studies to Consider: The Diversity Protest - The March Leadership Abstract is drawn from the forthcoming League publication, The Leadership Dialogues: Community College Case Studies to Consider. The book is a compilation of more than 50 case studies of leadership issues, challenges, and successes written by community college leaders from across North America. The cases cover governance; executive leadership; administration and finance; instructional programs and services; student life; legal issues, politics, and policy; and a final category for those stories out of the ordinary.
In the Diversity Protest case, one community college CEO managed to defuse a potentially explosive campus crisis by focusing on a commitment to freedom of speech, academic freedom, and open communication.
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THE DIVERSITY PROTEST by George R. Boggs
Editors’ note: This Leadership Abstract is drawn from the forthcoming League publication, The Leadership Dialogues: Community College Case Studies to Consider. The book is a compilation of more than 50 case studies of leadership issues, challenges, and successes written by community college leaders from across North America. The cases cover governance; executive leadership; administration and finance; instructional programs and services; student life; legal issues, politics, and policy; and a final category for those stories out of the ordinary.
CONTEXT
Palomar College is a single-campus, comprehensive community college located in northern San Diego County, California. The college operates from a main campus in San Marcos and several smaller education centers throughout a 2, 500-square-mile service area. The college district is governed by a five-member elected board of trustees with delegated responsibility for administering the college given to a Superintendent/President (CEO). Although the board elections are nonpartisan, the members reflect the very conservative Republican views of the electorate. The president of the Associated Student Government sits at the board table and, as this story begins, does not have a vote.
The CEO is in his eighth year of leadership of the college and, for the
last few years, has given direct attention to improving both the quality and diversity of the faculty and staff. Student enrollment has grown during the eight-year tenure of the CEO by 39 percent to 21,500. At the same time, the communities served by the college have become more ethnically diverse. Twenty-six percent of the population served by the college is minority, with Hispanic population growing significantly. The college has done a good job of providing proportional access to the population: Twenty-nine percent of the students are from minority groups.
(continued - see attachment)
Dr. Susan Salvador
Office for Student Services
03/25/2004 |