ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on effective leadership at one group of minority-serving institutions (MSIs), historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). We discuss two areas of HBCU senior leadership: chief student affairs officers (CSAOs), especially those who occupy an executive role in the president's cabinet, and the presidents themselves. The chapter advances a working conceptual model of highly effective CSAO leadership for HBCUs, and makes the argument that current and aspiring HBCU presidents can draw important insights from the model. A small number of reputed HBCU presidents have emerged from student affairs. The chapter begins with a brief review of the relevant literature regarding senior student affairs and presidential leadership at HBCUs. The consensus of the academic and trade literature is that student affairs leadership is a dynamic enterprise requiring intentional development. A reader can see how an HBCU student affairs division can be a proving ground for an HBCU presidency.
