A Crisis in Community College Leadership: The Phillip Dolly Affair is literary in development but grounded in “chaotic” community college daily experience.

The Phillip Dolly Affair: Humor

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Blurb:  The Phillip Dolly Affair

A Crisis in Community College Leadership: The Phillip Dolly Affair is literary in development but grounded in “chaotic” community college daily experience. The novel is comic, satiric, quasi-politically correct, edgy, and richly descriptive of community college life, leadership foibles, and cultural themes. This hyperbolic text is entertaining, edifying, and fun. Little community college fiction—comic or otherwise—exists—the authors are fearless in their humorous—and sometimes biting– analysis of community college culture….

REVIEW: The Phillip Dolly Affair

Title:  College Leadership Crisis: The Philip Dolly Affair

By: Jann M. Contento and‎ Jeffrey Ross

Publisher:  Rogue Phoenix Press

Genre:  Humor, Literature, Fiction

Length: 263 Pages

Reviewer, Courtney Rene

Rating:  5 out of 5

The Philip Dolly Affair, by Authors, Jann M. Contento and Jeffrey Ross, was a surprising read.  It was literary, it was satire, it was funny and eye opening.  I was quite entertained throughout it all.  Enter the world of community college and the political landscape that it entails.  The main story centers around the Community College President, Philip Dolly; his life, his career, all of it.  You want to like him, as he is the main character, but you also want to hate him because, he is a creature of his own making.  Right or wrong, he is what he made.

It’s a mix mash of genres.  You have poetry and prose mixed in with the story.  I wasn’t sure what I thought of it at first, but I was pleasantly surprised that it worked and worked well.    The authors don’t let anyone off easy in this book either.  Although Mr. Dolly is the main source, the authors hit on faculty at the college, staff, students, the town residents, and even a duck, all with an equal touch of enlightening humor. There’s plenty to enjoy and laugh about within the pages of this book but be prepared to recognize your own community as well as yourself within the lines.

EXCERPT: The Phillip Dolly Affair

Call Me Phil

I’m Phil Dolly, EdD, recently resigned, or deposed, community college president.

Yesterday I was the CEO at North East Central Community College here in Folsom County, West Dakota. Today, I’m contemplating my own crisis in leadership. Following a faculty vote of no confidence and caving in to growing board pressure, I packed it in this morning. No one was surprised, really, including me. But more about that later…

This evening I am sitting here at the bar nursing a weak gin and tonic, assessing the landscape of my shattered career. This place is nothing fancy, that’s for sure. I don’t know when it saw fresh air last. Located in Payson, West Dakota, this bar and grill has been owned by the same guy, I.M. Tyred, for nearly a decade. I’m a little bit out of my element–but I’m comforted by the visual relics of my own blue collar past–seed company calendars, jars of pickled pig’s feet, softball trophies, and the effervescent aroma of bacon, beer, and cheese. Many of the locals know me and enjoy seeing me stop in for an occasional drink. I probably get in here once a month. Maybe more.

I’m not sure what happened. Enrollments didn’t increase, but they didn’t decline much, either. We opened up more centers. I had bandwidth upgraded. I was in Rotary Club. I brought in some of my former graduate school colleagues from University of Toledo at Arlington to help invigorate the executive staff and to help bring this district into the 21st century in terms of management. I wanted diversity on the management team.

Hmm, I made all of the directors deans and all of the deans became associate VPs. Only one of the new VPs had emotional problems, but no damage was done. He checked into rehab. Our quality initiatives must have moved the college forward. We redid offices, put in new floors and windows, and really spruced the place up too. We won several national awards.

I remember there was some grousing when I had the president’s salary increased to 475K, but the board agreed we needed to be competitive in future presidential searches.

I guess the future arrived more quickly than I anticipated.

The hazy blue smoke in this bar settles at about stool seat level. I wish I.M. Tyred would do something. Why doesn’t he install some fans or air purifiers or something? I should say something before I have another asthma attack. The country music just drones on and on. All those sad songs about lying, drinking, and needing to be somewhere else are driving me crazy. How do these people stand it?

The lights around the mirrors seem so harsh. I barely recognize my own face in the mirror–the burdens of leadership, I guess. All those retreats, keynote speeches, conferences, dinners, trips to Europe–just so much, so much over the years.

The governing board said I spent too much time out of state. They said I belonged to too many national organizations and attended too many conferences. They just don’t understand the difficult and complicated nature of being a community college president. Networking means survival and prosperity for the institution and for me. They don’t understand the community is much bigger now. We can serve China! GIs! Nebraska! Technology has empowered us to do so much more than teach welding, massage therapy, and fertilizer applications.

We ought to do more than just serve the needs of our county taxpayers! We can have the reputation of being a global higher education leader! Oh, I guess it’s no longer we.

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