Brave New Leadership

With community college presidents retiring left and right, what's an open-access institution to do?
Leadership programs just might be the answer

As community colleges grapple with some of the most pressing issues they've ever faced — teacher shortages, swelling enrollments and budget cuts, to name a few — those at the helm of the institutions are critical in determining the schools' success. Meanwhile, with scores of baby boomers on the verge of retiring, community college leadership also will be facing a shortage. Such challenges, educators say, only underscore the need for more and better community college leaders — and programs to train them.
A variety of programs are stepping up to fill the institutional knowledge vacuum created by retiring presidents, and vice presidents who would normally be tapped to fill the high posts also are retiring, according to a 2001 study by the American Association of Community Colleges.
From residential two-year programs, to Internet-based teleclasses, to customized curriculum paths, doctoral and master's degree programs in community college leadership are the next wave of career education for the community college professional. And if a degree-granting course isn't quite on the radar screen, less formal weeklong or daylong seminars can be a good way to get your feet wet in the leadership arena.
These programs teach everything from financial and budgeting strategies to interpersonal skills, all with the community college in mind. Not only is completing one of these programs a good way to get a job — soon it may be the only way to find a position in the upper echelons of community college management.
"You can still find some searches where they don't require a doctorate," says Dr. John E. Roueche, president of the Community College Leadership Program at The University of Texas at Austin, "but the overwhelming majority would require at least an advanced degree in the field."