Higher education system governance: an exploratory study of presidential decision making in the kentucky community and technical college system

Participants

Because this study explored presidential decision making in KCTCS, the available participants for this study consisted of the KCTCS president and presidents of each of the 16 colleges, including the following: Ashland Community and Technical College; Big Sandy Community and Technical College; Bluegrass Community and Technical College; Elizabethtown Community and Technical College; Gateway Community and Technical College; Hazard Community and Technical College; Henderson Community College; Hopkinsville Community College; Jefferson Community and Technical College; Madisonville Community College; Maysville Community and Technical College; Owensboro Community and Technical College; Somerset Community College; Southcentral Community and Technical College; Southeast Community and Technical College; West Kentucky Community and Technical College. At the time of participant solicitation, the KCTCS President was male, and of the 16 college presidents, 7 were male and 9 were female. In addition, at the time of participant solicitation, two possible participants were interim presidents and another two possible participants announced their retirement.

Each person solicited for participation in the study had the options of consenting to participate in all, part, or none of the study. Persons who elected to participate in the study could withdraw from participation at any point before or during the study. Though the study includes the name of the system, the participants were not named. Because the
survey did not ask participants to identify their role in the system as either the KCTCS president, a college president, or an interim college president, participant survey responses were anonymous. Reasonable and appropriate data collection and analysis procedures, including reporting data in aggregate, coding and the use of pseudonyms, were used to protect the identities of participants as well as any people or places revealed by participants during interviews.
Participating presidents varied in their length of tenure in the system. Participants were representative of both male and female presidents. Specifically, 4 male and 2 female presidents participated in phase one, and 2 males and 1 female participated in phase two. though a male pseudonym was assigned to each of the presidents interviewed in phase two. College presidents participating in this study were from urban and rural colleges within the system.