Strategic Responses to Accountability Demands: A Case Study of Three Community Colleges

Abstract

As community colleges receive attention focused on their role in addressing postsecondary needs, they are subject to varying levels of accountability, which necessitates the development of strategic approaches to leading institutions. Burke (2005) recognizes three accountability perspectives that higher education institutions must consider: market, political, and academic. The strategic planning processes used at three North Carolina community colleges reflect a balanced approach to responding to the accountability requirements of all three perspectives. Using a qualitative multisite case study of the colleges, five themes emerge as implications for practice: (a) Involve stakeholders in strategic planning and implementation; (b) Create a student-centered culture; (c) Provide fiscal accountability with data-driven decision making; (d) Develop a balanced strategic approach to all accountability perspectives; and (e) Integrate regional accreditation principles into strategies. By applying the convergent practices of the three successful colleges, community colleges can create strategic plans to meet the needs of a variety of stakeholders, assert fiscal management, and encourage continuous improvement of programs and processes.As the nation struggles with a slow economic recovery, community colleges have received significant attention on their role in addressing postsecondary needs. More specifically, families find that community colleges provide an affordable first step toward a baccalaureate degree.

Entrepreneurship at Community Colleges: Linking Orientation to Practice

“…From this perspective, community college leaders have argued that entrepreneurialism supports their institution's public mission (AACC, ; Jaschik, ; Roueche & Jones, ), but no studies have linked the manifestation of entrepreneurial behavior to community college performance. Furthermore, some maintain that community colleges, when engaging in market‐like behavior, erode the cultural values of knowledge as a public good (Kraatz, Ventresca, & Deng, ), whereas others demand greater accountability of community college performance (Lattimore, D'Amico, & Hancock, ; Neal, ; Roach, ; Zumeta, ).…”

The Evolution of Crisis at City College of San Francisco

“…This principle has been demonstrated in several studies of failed change initiatives in higher education (Anderson, 2011;Willson, 2006). Successful change initiatives reflected an "alignment" of cultures with planning strategies (Kezar & Eckel, 2002;Tierney, 2008;Willson, 2006), participatory processes (Locke & Guglielmino, 2006), and a "culture of evidence" that permeates the institution (Lattimore, D'Amico, & Hancock, 2012).…”

“…But all groups shared a vision toward success of the initiative, and a value system centered on continuous improvement and open communication, which Locke and Guglielmino (2006) attribute to the overall success of the initiative. Lattimore, D'Amico, and Hancock (2012) examined three successful community colleges and their strategic response to increasing accountability demands by state agencies and regional accreditors. Their qualitative multisite comparative case study analyzed leadership and planning approaches through an accountability framework (Burke, 2005).…”

“…Existing research on crisis at higher education institutions primarily focus on fiscal issues (Clark, 2012) and the success or failure of planned change initiatives (Locke & Guglielmino, 2006;Willson, 2006). More recently, community college research has examined crisis associated with accreditation sanctions (Lattimore, D'Amico, & Hancock, 2012;Patel, 2012). In these studies, particular emphasis is placed on the role of the college president and actions of key decision makers in determining the outcome of a crisis.…”

“…Case study research on community colleges emphasizes the role of the college leaders in crisis development (Clark, 2012) or in its eventual resolution (Andersen, 2011;Brigham-Sprague, 2001) and the performance of the leader in the context of organizational cultures (Shaw & London, 2001;Willson, 2006) and subcultures (Locke & Guglielmino, 2006;Palter & Gill, 2012). Several case studies contained similarities to the cited issues at the SFCCD in 2012, describing problems with governance (Brigham-Sprague, 2001;Lattimore, D'Amico, & Hancock, 2012;Patel, 2012) and fiscal decision-making (Clark, 2012) at community colleges.…”