Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO’s) within single campus community colleges are responsible for providing senior leadership and overall planning for all administrative areas as assigned by the college president. They work collectively to provide leadership for various functional areas to facilitate the development and maintenance of college campus environments and student success. While within single campus community colleges the CSAO are recognized by various administrative titles, but they serve in an executive capacity reporting directly to the college president and are responsible for the overall planning and leadership that supports the college’s mission.
The purpose of this study was to identify the essential competencies that Single Campus Community College Presidents in Illinois consider to be important when hiring new Chief Student Affairs Officers. The primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews from four setting community college presidents in Illinois. The participants shared their perspectives on what essential competencies, functions, skills, and abilities, challenges, and leadership potential are needed by aspiring Chief Student Affairs Officers.
Findings indicate the study participants believe that along with a fundamental understanding of student development theory and student engagement it is necessary that candidates convey trustworthiness, problem solving skills, and a good understanding of assessment. Furthermore, the study found that identifying a new CSAO must be intentional. It is not enough to update the current CSAO job descriptions to identify new skills and responsibilities; this process must be direct, time sensitive, and robust.
","abstract_html":"<p>Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO’s) within single campus community colleges are responsible for providing senior leadership and overall planning for all administrative areas as assigned by the college president. They work collectively to provide leadership for various functional areas to facilitate the development and maintenance of college campus environments and student success. While within single campus community colleges the CSAO are recognized by various administrative titles, but they serve in an executive capacity reporting directly to the college president and are responsible for the overall planning and leadership that supports the college’s mission.</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to identify the essential competencies that Single Campus Community College Presidents in Illinois consider to be important when hiring new Chief Student Affairs Officers. The primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews from four setting community college presidents in Illinois. The participants shared their perspectives on what essential competencies, functions, skills, and abilities, challenges, and leadership potential are needed by aspiring Chief Student Affairs Officers.</p> <p>Findings indicate the study participants believe that along with a fundamental understanding of student development theory and student engagement it is necessary that candidates convey trustworthiness, problem solving skills, and a good understanding of assessment. Furthermore, the study found that identifying a new CSAO must be intentional. It is not enough to update the current CSAO job descriptions to identify new skills and responsibilities; this process must be direct, time sensitive, and robust.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Zuniga, Isaac D"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Community College Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dennis Haynes","Juda Viola","Zalika Landrum"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:25Z","subjects":["CHIEF STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICER’S","COMPETENCIES","Community College Leadership","Education","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/129","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dennis Haynes","Juda Viola","Zalika Landrum"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Zuniga, Isaac D"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-12-29T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Community College Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["CHIEF STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICER’S","COMPETENCIES","Community College Leadership","Education","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/129"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO’s) within single campus community colleges are responsible for providing senior leadership and overall planning for all administrative areas as assigned by the college president. They work collectively to provide leadership for various functional areas to facilitate the development and maintenance of college campus environments and student success. While within single campus community colleges the CSAO are recognized by various administrative titles, but they serve in an executive capacity reporting directly to the college president and are responsible for the overall planning and leadership that supports the college’s mission.
The purpose of this study was to identify the essential competencies that Single Campus Community College Presidents in Illinois consider to be important when hiring new Chief Student Affairs Officers. The primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews from four setting community college presidents in Illinois. The participants shared their perspectives on what essential competencies, functions, skills, and abilities, challenges, and leadership potential are needed by aspiring Chief Student Affairs Officers.
Findings indicate the study participants believe that along with a fundamental understanding of student development theory and student engagement it is necessary that candidates convey trustworthiness, problem solving skills, and a good understanding of assessment. Furthermore, the study found that identifying a new CSAO must be intentional. It is not enough to update the current CSAO job descriptions to identify new skills and responsibilities; this process must be direct, time sensitive, and robust.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Chief Student Affairs Officer’s Competencies: Perspectives from Community College Presidents in Illinois"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dennis Haynes","Juda Viola","Zalika Landrum"],"dc:creator":["Zuniga, Isaac D"],"dc:date.available":["2015-12-29T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAO’s) within single campus community colleges are responsible for providing senior leadership and overall planning for all administrative areas as assigned by the college president. They work collectively to provide leadership for various functional areas to facilitate the development and maintenance of college campus environments and student success. While within single campus community colleges the CSAO are recognized by various administrative titles, but they serve in an executive capacity reporting directly to the college president and are responsible for the overall planning and leadership that supports the college’s mission.
The purpose of this study was to identify the essential competencies that Single Campus Community College Presidents in Illinois consider to be important when hiring new Chief Student Affairs Officers. The primary data was collected by semi-structured interviews from four setting community college presidents in Illinois. The participants shared their perspectives on what essential competencies, functions, skills, and abilities, challenges, and leadership potential are needed by aspiring Chief Student Affairs Officers.
Findings indicate the study participants believe that along with a fundamental understanding of student development theory and student engagement it is necessary that candidates convey trustworthiness, problem solving skills, and a good understanding of assessment. Furthermore, the study found that identifying a new CSAO must be intentional. It is not enough to update the current CSAO job descriptions to identify new skills and responsibilities; this process must be direct, time sensitive, and robust.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/129"],"dc:subject":["CHIEF STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICER’S","COMPETENCIES","Community College Leadership","Education","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["Chief Student Affairs Officer’s Competencies: Perspectives from Community College Presidents in Illinois"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Community College Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:25Z"}