When Dr. Ana Guzmán decided to leave her post as vice chancellor of the Texas A&M University System and become the first woman president of Palo Alto College in Texas, people thought she was nuts, Guzmán admits. But Guzmán, eager to serve the San Antonio community, took the job anyway.

Under her leadership, enrollment has increased and the college has become an economic engine for the south side of San Antonio. She has also added 12 new occupational technical programs that have enabled the college to become a critical work force trainer for Toyota and its suppliers.

In fact, Guzmán has garnered so much success at the community college level that four-year universities looking for college presidents are knocking on her door. To other minorities seeking a nontraditional pathway to the college presidency, Guzmán, who spoke at the American Council on Education’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, suggested that they consider community colleges.

“Success attracts success,” says Guzmán. “Minorities cannot follow the traditional path to the presidency. We need to create our own path. In following the traditional path, you have to depend on other people giving you opportunities. But, oftentimes, people do not give you opportunities.”

Data collected by ACE show that there is a shortage of junior faculty in line to take the place of the academy’s aging leadership. According to ACE researchers, only 3 percent of faculty at four-year institutions are 34 years old or younger and working in tenure-line positions. Those between the ages of 35 and 44 represent 15 percent working in tenure-track positions. The percentage is significantly lower for minority faculty members.

While people of color under age 45 typically compose a larger proportion of young tenure-line faculty than those who are older, they represent only 4 percent of faculty at four-year institutions and 6 percent of faculty at community colleges.

Young and minority faculty often do not have the time and opportunity to advance up the traditional academic career ladder — going from department chair to dean to chief academic officer — into senior administrative leadership positions or the office of the presidency. It increasingly takes them longer to complete doctoral programs and delay career opportunities for family which lengthens the time it takes for them to advance through the academy, according to a report released by ACE in 2008.