(l-r) HCCS culinary arts students with Chancellor Bruce Leslie and instructor Eddy Van Damme

More than half of all college-bound high school graduates attend community colleges. The numbers jump to three-quarters for minority students. Adults enroll to acquire new skills for possible advancement at their present jobs or to secure meaningful work in the ever-changing job market. Dr. Bruce Leslie, chancellor of the Houston Community College System, says, “The complexities of community colleges are not widely understood. We have 53,000 students, and I bet there are 53,000 reasons that they came here.

“Students typically don’t attend for two years and move on either to work or to a university, even though many do. A student with a Ph.D. may take one course to strengthen a specific skill. An immigrant may be learning English. Other students attend to study some of the most advanced machining techniques on the most sophisticated computer-based equipment found anywhere. We offer 70 degree programs and 266 certificate programs. Community colleges are very complex organizations with a very complex mission.”

The Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) at The University of Texas at Austin is working to help executives and administrators meet this challenge. The oldest program of its kind in the nation, the CCLP has prepared doctoral students to lead institutions of higher education for more than 50 years, producing more deans, chancellors and university presidents than any other graduate program in the United States.

“The original model of the community college was developed in 1948 under President Truman,” explains Dr. Leslie. “The plan included locating a community college within 50 miles of every United States resident. We’ve pretty much accomplished that. In fact, every citizen in Houston probably lives within six miles of one of our campuses. And, several other community college systems serve citizens of the entire greater Houston area.”

For a period of time in the 1970s and 80s, a new community college opened almost every week somewhere in the United States. Those in charge of schools that were established 20 to 30 years ago now are nearing retirement. In Texas, more than half the community college chancellors, presidents and vice presidents are likely to retire within the next
5 to 10 years.

Although retirement is not part of his near-term plan, Dr. Leslie, a 1973 CCLP graduate, keenly understands the value of community colleges and appreciates the importance of a program that prepares future leaders. “CCLP has helped many administrators and executives achieve the goal of community colleges, which is to help people integrate fully into the economic and social fabric of their communities,” he says. “The program teaches both teamwork and leadership and makes clear distinctions between being a manager and becoming a leader.”

He continues, “I think people leave the program with a real passion about community colleges so they aren’t just going into a job, they’re taking on a mission. They are always aware that community colleges make huge contributions to the economic vitality of a community and to the lives of individuals.”

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