COMMUNITY COLLEGE MANAGEMENT IN TRANSITION: AN ASSESSMENT OF CHANGE

Community colleges tend to follow an authoritarian type of management, but many educational leaders are attempting to develop and implement a more open and participatory management system in these colleges. This is a study of one college in the process of making the change from an authoritarian system to one that would involve the faculty and staff extensively in the process of goal setting and decision making. In this case study, which relied heavily on semistructured interviews to assess the feelings of administrators and faculty toward organizational changes, it was found that the college was more open. Individuals appeared to be more receptive to change and innovations and to have increased willingness to participate in institutional governance. The faculty and administrators expressed the feeling that they had developed a broader view of the organization and a greater sense of trust. The results of the study suggest that the process might have been assisted by using even more in‐service training and by providing a fuller management structure.