Rural Community College Leadership Development and the AACC Competencies Pamela L. Eddy, College of William & Mary Eron Drake, Davenport University

Community College Leadership “Crisis” Pending retirements 45% of all community college presidents are 61 or older (ACE, 2007) 84% plan to retire in next 10 years (Weisman & Vaughan, 2007) Mosaic of Leadership Development National Programs Grow-Your-Own Models Doctoral Programs

AACC Competencies for Community College Leaders (AACC, 2005) 1.Organizational Strategy 2.Resource Management 3.Communication 4.Collaboration 5.Community College Advocacy 6.Professionalism

Research Questions 1.How does leadership development inform the development of competencies for rural community college leaders? 2.What is the impact of leadership development on the enactment of community college competencies?

Methodology Phenomenological One Mid-Western state Presidents & CAOs/Deans of Instruction 20 Interviews at 13 community colleges 10 presidents 10 vice-presidents/deans

Findings AACC Competencies Portrait of Rural Community College Leaders Emergent Themes: 1.Coming home—Advocacy 2.Learning on the Job—Trial by fire 3.Advancement intentions—If Only… 4.Ghosts of leadership past and present

Study Portrait: Rural Presidents Compared to National Norms 20% 29% Women Presidents 50% 35% Internal Ascendency Doctoral Degree 60% 88%

Study Portrait: Training Opportunities Presidents (10 sample): 3 Out-of-state experiences 3 National training CAO/VP (10 sample): 4 Out-of-state experiences 3 The Chair’s Academy 2 National training 2 Other

Coming Home - Advocacy I like these people. We have developed a relationship, and I love this county because I feel like they’re mine. And I am really responsible for their higher education needs. I feel that I am partly responsible to improve their quality of life. – President

Learning on the Job—Trial by Fire I learned a lot by trial and error. I made a lot of mistakes and, of course, you know, you learn from your mistakes. – President The budget and the supervisory things were new to me, and it just took practice making a couple mistakes. - President

Advancement Intentions—If Only… I never started my career thinking that in five years I was going to be this or ten years I’d be president. No, that’s not the way I functioned. These opportunities just came about, I was not looking for them. - President I thought I could be a reasonably good president. - President

Ghosts of Leadership Past & Present Past: Higher Learning Commission Academic backgrounds Prior Experience Present: The trustees will not hesitate to say, “So and so called me and they said that their son wasn’t able to register for classes.” - President

Summary Multiple responsibilities and many hats Outsider status is detrimental to building collaborations and relationships Limited perspectives of college staff, faculty, and students Some institutions are located in remote regions with high levels of poverty Resource constraints Hit the ground running

Implications Leadership development influenced AACC competencies of advocacy, professionalism, collaboration, and communication Leaders most pressed to be competent in Organizational Strategy and Resource Management Identify emerging leaders earlier in their career progression Mentors can be critical to the learning process

Implications “Truth in advertising” required to inform candidates of required demands Grow-Your-Own programs to facilitate succession planning Providing opportunities for emerging leaders to explore and acquire requisite competencies More in budgeting and planning

Conclusion Continue the dialogue related to leadership development and the AACC competencies: What practical skills are required to effectively lead a rural community college? What can rural leaders learn from urban and vice versa? Successful leaders model continuous learning

Thank you. Pamela L. Eddy, College of William & Mary Eron Drake, Davenport University