The global citizenship initiative: a case study examining the leadership of Pacific Coast Community College implementing organizational change in response to globalization

UnrestrictedGlobalization is a contested phenomenon that has created broad implications across social, cultural, economic, and political contexts (Scott, 2000). The imprint of globalization in higher education, particularly in community colleges, is beginning to emerge and creates a need for leaders to understand the complex challenges and opportunities that exist in an interconnected world. In order to prepare students to be successful in a globalized world requires that leaders guide institutions to reflect and meet the needs of the contemporary world. This study provides practitioners, policymakers, and researchers with an understanding of how leaders can respond to the forces of globalization.; A single case study was used to examine how leaders at Pacific Coast Community College implemented organizational changes and developed the concept of global citizenship. The study sought to understand the challenges that leaders faced when implementing the initiative, and highlighted ways in which college leadership measure progress in embedding global citizenship into the culture of the college.; The findings reveal that the leaders of the college developed the concept of global citizenship as a timely response to the influence of globalization and to meet the needs of preparing students for a globalized world. The definition of global citizen at Pacific Coast focuses on preparing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of students and raising their awareness of the interconnectedness of economies, environments, and cultures. The data revealed that the leadership of Pacific Coast Community College created organizational changes primarily through faculty development efforts and through the development of interdisciplinary curriculum that incorporates the concept of global citizenship. Financial constrains were found to be the greatest challenge facing leaders in an attempt to embed global citizenship into the culture of the college. The culture of the institution was referenced as a way to measure progress with the initiative. Findings demonstrated that leaders view evidence of the success of the initiative through the incorporation of global citizenship into the mission, faculty engagement and participation, and changes to the curriculum