Building a Profile of United States Community College International Education Leadership

Leadership development is acknowledged as being a critical part in not only maintaining institutional continuity, but also in instituting reform efforts. The literature profiles the changing demographics, professional history, job skills, and training needs of senior educational leaders. This article explores the similarities and difference between leadership development trajectories of US community college executive officers, US university senior international officers, and US community college international education leaders. The research is based on a survey which asked those who work in US community college international leadership their views on the changing professoriate of the field. The open-ended questions were used to allow those in the field to define terms from their own viewpoints. The data illustrates that many US community colleges have full-time administrative positions that guide international programming and yet that the leadership pipeline is different from the pipeline experienced by their colleges at universities. This article shares a profile of current community college international leadership in terms of a) job designations, b) professional history, and c) leadership skills needed for the profession.