Sources of Power

This assignment certainly invites much reflection, and the opportunity

to step back and look at the "big picture" within the organizations
where we teach and administer. I welcome this opportunity to think
deeply about my community college, and I would like to share my
thoughts on the following three sources of power: position power;
access and control of agendas; and framing control of meaning and
symbols.
Position Power
Having been a university administrator and an advocate for higher
education for many years, four years ago I added to my experience the
joy of teaching at the community college level. It has been a very
fulfilling experience, and one that has led me to seek a doctorate in my
quest to become a community college leader. I have observed that
community colleges, or at least the one where I teach, have a different
campus culture, or position of power, than universities. Community
colleges are by historical design very humanitarian settings where the
masses are invited to come in search of education, no matter what
their previous backgrounds and academic preparedness might have
been. Universities, on the other hand, start at a different level, inviting
and admitting those who have met a certain academic standard and
who hope to reach the highest pinnacles of academic and career
success. For this reason universities have historically had academic
competition and quotas to achieve and maintain their rankings, and
only the best and brightest students are invited to help them reach
these heights of influence and, of course, state and federal funding
opportunities.
I am learning that position power may not always be described as a
position of the heart. When I was hired as an adjunct faculty member
to teach developmental English, I was enthralled with the character of
caring and giving that the Learning Skills Department exhibited to its
students. I quickly took on the culture myself, for it came very
naturally, and the Chair of my department was for me a life-changing
mentor and advisor.
However, a changing of the tides began as President Obama
announced enhanced support for community colleges (Goldrick-Rab,
S., 2012), and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has subsequently added
funding metrics to the state budget to encourage community colleges
to achieve and report improved student success outcomes (Snyder,
FY2013 State Budget). In the Chronicle of Higher Education the
following passage by Sara Goldrick-Rab echoes the sentiment the
President began. "Its a very big day for the nations community

colleges. In todays Washington Post, our president praises them, and

calls for additional funding to support their work. In particular, he
writes, We can reallocate funding to help them modernize their
facilities, increase the quality of online courses and ultimately meet the
goal of graduating 5 million more Americans from community colleges
by 2020. (Chronicle, 7-12-09).
The changing tide also brought a change in the position power at my
community college. As the leaders began strategizing how our college
might rise to this occasion, knowing that our altruistic way of doing
business might need some adjustments to demonstrate improved
student outcomes, various administrative changes began to take
place. My Chair was one of the first opting to leave the college, and a
new Dean, and Chairpersons, were hired to reflect and inact the
thinking that the Board and the President envisioned for our success.
Our faculty would have to adapt to this shift of position power, and
some are still adjusting. The subtle differences in the interpersonal
and cultural dynamics, and expectations of the current position of
power, are being assimilated slowly by all. We as faculty and staff
always have the goal of helping to produce bright, brilliantly prepared
graduates and transfer students no matter who or what is the power
position, but now there is more pressure to demonstrate this goal in
our resulting statistics and data. I am learning that positions of power
can shift, and when they do titles may carry different levels of weight
depending on the personal power, reputation and persona of the
leaders that are put in place to assume the mantel, the positions of
power.
Access and Control of Agendas
Continuing in the goal to maximize our performance as a world class
community college, President (Knight, 2008) appointed leaders who
would change the paradigms by renovating our culture, our physical
environments for teaching and learning, and our scope of teaching to
span from early childhood to adult learners of all ages. These changes
have required a host of radical reforms in the college philosophy, the
curriculum, the interpersonal dynamics and involvement of the faculty
and staff, and the physical settings in which we teach. Those who
have been at the table to discuss these changes have had some
impact on the thinking of the President, Provost, Deans and leading
faculty in charge of the changes and renovations, but some faculty and
administrators express dismay that they are feeling left out of the
many sweeping changes, and they are finding themselves running to
keep up. Some have decided to leave the college because they feel
that the current culture is not the one they joined years ago when they
felt a kindred spirit with the leading founders of the cause. They have
felt that their concerns and complaints have been ignored and that

they are no longer valuable or appreciated. They also feel that there is
a pecking order, and that they were not invited to the final decisionmaking table, even though they would have attended "planning
sessions" where they gave input, but ultimately they feel it was not
adopted. These are the variables and shifting dynamics that I have
observed in the access and control of agendas in a community college
setting.
Framing Control of Meaning and Symbols
As the culture is being transformed to reflect our new dynamics in
excellence at my community college, so is the branding that is taking
place. Shaping the meaning of who we are, what we do, and who we
serve is the role of the newer leadership who are charged with creating
renewed icons, symbols and beliefs reflecting our identity that some
staff and fellow leaders have yet to adopt. The changes are
wonderfully positive and herald a new day for the success and ultimate
growth of our community college, yet this change is hard for some who
were there when different symbols and messages conveyed our
meaning, and when others created our pledge to the community. I am
learning that it is important to engage, and indeed embrace, the
faculty and staff during times of the changing of the guard and of the
culture, so that they can feel a sense of belonging in the new dynamics
that will ultimately shape their work experience and commitment. In
the final analysis it doesn't matter what the new branding conveys,
what the new slogans say or the symbols reveal if the staff do not feel
a buy-in to that new image, and that new way that they are being
asked to present themselves.
Respectfully submitted,
Veronica Wilkerson Johnson
References:
Goldrick-Rab, S. (2009). Obama endorses community-college reform.
In Chronicle of Higher Education, July 12, 2009.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/obama-endorses-communitycollege-reform/7023. Last retrieved September 14, 2012.
Governor Rick Snyder (2012). Executive budget, FY 2013 and 2014 state of michigan. February 9, 2012.
www.michigan.gov/documents/budget/EB1_376247_7.pdf. Last
retrieved September 14, 2012.
Knight, B. (2008), Inaugural address of Dr. Brent Knight as president of
lansing community college. September 25, 2008.
www.lcc.edu/president/inauguration/index.aspx. Last retrieved
September 14, 2012.