| This study reports perceptions of the level of involvement of local boards of community colleges in the administrative functions of their college and the impact of such involvement on the performance of the presidents. Using the responses to semi-distinct questionnaires administered to a geographically-stratified national sample of chairs of boards and presidents from 320 locally governed public community colleges, both demographic information and the amount of administrative involvement by boards were analyzed across characteristics of colleges, characteristics of chairs of boards, characteristics of boards, selection of methods of boards, geographic regions of college, and 28 administrative functions. The study reported the overall involvement of boards as well as their level of involvement in each administrative function. It also provides a profile of locally-governed public community colleges, chairs of their boards, their boards and their presidents.;The amount of involvement by boards varies with the type of administrative function, method of board selection, and geographic regions. The involvement of boards has minimal impact on the performance of presidents and was influenced more by type of administrative functions than by method of board selection, geographic region or any other factors in this study. It was found that boards were most likely to involve themselves in administrative functions associated with setting the goals of the institution, approving budgets and new programs and projects, setting salaries for administrators and faculty, and committing their college to affirmative action programs. While no college, chair of board, board or president characteristics appear to influence the overall administrative involvement of boards, statistically significant relationships were found between the overall involvement of boards and chairs of board who had Masters' degrees, those who vote Independent in national elections, boards who believed that their involvement helped their presidents, and boards who meet frequently.;In conclusion, the implications of these findings on the governance of locally-governed community colleges are offered. Recommendations are also made, including a call for further study of the role that state and local laws play in influencing the level of involvement of boards in administrative decisions of local community colleges. |
