Presidential Fit: Rethinking Community College Presidential Departure

Community college presidential tenure has consistently declined for decades, which leaves scholars to question what factors are associated with this phenomenon. While there are many potential reasons for presidential turnover, this study seeks to understand how presidential fit is associated with increased presidential departure. Guided by the person–organization fit framework, this study presents the Competing Values Framework as a potential tool for measuring fit and used data from the American Council on Education’s College Presidents Survey to understand how fit is associated with community college presidential tenure. Findings of this exploratory study indicate that in addition to the age of the president at their appointment, the president’s prior job, and field of study, fit is positively related to increased tenure.