Democratic Ledership and Faculty Empowerment at the Community College: A Theoretical Model for the Department Chair

Abstract

Community college organization at the department level, with diverse disciplines and semiautonomous faculty members, presents important leadership issues for the newly appointed department chair. Faced with an existing culture that looks upon the administration with some mistrust, the chair must work within a leadership perspective of a faculty peer rather than a military commander. The author concludes that the most appropriate theoretical model for a department chair is democratic leadership emphasizing faculty empowerment as a way to overcome faculty resistance to change.