David J. Leon - Böcker

America faces a serious challenge: the looming surge in Latino college enrollment. Latinos are now the largest minority in the United States, accounting for 12 percent of the population. Yet their presence is scarce in higher education, just 1.7 percent of first-time, full-time students in American public universities in 1998 are Latino. Because of the evolving demographics, Latinos will make up an increasingly greater percentage of prospective and potential applicants to higher education programs. Will postsecondary institutions be ready for this wave? Can the community colleges accommodate it, and if not, what steps should four-year institutions take? And how can Latinos themselves increase their presence in higher education? Ultimately, it is not enough for Latinos to attend the colleges. They must also become part of the colleges. Will distance learning boost their enrollment in graduate programs? How can they increase their numbers among faculty and administrators? The answers to these questions will affect our whole society, and Latinos in Higher Education addresses those questions. The volume has three main sections: Demographics and Demand, The Crossover to College, and Rising in Academia. The first section focuses on the growing Latino demand for higher education in this country. The second examines the means of getting Latinos over the gap between high school and college. And the third treats routes to careers as faculty and administrators. Like most major phenomena, the issue of Latinos in US education has many facets, and each chapter explores and illuminates a new one.

A largely unseen phenomenon is shaping the direction of higher education today: the growth of leadership programs. These programs are hidden ladders that help the talented move up toward university presidencies. Their number and importance are rapidly increasing, and they will more and more determine who makes decisions in higher education. We need to know more about them. "Lessons in Leadership" is the first book to address them directly, highlighting their histories and achievements. In it, the directors of most major programs in the country describe their focus, curriculum, and participants' reactions. The book especially spotlights programs aimed at minorities, since they stand to benefit most from them and since their participation will likely have the greatest impact on U.S. higher education. This volume has three sections: Hidden Springboard - The Importance of Leadership Programs; The First Wave - Traditional Leadership Programs; and, The New Leaders - Programs Focused Entirely on Minorities. The first analyzes the rapid demographic changes occurring in American society and their consequences for higher education. The second looks at two of the major players in higher education leadership and describes the changes in the programs over the years. The third focuses on the latest entrants: programs created in part because of the lack of diversity in the traditional offerings. Although the new programs share many features with their older brothers, they provide special perspective on the challenges facing minority administrators in higher education. Leadership programs are an intriguing, important, half-concealed force in higher education today. "Lessons in Leadership" reveals them to a wider public.