SUCCESSION PLANNING: DEVELOPING LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION by Charles Carroll
Daytona Beach Community College (FL) is a multicampus institution with an enrollment of approximately 11,000 FTE (35,000 plus headcount), and over 800 employees. The college grew rapidly in the 1980s and the early 1990s, and then experienced a slowing enrollment trend in the late 1990s. At the turn of the century, with new leadership in place and a return to significant enrollment growth, the college began to look strategically at one of its most valuable resources: its personnel. One conclusion that quickly emerged was the need for a systematic approach to general leadership development and a specific plan to ensure smooth transitions as current leaders retire or make other career moves. The urgency of this conclusion increased as it became apparent that the community college field as a whole was experiencing a leadership shortage.
Several factors are driving the need for leadership development in community colleges. Central among these is the pending retirement of many sitting presidents. According to a 2001 study by the American Association of Community Colleges, 79 percent of community college chief executive officers will retire within the next 10 years. Campbell (2002), in his book, The Leadership Gap, estimates that 45 percent of community college chief executives will retire within the next seven years. The likely source for replacing these executives will be vice presidents and associate vice presidents. But who will replace them as vacuums are created by their upward movement? Institutions are realizing that, without planning for leadership development, they will face a major challenge filling and maintaining leadership ranks with talented, experienced employees.
Furthermore, as important as the chief executive officer and senior leadership are to the college's operation, effective leadership on many other levels in the college is equally important. In today's educational environment of increasing reliance on technology, the critical issue of knowledge management, virtual learning, state and federal regulations, partnerships, and many other components, operating an educational institution is a complex process requiring talent, skill, and leadership at all levels of the organization. Lack of planning and leadership in an institution's physical plant or computer system can have as devastating an impact on an institution's viability as it would in teaching and learning or financial management.
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Dr. Susan Salvador
Office for Student Services
02/13/2004 |