Currently, two-year colleges are teaching the lion's share of college composition classes, mainly consisting of developmental writing and first-year composition courses; however, those same two-year colleges have been slow in embracing the composition theory and practices that are studied and implemented at four-year colleges. One way to disseminate a compositionally-centered agenda throughout two-year colleges is through strong leadership. Using principles of organizational learning and leadership, this research explored the impact of English department chairs' educational backgrounds on their departments.

A mixed method approach was used to examine the two selected department chairs. One department chair, from college A (AC), has a Ph.D. in composition while the other, from C College (CC), has a traditional masters degree in English. Existing organizational learning surveys were adapted to better fit English department concerns, and they were administered to both sets of English faculty, both full-time and part-time members. Once the surveys were completed and calculated, each department chair was interviewed as a way to triangulate the survey data and flesh out each department chair's departmental vision.

90 of the 159 surveys (56.6%) were completed in total between the two colleges, and each department chair interview lasted roughly 80 minutes. After analyzing both sets of data, it was found that both colleges show evidence of organizational learning; nevertheless, the department chairs articulated significantly different organizational intentions.

The department chairs' differing intentions and their impacts on their departments were analyzed and seen to impact faculty interaction, faculty's perception of their position, and departmental hiring practices. Due to these ramifications of department chair vision, the study asserts two-year college English departments would be better served if led by strong compositionally-focused leaders.