Community colleges through the human resource organizational frame

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to encourage community college leaders to make greater use of the human resources organizational frame in understanding their organizations and implementing measures to support its students.

The methodological approach: Concepts are drawn from key texts examining human resources organizational frame analysis and community college leadership to locate areas of community college policy development and operations that resonate with tenets of this organizational frame.

Connections between some of the typical operations and policies of community colleges and the analytical tenets and concerns of the human resources frame are explored.

More in-depth literature analysis could well lead to the discussion of additional measures animated by the human resources frame that can be taken to better support students and their learning.

These connections between the human resources frame and community college policy and methods of operation lead to the authors’ recommendation that community college leaders should make particular efforts think and act with the human resources frame in mind. Emerging issues that are consistent with the concerns and tenets of this frame can be highlighted and recognized for further use in leadership and management practice.

Community colleges are critical in human capital development for all societal sectors. A human resources perspective puts people and human values at the center of organizational analysis.

We add emphasis to leading recommendations for understanding and practice of community colleges through multiple frames. We suggest that the concerns of the human resource organizational frame can help leaders provide thought and action that has additional relevance and possibility.