Limited financial resources, declining enrollments, changes in student demographics, calls for accountability, and collective bargaining have signalled a profound change in the role of the community college president. The greatest change during the last 20 years is that the decision-making process, once exclusively the domain of the president, has evolved into a more democratic, participatory process. Trustees, students, and especially faculty have begun participating in decision-making. Shared authority and increasing government regulation mean that the president must now deal with state legislatures, finance committees, coordinating boards, and even local constituencies. One drawback of this is that the president's role has become increasingly political. The community college president is still very much a leader, but a different kind of leader. Researchers have concluded that effective presidents, far from being autonomous and rigid decision-makers, are flexible, thoughtful, and strong visionaries. Collective bargaining is perhaps the most significant issue to affect community college leadership in the past 20 years, and literature on this subject has been almost unanimously negative. Claims have been made that unionism weakens administrative control, and that collective bargaining creates competition rather than cooperation between faculty and administrators. On the other hand, it is noted that a collective bargaining contract, which outlines the duties and responsibilities of faculty, can make faculty more accountable. Since it is unlikely that faculty will yield its newfound role in governance, community college presidents must adapt to their new role as managers of the decision-making process. (ALB)