Recruiting and Retaining Higher Education Leaders for the Rural Community College "Lifestyle".

This article examines the challenges rural community colleges face in recruiting and retaining academic and administrative personnel, based on interviews with eight senior leaders from rural community colleges and state agencies in a Mountain West state. It identifies key themes including the unique "lifestyle" of rural community college leadership characterized by small, tight-knit, and collaborative communities, institutional and community resource limitations, and difficulties attracting leaders from outside the community, especially those from diverse backgrounds. Promising strategies highlighted include a community-centered approach that emphasizes internal leadership development and transparent engagement with candidates about rural life, as well as foregrounding unique professional opportunities within statewide community college systems. The study underscores the critical role of rural community colleges in their regions and calls for intentional efforts to identify and prepare future leaders to address ongoing staffing challenges.