Understanding the factors that influence a community college governing board to increase its engagement in accountability for student success was the purpose of this grounded theory case study. A further aim was to develop a model that described how these factors interact. A highly engaged community college governing board, as defined by a focus, perspective, infrastructure, and behavior that identified student success as a priority, was selected and studied to learn what were the principle influences on their engagement in student success. Eight factors were identified initially that influenced the governing board’s interest in student success: Board Characteristics, Changing External Context, Achieving the Dream, Board Roles and Responsibilities, Board Culture, College Role and Purpose, Changing Internal Context, and Student Success. Another factor, Administrative Leadership, also influenced the governing board’s engagement and was added to the final model. Two models emerged from the data: a six factor model that describes how a board becomes engaged in student success and a model incorporating all eight influences that describes governing with a student success agenda already in place. Key findings included the importance of an external emphasis on improving student outcomes at the state and national level; the need for board education on their fiduciary responsibility for ensuring academic quality; and the value of an outside change agent. In this case study, Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, served as the catalyst for change in the governing board’s engagement in student success. The Achieving the Dream Board of Trustees Institute, which educated board members about their roles and responsibilities related to student success, shifted board members’ perspectives and understanding and began the board’s interest in governing with student success as a priority. / text

This treatise is a historical policy study, empirical in nature, evaluating how Texas community college governance boards' roles have changed over the last 4 decades. Texas was chosen because trustees are elected; as the second largest state in the nation, demographic shifts are rapidly changing and trustees represent a very different constituency from 40 years ago; and, Austin Community College District was the case study evaluated. Community college trustees are lay members of boards who oversee governance of 50 districts in Texas. The long time consensus has been that boards are "rubber stamps" of a CEO's directional design, and trustees have been historically White, wealthy, businessmen, who have little educational knowledge regarding community colleges or the students served. Success for community colleges in Texas, and funding, has always been based on enrollment, never before on student achievement or graduations. Research questions addressed how trustees roles have changed in 40 years and if student success initiatives had impacted those responsibilities. The answers are interesting. Trustees duties, as prescribed by the Texas Education Code have not changed at all, but trustees are spending more time in only a few of those duties on a regular basis. Demographic attributes have also changed very little in 40 years. Yet, trustees of the 21st century have become more attuned to the financial deficits that exist and will escalate if student success is not made a priority. Utilizing research from the Texas Education Code, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, The Texas Association of Community Colleges, the Community College Association of Texas Trustees, and researchers who have documented trustees' roles and responsibilities since the early 1970s, and including a case study that evaluated one college's minutes from board meetings over a 40 year span to determine how trustees utilize their time, this study shows that boards are evolving, but need additional and continual training. Because some trustees still micromanage, what results from this study as a benefit to society is a final guide that addresses the humanistic roles that trustees should have that intertwine with the legal duties defined by the State. / text