Basic skills and areas of expertise needed by C.A.O.'s at community colleges

At community colleges the chief academic officer (CAO) holds a very important leadership position. Very little data can be found on the basic skills and areas of expertise perceived as necessary to effectively perform the job responsibilities of a chief academic officer at a community college. Few studies have been conducted that focus on the basic skills and areas of expertise perceived as necessary to effectively perform the job responsibilities of a chief academic officer at a community college. The leadership skills that some CAO’s possess in conjunction with certain basic skills and areas of expertise could be a contributing factor in their ability to effectively perform the job responsibilities at this position. The lack of research studies that examine the basic skills and areas of expertise of current CAO’s supports a need for this study. This study used a proportional stratified random sample method. By stratifying the target population of the six accreditation regions within the United States and limiting the study to chief academic officers at community colleges ensured proper representation nationwide.

The results of this study will benefit presidents and hiring committees at community colleges by identifying the basic skills and areas of expertise perceived as necessary to effectively perform the job responsibilities of a chief academic officer at a community college. Second, leadership programs that focus on training future community college leaders will benefit from this study by identifying these skills and developing curriculum that will introduce these basic skills and areas of expertise as needed skills to effectively perform the job responsibilities of a CAO at a community college.