A year and half has passed since California's Riverside Community College district had a permanent chancellor. Two searches and two interim leaders later, the district's continuing quest for a permanent chancellor reflects a statewide problem of recruiting and retaining two-year-college executives. Smaller applicant pools and many vacant positions…

As open-door institutions, community colleges provide access to students from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. Yet while enrollment of students of color in community colleges continues to increase, representation by faculty of color has not. This qualitative study investigated community college faculty search committee…

Leadership transitions provide opportunities for organizational growth and development. In the field of education, choosing an effective school principal is one of the most significant decisions that a superintendent or school board can make, as new leadership can propel a district forward in meeting its goals. Principals are responsible for…

One hundred twenty five applications for an entry-level librarian position were examined to determine whether a search committee at one major Midwestern university library chose finalists based on form over substance, and whether candidates who met the required qualifications were advanced to the finalist pool. Methodology determined the number of…

In this article, the author shares some of the lessons about leadership he learned when he became chancellor of the University of Georgia in 2006. He realized that the route to leadership in the private sector differs significantly from the route in higher education. The path to leadership in the academe is not only poorly marked, but it does not…

Women are not tenured at the same rate they are receiving PhDs, and less likely to be tenured when compared to their male counterparts. Reasons women have difficulty achieving tenure include not discussing important information about an academic appointment with colleagues, working part time or as adjunct faculty, being involved in "pastoral or…

In this article, the author argues that taking an aggressive approach in hiring faculty is the only way to avoid a mediocre pool of candidates. Effective recruitment takes many forms and will depend on the context, but it begins with a search committee that has a clear understanding of its role in the process. The committee's first objective is to…

The purpose of this case/phenomenological study was to examine a collegiate administrative search and selection process and the experience of an African American woman who was selected to the position of chancellor. A case concerning the search process of a regional campus of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana was identified and chosen.…

The author was on the academic job market in English eight years in a row. The first four times, he applied all over the place, searching for his first tenure-track job. The next four times, he applied selectively, searching for a position more closely aligned with his academic and personal interests. Although each year on the market was…

In this article, the author narrates her story as a job-market widow. In each of the last eight years, she has seen how her husband, Matt, has gone on the market in search of a tenure-track position in English. She describes their eight-year stretch on the academic job market as a harsh tutor, but it has taught them things about themselves, their…

Even by the standards of higher education, presidential search committees are odd concoctions, combining the dynamics of the governing board, the faculty, the administration and staff, and the students in an environment that is, at best, unusual and, at worst, adversarial. Ultimately, however, that committee's work is vital to the future of the…

Few board decisions are more important than selecting a new president or chancellor. Done correctly, the appointment of a new CEO impacts positively on the institution's health and future success. Before launching a presidential search, the board and search committee should analyze the institution's mission and goals, and thoroughly review the…

Within academe, there is much interest in the workings of the academic marketplace. Efforts to understand how the process unfolds occupy both researchers and participants. Clearly, the search process is complex. This article contributes to one's understanding by systematically examining how teaching is valued and assessed by search committees. As…

The president has just announced her plans to leave the college within the next year. What is the board going to do? At Wilmington College in Delaware, the board relaxed and continued with its business without missing a beat. That's because a succession plan had been in place for several years, and it was just a matter of deciding the details of…

The job seeking and candidate selection process in academia can be mystifying to recent or soon to be graduates. Many graduate students have expressed concern about the fact that they do not feel quite prepared for the application process, and they have raised many questions while attending sessions and visiting on-site job placement centers at…