College administrators' perceptions of the value of leadership/administrative training programs for aspiring administrators

The purpose of this study was to investigate how participation in leadership/administrative training programs is perceived by selected administrators who recommend candidates for appointment to academic administrative positions in two-year colleges. The subjects in this research included 192 chief academic officers of two-year colleges listed in Who's Who in Community Colleges. A stratified sample was selected to assure (a) equal representation from the six regions served by regional accrediting associations and (b) proportional representation of male and female chief academic officers within each region. A survey instrument titled The Employment Criteria Survey was developed by the researcher. The first part of the survey requests information concerning the respondent's age, gender, and past participation in leadership/ administrative training programs. In the second part of the survey, respondents were asked to assign values to selected qualifications and characteristics of a hypothetical candidate who is being considered for appointment to an academic administrative position. Eight questions were investigated by the researcher to examine the value that administrators would assign to specific qualifications or characteristics of candidates. The frequency and percentage of each rating value were recorded for each item. The mean and standard deviation for the rating values were determined for each item. The results of these descriptive statistics were interpreted for answers to the research questions. Sixteen hypotheses were tested. The statistical procedure used was analysis of variance and the significance level was 5%. The findings included: (1) Candidates' experience of more than five years as a department chair, college level administrator, or faculty member is perceived as more valuable than participation in training programs. (2) Candidates' education of an earned doctorate in administration of higher education or a field other than education is perceived as more valuable than participation in training programs. (3) Candidates' participation in training programs is perceived positively, but not highly so. (4) Candidates' age and gender are not factors when administrators make employment decisions. (5) Current employment as an academic administrator at the institution where one is seeking appointment is perceived as more valuable than employment as a member of the faculty or as an administrator in a non-educational organization. None of the sixteen null hypotheses were rejected. There were no significant relationships between the respondents' age, gender, geographical location, or personal participation in training programs and the values that they assigned to participation in different types of training programs by candidates, for academic administrative positions.