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Student Impressions of Community College Presidents

This qualitative study explores student impressions of community college presidents. Through conducting interviews with six involved leaders in parallel roles at two community colleges, the study investigated what shapes student impressions of college presidents. Nearly half of all undergraduate students in the United States attend a community college. These students all hold their own unique perspective, but each impression is shaped by different factors. The study explored what shaped and influenced student understanding of the presidency, what influenced student impressions of the president, how the president impacted individual experience at the institution, and how students evaluated the presidency. It was found that participants who had a perceived connection on campus had a well formulated impression as well as could speak to their understanding of the president's role. Correspondence related to this article should be directed to Megan Corder, Point Park University, cordermjk@gmail.com. University and college presidents have busy and complicated jobs. Gardner (2015), a reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote that modern college presidents are “expected not just to run institutions but also be their public face, representing them to students as well as parents, government officials, and donors” (http://chronicle.com/article/New-Proving-Ground-forthe/228907/). They must exemplify the institution’s brand, while acting as a “promotional superhero who grabs lunch with students and dinner with potential donors, tweeting all the while” (Gardner, 2015, http://chronicle.com/article/New-Proving-Ground-for-the/228907/). Bornstein (2004), former president of Rollins College, argued that presidents must act as the “embodiment of the institution” and because of this, they are no longer purely individuals (http://chronicle.com/article/The-AuthenticEffective/35426). The president is responsible for engaging in a variety of different ways to build relationships and foster support; however, the president still sees these activities at work (Bornstein, 2004). The president is focused on meeting the needs of the institution and furthering the mission, and this may include balancing relationships with the communities the institution serves. Those around or interacting with the president may only understand the positional responsibilities from a limited perspective. There are various types of higher education institutions a president may serve at today, from public to private, nonprofit to for profit, large to small, two-year to four-year and beyond. No matter the type of institution a president leads, there are challenges to meeting the institutional mission, adapting to external forces, and pursuing institutional initiatives. A president of a 1 Corder and Timm: Student Impressions of Community College Presidents Published by ScholarWorks@UARK, 2021