Added to all of those functions, community colleges also undertook the assignment of relieving society of its ills. Long ago, community colleges were given the task of rectifying social issues, ranging from racial integration to educating the young on teen pregnancy.

The community college has been the resource that many turn to help solve the problems that plague the nation.

Over the years, it seems that this lack of mission has hurt community colleges. Coupled with the changing economy and society and the lack of a clear mission, two problems have surfaced. These concerns are operations and funding. Today, these concerns are at the forefront of discussion at all community colleges. How these problems are addressed will set the future course of higher education. Operations and/or governance have been the pitfall of many community colleges today. Although there are three models of governance, there are two that apply to community colleges.

The bureaucratic and political models are most often found on today’s campuses. The bureaucratic model is a formal structure that has a leader at the top making decisions. In the political model, the idea is to have a shared learning community working together to make decisions. Both of these methods of governing have draw backs. The structural and legal constraints of each method have proved detrimental to community colleges. In order to be successful, community college leaders need to address quality of programs/research, create policy, set values, and support collaborative leadership styles both within and outside their institutions.