The traditional pipeline for community college Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)
is often through the Chief Academic Officers (CAOs); however, studies on the CAOs
suggest that this group is also heading toward retirement and facing their own pipeline
problem as faculty are increasingly reluctant to step into academic administrative
positions (Barwick, 2002; Boggs, 2003; Keim & Murray 2008).
Despite increasing studies that point to the broken leadership pipeline, literature
on community college leadership continues to focus on faculty department chairs, chief
academic officers, and presidents with little scholarly attention paid to mid-level