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Dr. DeRionne PollardAACC
"Resilient by Design", commissioned by AACC's Board of Directors and conducted by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), identifies evolving technology, shifting political climates, and growing workforce demands as critical forces requiring institutional transformation.
"Our colleges are being called to navigate seismic demographic shifts, economic realignments, political divides, and the accelerating influence of technology," said Dr. DeRionne Pollard, AACC's president and CEO. "In these challenges lies an extraordinary opportunity: to reimagine how community colleges serve students and society, and to lead transformation across the higher education landscape."
The report emerges as community colleges face sustained enrollment decline and intensifying competition. National two-year college enrollment has fallen by more than two million students from its 2010 peak, while high school graduates are projected to begin a long-term decline after 2025.
Dr. Leigh Goodson, AACC's board chair and president of Tulsa Community College, called attention to the urgency of the findings.
"The rapid and continuous pace of the external changes that we all face requires us to consider new ways of responding," Goodson said. "The board of directors recognized the urgency of identifying the influences and, more importantly, ways in which we can rethink how we react to those changes with resilience and innovation."
The report outlines several critical imperatives for community college leaders:
