Virtually all new recruits to the executive and administrative ranks of community colleges will face severe financial constraints. Leadership in times of budget cutting is a difficult proposition, fraught with contention and misunderstanding. Administrators have to balance the needs of students, the demands of faculty ( who are often represented by unions ) and the will of taxpayers. Across the board, colleges are being asked to do more with less, which can be particularly difficult after years of shrinking budgets. Often options are limited by legislative mandates, existing union contracts and burdensome pension and healthcare obligations.
When the current crop of administrators took up positions of responsibility, community college demographics looked radically different than they do today. In 1970, college students were largely white and predominantly male. Neither is true today. Women outnumber men on all but a handful of campuses and ethnic, religious and cultural diversity is the norm. The executive leadership pool does not reflect today's reality, which makes it difficult to find qualified women and minorities to lead institutions or departments. Broad concern over this issue has lead to discussion among academic administration professionals about how best to identify, mentor and groom a more diverse population of executive candidates.
Many teachers unions have gone on record against the use of cloud based tele-presence technology to deliver educational content to students who may not have the time or means to attend brick and mortar campuses. Faculty organizations contend that nothing substitutes for the hands-on, face-to-face environment students experience in a regular campus setting. While this can be true, research shows that not every classroom on a college campus succeeds in delivering productive, stimulating experiences. In addition, arithmetic doesn't seem to be on the side of these assertions. More colleges are failing to graduate students in two years because they are unable to make sufficient course offerings, due to staff and facilities constraints.
For students facing the prospect of taking on 15 years of relatively high-interest debt in order to finance their educations, weighing the benefits of the outcomes of attending college is a very real proposition. Students making this significant investment today typically have concrete objectives, in contrast to generations before who saw college as a broadening experience or a rite of passage. Today's students expect to have skills that will make them more employable, including the ability to secure job related licenses or certifications. As community colleges reduce services and eliminate programs to save money, they need to ensure that they reconfigure course offerings to support the real world goals of students.