Guide for New and Aspiring Community College Chief Business Officers (Non-technical essentials for getting acclimated)

The role of the Chief Business Officer (CBO) at the community college is comprised of leadership for a disparate array of functional units and collaborative leadership at the institutional level. A recent national survey indicated a significant percentage of higher education CBOs will retire in the next four years. The focus of this dissertation was to identify the skills and knowledge for the development of effective CBO leaders and to develop guidance for incoming CBOs to aid in their effectiveness during the first year of their tenure in the position.
This study was informed by qualitative research in the form of surveys and interviews of experienced Illinois community college CBOs. The information from the interviews was aligned with available literature in the field regarding the evolving role of CBOs, which is now less focused on technical knowledge and increasingly is focused on broader leadership skills. Respondent CBOs provided their insights on the most important skills an aspiring or novice CBO needs to know and what development resources are available to best obtain those skills. The areas of focus in this study were leadership development, relationship building, current and future challenges and how to meet them, best practices, and lessons learned from the field.
The product developed as a result of the study is a primer for aspiring or novice CBOs. The primer will provide a ready resource for the significant number of CBOs entering the field in the next few years and beyond. Chief Financial Officers making the transition from business and industry to the field of community college administration will also find the guide helpful for acclimating to the world of higher education.