In the past 10 years, the profile of the community-college president has changed dramatically. The Association of Community College Trustees reports that search committees throughout the country are seeking C.E.O.s with a much wider range of skills than in previous decades.
Today, community-college leaders must possess a clear understanding of the role of technology in learning, teaching, administration, and management, as well as be technologically literate themselves. They are expected to understand the fundamentals and nuances of work-force training and economic development, welfare-to-work programs, enrollment management and student assessment, and "performance-based funding."
Because all public community-college boards are either directly elected or appointed by state or local officials, community-college C.E.O.s also must be politically savvy. They must be able to develop alternative sources of money and be fiscally responsible and prudent. And, of course, they must be seen as the institutions academic leader and have the respect of the faculty.
Where do they come from -- these new community-college leaders? Primarily, they are found within the ranks of current community-college administrations. They continue to be drawn from the traditional "line of succession" -- instruction and academic services -- and increasingly from non-traditional positions such as continuing education, student services, and fund raising.
A number of successful community-college leaders have been selected from among four-year college and university administrators, K-12 public-school superintendents, business and industry, and the non-profit sector. For the most part, however, community-college leaders come from within the community-college "movement" and frequently have selected doctoral programs that support their ambition to become a community-college president.
Over the past 20 years, a number of university graduate schools have developed programs designed to prepare students for administrative positions in community colleges. Community-college administrators also have a number of professional-development opportunities available to them:
- The League for Innovation in the Community Colleges sponsors two programs: the Executive Leadership Institute and Expanding Leadership Diversity.
- The National Institute for Leadership Development provides leadership-development experiences for women.
- The National Council on Black American Affairs and the National Community College Hispanic Council. both affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges sponsor professional development programs.
- The American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program, and programs of ACEs Office of Minorities in Higher Education and Office of Women in Higher Education also provide leadership-development programs.
After preparing themselves academically and progressing through a career of ever-more responsible professional positions, those who want to assume the mantle of the presidency must take the first step -- that of actually applying for and interviewing for the job.
The application process, as with all the processes in a presidential search, is designed to reduce a large pool to three to five finalists who are judged to most clearly "fit" the needs of the institution and the community. The finalists are interviewed by the college's governing board with the successful candidate selected as the new president.
Most candidates are eliminated in the first round by the paper screening process -- frequently, as a result of their own letters of application. To advance to the second level a candidate's letter must respond to the clues in the college's job announcement and the presidential-profile brochure, a comprehensive description of the position and institution.
The most important point for candidates to remember is that the board of trustees and search-committee members have developed the profile for a purpose -- to help them select their new president. Candidates must take the profile seriously and follow the instructions. Seems simple, doesn't it? Yet, in more than 10 years of assisting colleges with presidential searches, I've too often heard the refrain, "Why didn't he (or she) follow our instructions?"
I'll say it again for anyone who might have missed it: Good candidates with outstanding experience and skills may not make the short list simply because they did not honor the college's request for information to be delivered in the manner that the college wished to receive it.
Colleges that hire the A.C.C.T. to assist in their search usually say in their presidential profile: "Applicants should state in their letters of application how their background and experience have given them the skills to address the issues identified -- and how they meet the elements of the presidential profile." Simply put, a cover letter should contain sufficient information to enable the search committee and board to evaluate the applicant on its terms -- not the candidate's terms.
Information that does not relate to the college's profile and the college's needs -- no matter how important it seems to the candidate -- detracts from the individual's application. This mistake annoys the members of the search committee and frequently leads to the candidate's elimination from the next stage of the process. Candidates should use their accomplishments to demonstrate how they would handle the college's identified issues.
Unless the instructions specifically request it, candidates should not include statements of their educational philosophy. The committee and board are really not concerned with what candidates "believe." They want to know what candidates have accomplished and how that relates to the presidency of their institution -- all in five pages and without overusing the personal pronoun "I." (It's hard to convince a search committee that you are a team player if your favorite word is "I.")
Proficient writers suggest that applicants tape record their responses to each point in the college's profile. When applicants hear their own words, they frequently are able to cut the excess verbiage and use of "I." Also in the "try to avoid" category: using pretentious language when simple language will be clearer. Applicants should speak and write in plain English.
After reading the profile carefully, candidates should respond to all of the issues in the order they appear, inserting bullets for emphasis, using clear and concise language, and referring the reader to the resume. The search committee will not usually "read between the lines" and assume that the candidate is qualified by reading the resume.
The search committee will pay attention to a resume if the candidate demonstrates that he or she is qualified in the cover letter. Some search-committee members will read an application letter and assume that the candidate meets the criteria and "check off" the statements that seem to relate to the profile. However, most prefer a candidate's letter to list the issues and the candidate's response, preferably in the same order as the profile, to demonstrate that the candidate paid attention to the committee's request for information.
Successful candidates develop a horizontal and global view of their own institution and the tasks of the president. Most administrators who are not presidents tend to have a vertical, or silo, view of the organization and focus on their own responsibilities and those of their subordinates. They know everything there is to know about their particular area of responsibility but may know little about the rest of the institution. The most successful administrators, regardless of position -- president, vice-president, or campus dean -- possess a global view of the institution. (One successful C.E.O. maintains that the two individuals within an institution who have the most global view are the C.E.O. and the director of buildings and grounds.)
Always review a letter of application to insure that all spelling and grammar are correct, and that the name of the institution has been rendered properly. Check carefully for typos. Candidates have been eliminated because of such carelessness. An old proofreader's trick: Re-read the letter and resume "back to front," that is, start at the end and go to the beginning. The committee will be reading many, many letters, and it's up to the candidate to make sure that his or her letter (and resume) accomplishes its primary purpose -- to get an interview with the search committee.
The board of trustees objective is to eliminate all but the best. The applicant's objective is to persuade the board, through his or her responses to each step of the process, that he or she is indeed the best.
Elizabeth Rocklin is the director of board services at the Association of Community College Trustees.
