THE EVOLUTION OF CRISIS AT CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO A dissertation submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education In Educational Leadership by Megan Diane Corry San Francisco, California August 2016 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read The Evolution of Crisis at City College of San Francisco by Megan Diane Corry, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree: Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University. Robert Gabriner, Ed.D. Professor of Education DanieKMeier, Ph.D. Professor of Elementary Education ,-X* Francis White, PLD. Professor of Education THE EVOLUTION OF CRISIS AT CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO Megan Corry San Francisco, California 2016 In July of 2013, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) determined that the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) did not meet the eligibility criteria and standards for accreditation and announced that they would terminate accreditation within one year. Following this decision, it was revealed that there were early warning signs of impending financial insolvency and a history of noncompliance with regulatory standards. In the 1980’s, the college experienced a similar crisis, after which it embarked on a major reorganization designed to integrate operations, improve communications, and ensure fiscal solvency. But decades later the college found itself in the same condition. Studies of community colleges in fiscal or accreditation crisis focus on leadership responses and recovery; however, few have closely examined the evolution of the crisis through a historical perspective. This qualitative study examined the factors that may have contributed to the development of an institutional blindspot that prevented CCSF leaders at all levels from recognizing and responding to the impending crisis. Through interviews and archival document review, this study found that college leaders consistently normalized deviations in financial operations and in decision-making processes on student learning outcomes. Three factors that contributed to normalization of deviance included an environment of competition for scarce resources stemming from shifts in state community college finance laws and increasing accountability standards, a culture of expectation to be “all things to all people”, and a self-affirming ideology fed by a culture of “uniqueness”, which isolated the institution and insulated its leaders from acting on the warning signs of impending crisis. Recommendations outline strategies for leaders to better recognize problems before they become major crises. I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this dissertation. Chair, Dissertation Committee Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not have been possible without the cooperation and candid communication of the interview participants, and the many faculty, administrators and support personnel who ushered me through the history of San Francisco’s community college district. A special thanks to Christopher Kox and Julia Bergman for guiding me through the archives collection and for their dedication to maintaining this valuable treasure. I thank my dissertation committee for their patience with me through this process. Dr. Gabriner, thank you for your persistence and for having faith in my abilities. Finally, I extend a special note of gratitude to my family for their support and enthusiasm throughout this project. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES.........................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................viii LIST OF APPENDICES................................................................................................. ix Chapter One: Purpose of the Study...................................................................................1 Introduction and Problem Statement..........................................................................1 Background of the crisis.......................................................................................1 The importance of CCSF to the community........................................................ 5 A history of problems.......................................................................................... 7 Purpose of the study and research questions........................................................ 9 Conceptual Framework.............................................................................................. 9 Summary...................................................................................................................14 Chapter Two: Literature Review....................................................................................16 Introduction...............................................................................................................16 Literature Review......................................................................................................18 Crisis in higher education: the influence of culture............................................19 The cultural implications of multiple missions.................................................. 24 The role of leadership in the development of crisis............................................26 Organizational mistake and normalization of deviance......................................28 Summary and Implications...................................................................................... 32 Chapter Three: Methodology......................................................................................... 34 Introduction.............................................................................................................. 34 Study Design............................................................................................................ 34 Data Collection........................................................................................................ 37 Researcher conducted interviews....................................................................... 37 Participant Selection................................................................................................ 39 Archival interviews............................................................................................ 40 Archival document review................................................................................. 41 Data Analysis........................................................................................................... 42 Validity and reliability............................................................................................. 45 Construct validity............................................................................................... 45 Internal validity.................................................................................................. 46 Role of the Researcher....................................................................................... 47 External validity................................................................................................. 48 v Reliability........................................................................................................... 48 Operating assumptions.......................................................................................49 Ethics and Protection of Human Subjects................................................................ 50 Limitations of the research....................................................................................... 51 Summary................................................................................................................... 51 Chapter Four: Report of Findings................................................................................... 52 Overview.................................................................................................................. 52 Competition and Scarcity......................................................................................... 54 State reductions in funding for California community colleges......................... 57 Collective bargaining and Proposition 13 at the SFCCD...................................60 An era of accountability and unpredictable funding..........................................67 Student Learning Outcomes (SLO’s)................................................................. 76 Structural design of the SFCCD promotes internal competition........................78 A Culture of Expectation.......................................................................................... 87 Community expectations.................................................................................... 88 Labor group expectations...................................................................................96 Governance expectations.................................................................................. 105 Self-affirming Ideology.......................................................................................... I ll Exceptional uniqueness.................................................................................... 112 Isolation.............................................................................................................114