Thriving and Surviving on Campus

Bob Jensen has worked at "big & small" institutions, at all levels, in both Student Services and Instructional Services. He has been privileged to work with great colleagues to learn from and serve Community and Students, always trying to improve the Institution and build on its strengths. He believes "good leadership" can make a difference, one reason he wrote this book.Ray Giles had a 40-year career in the community colleges, working at four different districts as well as two statewide community college associations. He ended his career as director of a national community college consulting firm.

• Contents PrefaceTerminology Used in This Book Chapter 1: What Am I Getting Into? Choices and Personal Decisions The First Management ExperienceSidebar:Who is More Powerful?The Next Step: Climbing the Organizational LadderThe Big Step: President and CEOThe Difference Between Being President and Being CEOCEO/President of a Single-College DistrictSidebar: Advantages and DisadvantagesChancellor of a Multi-College or Multi-Campus College DistrictSidebar: Multi-College District – Advantages and DisadvantagesSidebar: Multi-Campus College District – Advantages and DisadvantagesPresident in a Multi-Campus College or Multi-College DistrictSidebar: Advantages and DisadvantagesThe Single-College DistrictThe Multi-College DistrictSidebar:Multi-College and Single-College Districts: Issues for administrators to considerSidebar:RAM and “Bucket” Budget ModelsThe Multi-Campus College DistrictThe Nomadic LifestyleSidebar:To Move or Not to MoveAre Small-Town Politics Really Easier?Sidebar:Working at a Small-Town CollegeCommuter MarriagesSidebar:The StingChapter 2: Thriving and Surviving on the Job What Administrators Really DoBuilding Career BridgesWatch What You Say or Do… Winning CharacteristicsThere is No “Middle” in Middle ManagementSidebar:Now get out there and stretchDivision and Department LeadershipCommunication on CampusSidebar:Bring Options, Not Just ProblemsInstituting Change: Everyone Is a LeaderSidebar:The Lessons of the COVID epidemic (and other disasters)Hiring and Managing a ConsultantSidebar: A Unique Way to Use a Trusted Outside AdvisorAdjusting to a Changing of the GuardChapter 3: Institutional PoliticsPeer BulliesSidebar: The 10/90 RuleThe Importance of LoyaltySidebar:Don’t Forget Support StaffCan It Pass the “Do You Want Your Loved Ones to Know” Test?Shared Governance: The Contradiction We Love to HateSidebar:Peer Review, Faculty Cop-OutChapter 4: Presidential IssuesCall of the HeadhunterSidebar:Multiple Paths to a PresidencyFinding a Good FitYour First ContractWorking Out the Board-CEO Working RelationshipAssessing the BoardCare and Feeding of the BoardThe First 100 Days on the JobPicking Your TeamBuilding Your Own Faculty LeadershipSidebar:Leaving a LegacyThe Theory of Political CapitalIgnorance is Bliss, SometimesTrustee Election PoliticsVotes of No ConfidenceCan You Hear the Posse Coming?Chapter 5: Not For Trustees OnlyBecoming a TrusteeStarting Off on the Right FootRabbits Carrying the LettucePick Up the PhonePresentations to the BoardSelecting the Board ChairKeeping a Good CEOEvaluating the CEOSidebar:Suggested Steps for Developing a CEO Evaluation ProcessWhen It’s Time to Make a ChangeSidebar:When a CEO becomes ill or incapable of doing the jobSelecting a New CEOSidebar:Does Your District Need a Search Consultant?Sidebar:Rule #1: Stay InvolvedSidebar:Do We Need An Interim CEO?Ten Truths of Community College Leadership About the Authors

“Since retiring as a community college CEO, I have worked with aspiring community college presidents. Jensen and Giles have written the book covering all the questions and concerns I encounter from future leaders. I wish that a book like this was available when I started my nearly three-decades-long tenure as a CEO. The advice and recommendations would have been invaluable to me as a new administrator.”