Unfortunately, that's always the first place people cut because it does not meet a business need. Institutional technology and computer networking are the best areas. Other administrative specialties in demand include fund raising, development, and grant writing. In the future, community colleges will have to raise more money on their own, so we'll need people who can go out and bring in the bucks. Community colleges will need a new kind of recruiter.
Presidential assistants are another much-needed but often overlooked category.
The demands on presidents are increasing, so people who can lighten their workload are more important than ever. Executive assistants will be indispensable as a growing number of community-college presidents retire. Most people don't cut administration, they build it, so generally there are no bad administrative-hiring areas at community colleges. I strongly believe that most decisions have to be left to the experts, and that's the faculty in the classroom. The more we flatten the decision-making structure, the faster things can move.