Navigating complexity: leadership decision-making in community college instructional offerings

Abstract

This qualitative single-case study examined how community college leaders identified, interpreted, and integrated internal and external stakeholder interests when making instructional program decisions at a public community college. Guided by an overarching stakeholder-theory lens and informed by the conceptual frameworks of Burke’s accountability triangle and Schein’s three levels of organizational culture, the study drew on nine semi-structured interviews with institutional leaders, on-site observation memos, and institutional document analysis. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and explanation building. Findings indicated that leaders identified stakeholder interests through layered engagement structures, including shared governance, cross-functional teams, advisory relationships, data systems, and community listening processes. Leaders interpreted those interests through institutional mission, a student-centered culture of care, and market, political, and academic accountability pressures. Stakeholder interests were integrated into decision-making through iterative, collaborative processes such as program incubator review, curriculum workflows, enrollment and scheduling adjustments, and program redesign under resource constraints. The study found that workforce responsiveness did not displace broader educational commitments related to transfer, general education, and liberal arts; instead, leaders attempted to balance those commitments through cross-functional planning and mission-based interpretation. The study contributes a practice-based explanation of stakeholder-responsive instructional decision-making at the program level and shows how community college leadership is shaped simultaneously by public accountability, institutional culture, and community obligation.