Abstract
Purpose. This study explored the role of leaders in the development of five selected successful California Community College Foundations by investigating how leadership was exercised in the change process by studying the leader characteristics, change strategies and forces supporting and resisting change during the initiation, implementation and institutionalization stages. Specifically the study identified the leaders, their roles, skills, attitudes and knowledge, change strategies used, and different patterns of support and resistance in the development of the foundation. Procedure. The descriptive-comparative case study method was selected as the format for gathering and analyzing data. The data were collected through a series of structured interviews with leaders at each institution. Principal findings. The research found that (1) the foundations were proposed initially by the college president and a combination of on and off campus leadership led to their initiation, (2) roles performed included developing plans, recruiting board members, and serving as champion, (3) skills such as working well with people; attitudes such as supportive, and enthusiastic; knowledge of the community, alumni, and philanthropy were present, (4) strategies used were professionalization of staff, public education campaign, and community oriented trustee selection, (5) throughout the 3 stages support, both moral and financial, became stronger, (6) resistance was strongest among faculty and was weakened when the need for a foundation was legitimized. Conclusions and recommendations. Some conclusions are (1) support of the college president, consistency of administrative personnel and use of a professional development officer are key factors for success, (2) boards which solely attempt to provide for faculty or political representation tend to have difficulty obtaining support from the community, and (3) the success of the foundation should not be measures solely in financial terms. Some recommendations are (1) those seeking administrative positions at the community college level should be aware of the field of development and its importance and implications on future funding, (2) the leadership of a community college foundation could be evaluated using the findings of this study and (3) during the initiation stage the college should gauge the support of the staff and community.