The avalanche of day-to-day responsibilities facing those in community colleges threatens to bury ethical intent. This book addresses the importance of ethical leadership and explores real-world applications so that community college leaders can develop the institutional savvy to be extraordinary ethical leaders. Written for community college faculty, staff, presidents, and trustees who are committed to being ethical leaders, this book is divided into two sections: The first provides brief theoretical foundations for ethical leadership and relates those foundations to daily practice; the second explores in-depth daily practice for ethical leaders. Contents include: Virtue theory and leadership theory Plato’s Republic and the ethical leader Considerations of power, influence, and cultural norms The role of the president Why presidents and trustees should care about ethics Professional ethical identity development Ethical leadership: A faculty obligation The interface of ethics and courage in the life of a chief academic officer Threats to ethical leadership Leading from the head and the heart Transformational leadership and ethical dilemmas Presidential support for civic engagement and leadership education A guide to ethical decision-making by presidents and boards The consequences of compromised ethical identity development

This book is designed to aid community college leaders in becoming ethical leaders. This aim is essential, as ethical leadership is needed to address the continual ethical quandaries and persistent leadership dilemmas (e.g., funding, governance, accountability, shifting student demographics) facing public postsecondary education in the current era. When leaders are fully committed to the ideals that underscore public education (e.g., public good, access, social mobility, civic engagement) and accept the notion that their role as leaders is to be a servant to others, ethical leadership serves as a roadmap to guide their decisions, actions, and advocacy. This volume serves as a comprehensive resource in articulating the foundational, conceptual, interpersonal, and practical dispositions of the critical need to develop leaders with high moral aptitudes.

This book presents leaders and aspiring leaders in community colleges with a theoretical and practical framework for analyzing their leadership styles, and determining the dimensions of leadership they need to improve in order to strengthen their capacity to resolve complex issues and effectively guide their institutions. It does so through presenting theories about leadership that are congruent with the notions of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice that drive the missions of community colleges, and at the same time provides the reader with the strategic skills to prepare for and navigate the profound changes ahead.Readers will gain an understanding of how to use theory as a tool to guide their practice, better understand the intricacies of the issues confronting them, the power dynamics and organizational context in which they operate, predict potential outcomes, and develop processes to achieve desired outcomes. Utilizing theory in conjunction with case study analysis provides community college leaders with the tools needed to comprehensively interrogate and inform decision-making processes. The authors provide a number of rich and realistically complex case studies, all of which are situated in a community college environment, to which readers can apply the various theories and perspectives, develop their view about the principles and actions most likely to lead to satisfactory outcomes, and hone the approaches to leadership that are authentic to them, and effective. The authors aim to help readers develop the multi-faceted approach to leadership that is essential to running complex organizations. They aim to promote development of the “whole” leader through a three-fold framework of theory, practice, and introspection in context of institutional change. In doing so, leaders will be better equipped to lead community colleges in challenging times.The authors tie AACC’s competencies to the leadership theories they cover, as well as to the analysis of the case studies, and leadership inventories, as an essential framework for developing the skill sets to enact the community college mission.The book is suitable for personal reading and reflection, institutional leadership retreats and training, and as a text for higher education courses.

"It does so through presenting theories about leadership that are congruent with the notions of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice that drive the missions of community colleges, and at the same time provides the reader with the strategic skills to prepare for and navigate the profound changes ahead.

"The breadth and depth of this book is unequaled... The chapter on the community college's role in the achievement gap is `must-reading' for the next generation of community college executives."---Ned Doffaney, Chancellor, North Orange County Community College --

Ethical leadership and ethical reasoning in higher education have been the focus of many concerns as universities and colleges attempt to prepare and train educational leaders, particularly in light of high-profile scandals involving educational leaders. Scholars are increasingly interested in why unethical behavior continues to be problematic among leaders. Unethical behavior continues to exist, even though diverse strategies have been incorporated in programs that prepare prospective leaders for leadership roles (i.e., leadership programs and graduate programs). This study addressed the perceptions among community college leaders regarding ethical leadership and ethical reasoning and what guides ethical decision-making among community college leaders. A qualitative study was conducted using a questionnaire designed specifically for this study. The researcher collected data by conducting face-to-face interviews with 15 community college leaders in Alabama. The findings of this research demonstrated that community college leaders believe that ethical leadership is more about who the leader is and what a leader does. Additionally, ethical leadership incorporates fairness, integrity, and concern for others into the leadership style. Ethical reasoning among community college leaders tends to be three dimensional; it is about the situation, institutional obligations, and other institutional endeavors. Participants believe that community college leaders in Alabama relate ethics and decision-making to duty and institutional obligations. Research results indicated that the answer to leaders behaving more ethically lies in the quality of programs that train leaders (i.e., graduate programs and leadership training programs). Participants suggested that programs have improved. However, a more comprehensive and intensive concentration on ethics and ethical behavior should be incorporated into graduate and leadership training programs. Specifically, there should be more opportunities to learn from real life ethical case studies and more role playing scenarios.

"Using specific examples and problems drawn from various community college environments, the book illustrates decision-making processes based on ethical considerations in a wide range of areas - from sexual harassment, curriculum design, and affirmative action to monitoring governing boards and selecting a college president. The authors offer numerous case studies and sample problems to help leaders sharpen their ethical thinking, establish ethical criteria, and become aware of how they make critical decisions."--BOOK JACKET.

This invaluable resource explores situations that principals are likely to encounter and presents questions and issues to help them confront difficult ethical dilemmas.

We live in a leadership crisis. "In an age when incompatible worlds collide and when scandals rock formerly stable institutions," says Walter Fluker, "what counts most is ethical leadership and the qualities of personal integrity, spiritual discipline, intellectual openness, and moral anchoring." Fluker finds these characteristics exemplified in the work and thought of black-church giants Martin Luther King Jr. and Howard Thurman. This volume, for leaders and emergent leaders in religious and other settings, sets forth the context and principles for ethical leadership, particularly for ministries and other professions whose mission directly advances the common good. Fluker's volume grounds leadership in story, the appropriation of one's roots, as a basis for personal and social transformation. He then explores the key values of character, civility, and community for ethical action on the personal, public, and spiritual realms. From these considerations he develops a model of the specific virtues that embody each realm of ethical leadership before applying them to the practical aspects of leadership and decisionmaking.

In Ethical Leadership, Robert Starratt—one of the leading thinkers on the topic of ethics and education—shows educational leaders how to move beyond mere technical efficiency in the delivery and performance of learning. He challenges educators to become ethical leaders who understand the learning process as a profoundly moral activity that engages the full humanity of the school community. Starratt explains that educational leadership requires a moral commitment to high quality learning for all students—a commitment based on three essential virtues: proactive responsibility; personal and professional authenticity; and an affirming, critical, and enabling presence to the workers and the work involved in teaching and learning. He clarifies how essential these virtues are for leadership in the pressure-cooker of high-stakes schooling. He provides vivid illustration by beginning and ending the book with a "morality play," the narrative of a principal who struggles to do the right thing for his students and teachers, as they are pressured—and often punished—by state mandated tests. Starratt concludes by offering practical suggestions for working leaders as well as preservice and inservice courses in educational leadership. This book is a volume in the Jossey-Bass Leadership Library in Education—a series designed to meet the demand for new ideas and insights about leadership in schools.