Succession Planning: A Doctoral Program Partnership for Emerging Community College Leaders

Abstract

This article describes a doctoral program partnership between a university and a community college district that addresses the need of employment-planning strategies for building leadership capacity in the community college system. Succession planning information is provided as a foundational framework to plan for the next generation of community college leaders. University faculty members and administrators worked with community college leaders in a large community college district to reimagine the doctorate in educational leadership. The doctoral degree partnership program represents a joint effort to “grow-your-own” higher education leaders—leadership development within and internal to the community college arena—while providing a doctoral program of study, internship, and residency customized to a cohort of students. The attrition and retention of doctoral students in American graduate programs are noted, with completion indicators identified from the literature. The voices of doctoral students in the partnership program are shared, and recommendations regarding the model program and partnership are provided to inform future decisions. Implications for practice and the future conclude the article.