As the largest sector of higher education in the US, community colleges serve a critical role in helping many students pursue and achieve their educational goals. Most community college districts are led by a team that includes a governing board of trustees and a lead administrator (often called a superintendent, president, or chancellor) who reports to the board. While there is considerable literature on lead administrators, empirical research on community college governing boards and how they support students' success is scant. This three-phase, qual[right arrow]qual[right arrow]quan mixed methods study of community college governing board effectiveness explores how trustees envision, evaluate, and cultivate board effectiveness, and how trustee development efforts relate to student outcomes. Phase one, a content analysis of governing board evaluation reports, found that boards practice board skill ship to fulfill internal and external institutional responsibilities through communication and delegation. Phase two, qualitative interviews with current and former trustees, indicated that effective trustees embrace their authority and practice humility, while effective boards cultivate a culture of accountability and provide support for their institutions and students. Trustee development opportunities are largely content-focused and individually conducted, while board development opportunities are process and relationship-focused, but less widely available. In phase three, despite trustees' apparently sincere commitment to students' success, preliminary quantitative analyses showed no relationship between completing a trustee development certification program and improved student outcomes. This study has initiated a long-overdue exploration of community college governing board effectiveness, and this area of community college leadership research is ripe for further exploration of how boards can best support students' success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]