Acquisition and Development of the American Association of Community Colleges' Competencies for Community College Leaders

Abstract

Community colleges are facing a severe shortage of qualified leaders that may threaten the stability of these institutions. Seventy-five percent of community college presidents and a large number of senior administrators are planning to retire within ten years (AACC, 2013; Boyd, 2010; Shults, 2001). The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) addressed the leadership crisis in 2003, and again in 2012, by creating a framework that identified five key competencies that every community college president should possess. The competency areas are 1) organizational strategy; 2) institutional finance, research, fundraising, and resource management; 3) communication; 4) collaboration; and 5) advocacy. The AACC publication, Competencies for Community College Leadership, addressed the skills community college presidents need, but it did not address how presidents acquired and developed those skills. This study uses a phenomenological design to discover the ways current community college presidents acquired and developed their skills with the AACC competencies.