A Career in Community College Administration

This book, is about a "Black" or African-American Educator who experienced a number of leadership challenges as a College Dean, College President and CEO, District Vice Chancellor, and the first African American Chancellor of a Multi-College/Campus Community College District in California. Dr. Godbold, was the first African American Administrator hired as a Dean at the Orchard Ridge College of the Oakland County Community College District in Michigan, OCC. Dr. Godbold, shortly, acceded to the position of Provost and CEO of the College. He, as the Provost, experienced and successfully surmounted several challenges during his administration as the a first Black College CEO of a Suburban Community College that was overwhelming "Caucasian" in one of the most affluent Counties in the USA, particularly being accepted by the College Faculty, and providing educational opportunity for "inner city" Black and minority students. Dr. Godbold was recruited by the President of the Community College of Denver System to come to Denver to start the Auraria College of the System. Dr. Godbold again encountered many challenging but rewarding administrative experiences by having been given almost "free rein" to start the College for a very diverse student population. Dr. Godbold selected and mentored a diverse "team" of Faculty and Administrators, many of whom were new to Community College Education, at the time, who worked in "make shift" and "gerrymandered" facilities, until the college was built. Dr. Godbold's successes included the establishment of Counseling Teams, instituting a program of "open entry-open exit Idividualized Self Paced Laboratory Instruction " that qualified for State Apportionment. Dr. Godbold left the Community College of Denver System to accept the position of President of Merritt College upon the urging of Dr. Norvel Smith. Merritt College was one of five colleges of the Peralta Community College District. Dr. Godbold soon learned that he would be faced with many challenges that in his opinion included: lack of administrative leadership, the college organization, an entrenched and dissident activist segment of a hybrid faculty, a Faculty that was anti-administration, hostility toward other District colleges, a serious adversity towards the District Office, faulty budget management, and other manisfestations. Dr. Godbold was successful in dealing with several of these problems, particularly in reorganizing the College, improving the budget management, instituting what became a "Student Assistance Laboratory, and an improved faculty selection process. The sucesses of Dr. Godbold were noticed by the District Board of Trustees who offered him the position of District Vice Chancellor without announcing the position or going through a selection process. He as the Vice Chancellor establish a much needed Office of Institutional Development and Analysis and attained the approval of several new instructional programs. He served in the position of Vice Chancellor until selected as the District Chancellor, "the second time around". The same kind of unpleasant faculty antagonism followed him. But he was successful in improving a District Registrar process, introducing the Student Accountability Model, establishing a Risk Management Program, among other successes until a Student Fee for Community College attendance was invoked that significantly reduced the District's enrollment before legal reductions in force could take place that left the District with Faculty that it legally had to pay for, in addition to the added costs of a Federally funded Vocational Skill Center that was unable to meet its contracted obligations that a newly elected Board majority whose mission was "me," the Chancellor rather than the District, that refused to close the Center when recommended by me, that significantly added to the District deficit and also vitalized District dissidents who enlisted others that lead to the conclusion of this book