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A crisis is developing at the leadership level of the American community college movement. We need a crystalized definition of the characteristics and skills that the next crop of leaders must possess. (EIsner, 1984, p. 39) This statement and numerous others like it led to the decision to design a national study that would identify the competencies and personal characteristics needed by the community college CEO of the future. The purpose of this paper is to present the results from this recently completed study. In the study, we determined the opinions of a stratified, random group of community college presidents about answers to the question, "What should be the competencies and personal characteristics of future community college presidents?"The methodology used in the study included, first, determining a list of possible competencies and characteristics, then asking representatives of community college Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) to rate these-while allowing them the flexibility to add others they felt were important. Development of a Preliminary List of CompetenciesTo develop the initial list, a comprehensive review of the literature was completed. This review encompassed previous dissertations, general community college literature, selected four-year college materials, and major works on leadership from the business sector.At the time the study was initiated (fall, 1988), there was surprisingly little previous research on the topic. Of the relevant studies, few were multi-state, none were national in scope, and none were future-oriented. The vast majority of these studies focused on documenting the role conflicts that existed between community college presidents and various other personnel within the colleges. Collectively, they did little to reveal what the role of community college CEOs should be.

Community colleges are facing a growing need for well-trained leaders. These colleges have often looked to university-based preparation programs for their labor pools, yet few attempts at evaluating their effectiveness in leadership preparation have been undertaken. The current study was designed to explore both the current state of these university-based preparation programs in preparing community college leaders. It also tried to gain insights from current community college presidents about what should be included in graduate-preparation programs. Using a national sample of community college presidents, nearly 400 responses were obtained. Findings indicated that preparation programs, while well perceived, need to do a better job of interacting with the practitioner community and using real-world cases in their instruction.

This chapter addresses the critical need for leadership development, the current options, and recommended solutions for meeting the training needs of a new generation of community college leaders.

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