The American workplace is in the midst of major generational transition of leadership, and the community college system is immersed in this change.

Presidents and executive-level administrators who were born in the tail-end of the “Baby Boom” (born 1946 – 1964) will soon complete the retirement cycle of their generation.  Senior administrators, who are predominantly “Gen Xers” (born 1965 – 1979), are in line to replace them. Mid-level administrators are poised to advance to those senior positions, and fresh recruits are needed to fill their vacancies.

Consequently, through the current decade, the system must be replenished with a new and more diverse cohort of mid-level and entry level administrators who are predominantly from the “Millennial” generation (born 1980 – 2000).

Super-worker to supervisor

The majority of new entry level and mid-level managers will be recruited from within. Most colleges are organized by the major functional areas of academic affairs, student affairs, and operations/finance. As is typical in most organizations, the “Super-worker” who performs duties and responsibilities at a superior level is a prime candidate for promotion.

Common examples in a community college include: 1) a faculty member becoming a department chair or assistant dean; 2) a counselor or admission specialist becoming a department manager or director; and 3) a staff accountant becoming a department manager or director. These individuals will experience a radical change in the nature of their work. First of all, their role will change from “Star player to Coach.”  Secondly, their relationship with former peers will change from “Buddy to Boss.” Finally, their main responsibility is now enhancing the performance of others through effective communication and influence. Such individuals usually need a healthy dose of management/leadership training.

AACC Competencies provide guidance

To address this leadership development challenge, a community college must first evaluate its training/development curriculum.  Fortunately, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has already promulgated the AACC Competencies for Community College Leaders as a comprehensive guide for that purpose.  It delineates the necessary competencies for emerging leaders at six levels and is a “treasure trove” of learning outcomes.

Next, a community college must consider how to create and deliver relevant instruction.  Fortunately, again, a community college is a learning institution and richly resourced to provide learning experiences.

A training/development proposal

The authors propose two basic components of instruction: 1) customized training in the specific administrative policies, procedure and practices of the institution; and 2) basic training in communication and management and supervisory principles.

The first component is usually addressed by formal in-service training and formal or informal mentoring.  However, the second component is often overlooked or neglected — most of these transitioning individuals do need a healthy dose of basic management. Here are five resources that a typical community college can leverage to deliver this instruction.

Credit course work

New administrators can enroll at their own community college in core management courses such as Principles of Management, Workplace Communication, Supervisory Management, Human Resource Management, Fundamentals of Finance, etc.  Enrollment could be online or at times outside of the administrator’s normal work hours or at a neighboring community college or university or through an online source.

Continuing and professional education workshops

A community college may have a non-credit division that offers a variety of basic management and leadership topics in shorter, workshop formats.  For example, Waubonsee Community College (WCC) in Illinois, in partnership with one of the local chambers of commerce, offers a non-credit workshop titled From Super-worker to Supervisor, which focuses on the challenges of this transition.  Participants include Waubonsee staff and individuals from member organizations of the chamber.

Leadership academies

A community college can create its own “Leadership Academy” to provide professional development opportunities to a wide range of employees, including aspiring and new administrators.  WCC created and offered such an academy several years ago with great success and is considering its revival.  Other variants of this option include: 1) statewide academies, such as one established for mid -level managers by the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) to serve its system of twenty-three colleges; and 2) a community-based “Leadership Academy,” typically offered by a local/regional chamber of commerce.

Targeted in-service training

As previously mentioned, this is the traditional mode for delivering training on institutional policies, procedures and practices.  It can also be leveraged for training in specialized topics, such as collective bargaining techniques, communication techniques, etc.

Formal mentoring

A working senior administrator is often asked to mentor a new manager or administrator.  As well intentioned as this arrangement may be, the senior administrator is often too busy to provide consistent mentoring. A retired, proven administrator working part-time could provide more focused, consistent mentoring to a cadre of new administrators. Currently, one of the authors is serving in that capacity at WCC.

As the community college system faces the challenge of developing a new generation of leaders, it is rich in resources and poised for success. The AACC Competencies for Community College Leaders serves as a robust guide for developing a curriculum.  The many learning modalities already exist in most community college.  The authors posit that this healthy dose of professional development for new administrators will not only empower them to succeed in their first assignment but will sow seeds for their future success and advancement   It is a very worthwhile investment for every community college.