to being a college editor in chief (as opposed to professional leadership roles)? (see Table 6, Question 10)
were returned in Round Two for consideration because they specifically address the unique nature of the college newsroom. Heilbrunn (1996) argues that leadership studies have neglected to address the “variety of arenas in which different kinds of leaders operate” (p. 8). These responses help to define the college newsroom arena and provide the context for the competencies identified in this study. These newsroom situations are listed in Table 29.
The list of 20 situations identified by the expert panel as unique to the college newsroom was returned to the panelists in Round Two. Panelists were asked to rate how important each situation was to their experience in that role using a 4-point Likert Scale ranging from not important to most important. The results are presented in Table 30.
Table 29. Situations Unique to College Newspaper Leadership Experience Members of the expert panel identified the following as examples of situations they considered unique to a college editor in chief’s leadership experience.
1. Staff changes more frequently
2. College leaders must be more flexible because student journalists balance school, other jobs, and the newspaper
3. The newspaper is not the primary activity for all staff members 4. All or part of the staff is unpaid (volunteer)
5. Dealing with uncommitted students 6. Teaching is a continuous activity
7. College students are more likely to quit if they aren’t excited about the job (motivate) 8. You’re more connected to your readership and must deal directly with more unhappy readers 9. You have one or maybe two years to learn a job
10. Everyone thinks the paper is put out by the university and therefore it’s a mouthpiece 11. Your employees being sort of, but not really, your peers
12. You become a model for other students, even those who are not in your line of study 13. Get your peers to respect you, which is often difficult on the collegiate level
14. Must manage everything, and also help those around you manage, and still publish a great paper 15. Duties are much broader as a college editor than in the professional world
16. It’s an enormous amount of responsibility for a college student 17. The college editor has more creative freedom
18. Maternal/paternal role. Make sure staff eats, studies and makes it to class on time 19. Some students are very sensitive about their work
Panelists’ responses were tabulated and the mean and standard deviation for each item was calculated. Only those responses from panelists with a mean score of 3.13 were returned for consensus building in Round Three. The low-rated items were removed from further consideration because the study is interested in the most important characteristics. Eight items were returned.
Table 30. Unique College Newspaper Situations Rated by Panel Members The expert panel rated the following unique college newsroom situations they considered unique to a college editor in chief’s leadership experience.( see Appendix G, Question 5)
Criteria Mean Std. Dev. Rank
Staff changes more frequently 3.46 0.66 1
Must manage everything, and also help those around you manage, and still
publish a great paper 3.38 0.82 2
Dealing with uncommitted students 3.33 0.70 3
College leaders must be more flexible because student journalists balance
school, other jobs, and the newspaper 3.29 0.86 4
Teaching is a continuous activity 3.25 0.74 5
Your employees being sort of, but not really, your peers 3.21 0.88 6 It takes time for the staff to stop seeing you as a peer and realize you’re their
editor and their boss 3.13 0.90 7
College students are more likely to quit if they aren’t excited about the job
(motivation) 3.13 0.95 8
Get your peers to respect you, which is often difficult on the collegiate level 3.04 0.95 9 It’s an enormous amount of responsibility for a college student 3.00 1.14 10 Some students are very sensitive about their work 2.88 0.74 11 Duties are much broader as a college editor than in the professional world 2.88 1.08 12 You become a model for other students, even those who are not in your line
of study 2.83 1.01 13
You’re more connected to your readership and must deal directly with more
unhappy readers 2.75 0.99 14
You have one or maybe two years to learn a job 2.71 0.86 15 The college editor has more creative freedom 2.63 0.88 16 Everyone thinks the paper is put out by the university and therefore it’s a
mouthpiece 2.50 1.25 17
All or part of the staff is unpaid 2.46 1.14 18
Maternal/paternal role. Make sure staff eats, studies and makes it to class on
In Round Three, participants were asked to choose the three most important, from a list of eight unique college newsroom situations. The results are shown in Table 31.
This culture may help explain why the highest scoring statement “must manage everything, and also help those around you manage, and still publish a great paper” received a score of 15. The next three highest ranked items “dealing with uncommitted students” with a score of 12, “staff changes more frequently” with a score of 11, and “college leaders must be more flexible because student journalists balance school, other jobs, and the newspaper” with a score of 10, all reflect demands placed on the college newsroom leader. The typical college newspaper staff is composed mostly of volunteers or low-paid students. The staff members are relatively inexperienced, requiring more training, and are short-term employees. Their short-term goals include working for the newspaper, but their long-term goals are to graduate. These circumstances are unique to the college newsroom experience as opposed to professional or commercial newspapers.
Table 31. Unique College Newspaper Situations Ranked by Panel Members The expert panel ranked the following unique college newsroom situations they considered unique to a college editor in chief’s leadership experience.
Criteria Score Rank
Must manage everything, and also help those around you manage, and still publish a great
paper 15 1
Dealing with uncommitted students 12 2
Staff changes more frequently 11 3
College leaders must be more flexible because student journalists balance school, other
jobs, and the newspaper 10 4
Teaching is a continuous activity 7 5
Your employees being sort of, but not really, your peers 6 6 It takes time for the staff to stop seeing you as a peer and realize you’re their editor and
their boss 5 7
Leadership Competencies, Skills, and Behaviors That Separate an Average College Newsroom Leader from a Great College Newsroom Leader
In their replies to Question 11, panelists identified 23 competencies, skills, and behaviors as ones that separate a great newsroom leader from an average newsroom leader. These examples are listed in Table 32.