Up and Running: Starting and Growing a Leadership Program at a Community College

Community colleges are facing a leadership crisis spurred by the retirements of baby boomers from leadership positions at all levels. There is a critical need to prepare leaders to deal with 21st century challenges, such as dramatically improving student outcomes, tackling funding issues, and addressing college affordability. There is also growing recognition that having internal candidates prepared to take on leadership roles may lead to a smoother leadership transition. Up and Running: Starting and Growing a Leadership Program at a Community College by Susan J. Tobia and Judith L. Gay is a roadmap for creating a leadership program to meet the needs of colleges as well as the professional interests of employees. Drs. Tobia and Gay share the basics of starting a program including the application and selection processes, budget, and program format, as well as areas including team building, thinking styles, decision making, conflict resolution, and diversity/inclusion. An extensive set of templates, examples, and key suggestions make it easy to customize a program to meet the needs of any institution.