Unlikely Candidates
Community colleges are filling high-level vacancies by going outside the higher ed community
By Ann Farmer
The management and leadership skills Dr. Carole A. McCoy developed in big business and hospital administration closely matched the requirements for Anne Arundel Community College’s opening for a chief of learning systems and technology. Nonetheless, she was put through a rigorous interview process during which her “nontraditional” work experience was repeatedly called into question.
“I was asked at least 30 times about how I thought I could be successful without having a background in higher education,” recalls McCoy, who proved so proficient at the job that she has since been promoted to vice president for learner support services. “I think there is a sentiment in higher education that you can’t understand higher education if you haven’t worked in it.”
Boomer Vacuum
That attitude, while still pervasive, is slowly changing as the need to fill high-level vacancies at community colleges overcomes their tradition of hiring from within. “There is a definite shortage of people applying for president and senior-level positions in community colleges,” says Dr. Barbara Viniar, executive director of the Institute for Community College Development, a State University of New York/Cornell University part-nership. Viniar points to the large number of retiring baby boomers as the primary reason for the vacuum.
A SUNY study indicates that an anticipated 40 percent of community college presidents will have retired between 2001 and 2007. And whereas 80 to 100 applicants used to respond to each job advertisement for a college presidency, “now we’re seeing 40 to 50 applicants,” Viniar says.
