American Association of Community Colleges Honors John Roueche Leadership Legacy

Programs to groom future leaders named for retiring UT educator

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Honoring an educator who for decades has led what many consider to be the premier doctoral program focused on community college administration, the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) approved by unanimous vote the naming of its ongoing leadership development programs as the John E. Roueche Future Leaders Institute(s).  The decision was made at the board's annual summer board meeting Aug. 2-3 in Washington, DC.

Dr. John E. Roueche served as director of the Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin from 1971 to 2012. During that time, the program graduated 508 doctoral students, hundreds of whom went on to become CEOs and senior administrators at community colleges throughout the nation. Graduates also include the current and immediate past presidents of AACC.  Roueche announced his retirement from UT last year.

According to Marie Foster Gnage, current chair of the AACC Board, the decision to name association leadership programs is intended to honor the lasting contributions Roueche has made to community colleges and to higher education generally.  In addition to grooming future presidents, Roueche is the author of 35 books dealing with promising practices at community colleges and key issues such as developmental education. He is also a frequent lecturer at the colleges.

"John Roueche's name has been synonymous with excellence in leadership development for generations," said Gnage. "Our board agreed that the quality and principles of leadership Dr. Roueche espoused throughout his distinguished career are those that we share for current and future AACC leadership programs."

The AACC leadership "suite" of programs includes regional institutes to prepare up-and-coming community college administrators and aspiring presidents.  An estimated 75% of current community college CEOs says they plan to retire within the decade, according to AACC research.

The American Association of Community Colleges is a national organization representing the nation's close to 1,200 community, junior and technical colleges. The colleges are the largest and fastest growing sector of higher education, currently enrolling more than 13 million students each year.

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges