Here I sit on an unusually warm February day in California’s beautiful Napa Valley, summarizing articles for this winter edition, which focuses on leadership development.

Before I provide an overview of the articles in this edition, I would like to thank Kathy Beckwith, General Manager, CI Solutions, Card Integrators Corporation, who is our winter edition sponsor. We have seen CI Solutions at our conferences as they prepare ID cards. In this article, CSI shares some new features of their ID card system that will benefit a number of services on the campus as we evolve in the 21st century.

A Need for Leaders

At Alliant International University, in my class on leadership in learning communities, we explore the evolution of leadership concepts and behavior analysis. Yet today, we are seeing an increasing number of articles on the lack of leaders, or perhaps just quality leaders. Recently I was informed that there are openings for 30 presidents at community colleges in the state of California. A year ago, 50 percent of the CCC presidencies were vacant.

The tremendous turnover rate for presidents is creating a very real leadership void, and it’s not a local phenomenon but a problem across the nation at all levels of higher education. Analysis has proposed such causes as the retirements of the baby boomers, the enticement of private enterprise, and the perception that the job takes too large a bite out of one’s family life and impacts one’s health. Whatever the reasons, it does seem that the need for new, vibrant leaders is upon us, at all levels of the institution.

Of course, we are not a loss for presidential candidates for the 2008 election, and some view this coming group of interested candidates as one of the better groups from both parties in a long time. So, as the nation again embarks on the quest to find the next president, we in higher education will focus on leaders needed for colleges and universities.

Perspectives on Leadership

We start this edition with Leader as Transformer, an article by Rick Smyre, who suggests that we need to begin training in transformational leadership concepts for our future leaders, those who are now sitting in our classrooms. Parallel thinking, weak signals, and transformative capacity building are all concepts that he suggests require focus if we are to produce transformational leaders in this new century.

Dena Maloney continues this thrust in New Leadership in the Next Millennium. With our community college system facing dynamic changes, Dena states that future leaders will need to be entrepreneurial in order to deliver educational programs to our students and the community. She also sees the need for transformational leadership with greater degrees of teamwork and collaboration within the institution.

We shift our focus to the Observations of a First-year President as Erlinda Martinez shares her insights about the qualities and skills she developed that prepared her to be a president. She also highlights what she would like to have learned to improve her skills at the presidential level. For anyone considering a run for a college presidency, this is must read.

In Calling All Leaders Gwen Dungy reports on observations of current presidents about the role of student affairs professionals as community college campus leaders. While we must recognize that quality leadership is demanded at all levels of the institution, she asserts that it is most critical in the student affairs division. Gwen also addresses the increasing need for professional development and management skills in future leaders.

However, skill development is not the only factor current leadership teams must consider. College president Thelma Scott-Skillman points out that we will need to look to the future in Succession Planning--A Must for Colleges and Universities. She notes that if the institution does not do succession planning, the college’s future effectiveness will be at stake. Thelma presents a series of questions one should consider to help the organization begin to create an organizational pipeline for the future.

Also in This Issue

The winter edition features a new addition for our readers, a Book Review section. Our first review is of Partnering for Success: How to Build Strong Internal Collaborations in Higher Education by Alicia Harvey-Smith. The reviewer, Maggie de la Teja, says that this book gets into the strategies that can be used to transform (a theme in this edition) colleges and universities while building greater collaborative efforts. Many of the concepts in Harvey-Smith’s publication re-enforce ideas suggested by our writers. Harvey Smith wrote an article for the iJournal’s March 2006 edition.

Staff Development contains information on several leadership development opportunities in the state with the joint CSSO-CIO Conference March 21-23 in San Francisco and at the national level with a Community College Institute as part of the joint ACPA-NASPA national conference on April 1 in Orlando. Smaller Institutes are also included: The Institute on Student Discipline at Alliant International University’s San Francisco campus on April 12-13, and the CSSO/CIO Leadership Institute to be offered later in the fall. An opportunity to pursue graduate degrees in Higher Education at Alliant International University is also included. Please check out these leadership development activities and sign up now as space is limited and registration deadlines are fast approaching.

We close this edition with an End Note from Pamela Mize, who shares her insights as a long-time administrators at a community college, wondering Where Have All the Administrators Gone? She reflects on the changes that have transpired during her tenure and offers some ideas to address the current dilemma and the need for new and vibrant leaders for the next generation of students.

I might add that we must also include training and orientation programs for newly hired administrators at all institutions. The days of “hit the ground running” (you’re hired one day, handed the key to the office the next day, and expected to make a difference on the third day) will no longer work. We need to ease new hires into the culture of the institution and provide an understanding of the special needs of the supervisor who made the hire, especially if that supervisor is the president. The training/orientation can last from a week to up to three months. In the end, this process produces a better leader who is loyal to the institution and has a greater chance to succeed in serving students.

The spring edition will focus on student discipline. The results and observations of the participants of the Institute on Student Discipline will be the main focus of the edition, along with book reviews, staff development opportunities, and other features.

Enjoy our winter edition, and again thank you to CI Solutions for being our sponsor. As always, please contact me at editor@ijournal.us with your ideas, comments, and suggestions for future articles.

About the Author

Edward J. Shenk, Ed.D.
Vice President of Student Services, Retired
Napa Valley College, California

Associate Professor/Program Director
Graduate Program in Education/Leadership Management
Alliant International University, California

With close to 36 years in educational administration, Dr. Ed Shenk has been a highly visible leader within California Student Services for many years. Dr. Shenk joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Education for Alliant International University in July, 2005 and began a full time assignment in 2006. He served on the executive board of CCCCSSAA (California Community College Chief Student Services Administrators Association) for fourteen years and was president of the organization in 1991-92. He represented the field by serving on many statewide committees and special task forces. He became an active member in NASPA in 1994. He served as the national chair for the NASPA Knowledge Community, Community & 2 year Colleges (2004-06) and the community college representative on the Northern Executive Council for NASPA. He is also a Board member on the California ACT Advisory Council.

Having a special interest in student discipline, leadership, quality service and professional development, Dr. Shenk was instrumental in initiating the Student Services Training Institute in 1991. Hundreds of California student services professionals have participated. He is a frequent facilitator, trainer, and speaker at local colleges and for statewide and national organizations. Most recently, he was a presenter at the NASPA National Conference in Tampa, Florida. He was recognized as the Outstanding Dean in NASPA’s Region 6 in 2002.

He began is administrative career in community colleges as a clerk-typist in 1970 and later as the first EOPS director at Grossmont College. Ed then moved to Napa Valley College where he was an administrator from 1975–2005. At NVC, he served as the Chief Student Service Officer on campus beginning in 1981 and held the position of Vice President, Student Services since 1987 to his retirement in December, 2005. His administrative assignment included responsibility as the Affirmative Action Officer and membership on the District-Faculty negotiations team. He worked with all aspects of the college and was a key advisor for three presidents at the college.

Throughout this time he continues to be active in the community as a Napa Chamber of Commerce board member/ committee chair, Ambassador and past president, Napa City-County Library Foundation board member, Napa County Hispanic Network board member, and Youth Soccer Coach. In 2002, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Napa County Hispanic Network and was tapped to serve on the Napa County's Airport Advisory Commission. He was selected to be the Napa County Hispanic Network President for 2006-08.

Dr. Shenk attended San Diego State University where he received a B.A. in History and an M.P.A. in Public Administration. He earned his Ed.D. in Higher Education from the University of Oregon. His dissertation focused on the Impacts of Proposition 13 on the Missions of the California Community College. His wife, SueDee, is the Executive Director of Napa Valley Community Housing, a builder and manager of affordable housing in the Napa Valley. They have two grown sons. Living in the Napa Valley for over 30 years, Dr. Shenk enjoys wine, travel and bocce ball. He does attempt to play golf.

Email: eshenk@alliant.edu