| Colleges and universities across the country are seeking ways to strategically position their campuses within the growingly competitive landscape of higher education. The presidents of these institutions are approaching these changes with a watchful eye on the fiscal, environmental, and human resources involved.;The purpose of this study was to learn about the roles that university presidents play during the transformational change to increase the environmental sustainability of their campuses. The setting for this study was two, liberal arts colleges that had both approached sustainability as a campus-wide initiative. This study employed a qualitative design to understand what roles presidents at small, liberal arts colleges, employ throughout the period of transformational change. The study involved interviews of key administrators, faculty, and staff and review of pertinent document on each campus. Specifically, this study used a multi-case study to examine the following research questions: 1. What roles do presidents of small, liberal arts college, play during a period of institutional transformation in regard to increasing institutional sustainability? 2. How do presidents select the roles that they play throughout the institutional transformation? 3. Do these roles change as the period of transformation occurs? If so, why and how? The results of this study identified the overarching approach used in being a president, the interaction of that way of being president and the change process, and several roles that served key functions within the change process. Recommendations for college presidents, the search committees of presidents, and campuses engaging in sustainability efforts are presented. |
