Date of Award

Fall 10-31-2025

Access Restriction

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate in Education

Department

Education

School or College

School of Education

First Advisor

Mary McCullough

Second Advisor

Edmundo Litton

Third Advisor

Rebecca Stephenson

Abstract

Regardless of the type of leadership definition, leaders who are set on leading people and not just an organization make the best well-rounded and effective leaders. Jeffries (1998) insisted leadership is more than a job or a duty; she argued it is a calling. This study interrogates the leadership practices, purpose, style, and origin of the leaders of a California Community College (CCC) in order to ascertain whether they subscribe to the tenets that will enable them to truly serve and not just lead their constituents. There are only two research questions that guide this study: How do ACC administrators and staff describe their purpose and style of leadership? Where and how do ACC leaders learn to lead? This case study uses mixed methods along with the examination of forward-facing documents of the institution. The study is based on conceptual framework that combines servant leadership, social justice leadership, distributed leadership, and stewardship used to examine the interviews and survey results. The documents, however, were looked at juxtaposed to the California Community College Chancellor’s Office Vision 2030 plan (California Community College Chancellor’s Office, 2025a) that calls for colleges to take on more equitable practices that will enable students to graduate at more rapid rates so they can contribute to the economy and thus their communities. As the researcher, I found the leaders themselves felt their leadership was aligned with the suggested frameworks that would indeed allow them to successfully promote an inclusive, supportive, and equitable environment while the staff felt the contrary. The study points to the need for more work in looking at leadership within the CCC and what makes a college leader successful in relationship to the frameworks posed here. It is the hope of the researcher performing this case study to investigate ACC and to add to the conversation about community college leadership and higher education at large.

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