| President’s Report |
| to the State Board of Community Colleges |
| April 14, 2000 |
This month was as short for me as last month seemed long. First of all, at the time of this dictation it has been not quite three weeks since we met. The pace has not slowed much, but it is not quite as frenetic as last month!
On the afternoon following our last meeting, I met with Don Dixon, Chairman of the Workforce Preparedness Commission, to discuss ways in which community colleges could deliver better services for their local Workforce Preparedness Commissions across the state, especially as they relate to our Job Link offices.
The leadership of the Faculty Association and I met with the Governor to discuss their legislative priorities and their desire to be fully supportive of the State Board of Community Colleges in its request for funds for our System. The Governor gave the leadership a significant block of his time and was very appreciative for their support of our priorities in the last legislative session.
Later that afternoon, I met with Steve Zelnak, the President and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials and our new Chairman of the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation.. This meeting was in preparation for the Foundation Board meeting later that week. The Foundation Board meeting went very well. It was reported that almost $3 million have now been raised and with Steve’s energetic leadership, I am confident we will achieve our goal by year-end. We will all miss the energetic and effective leadership of Greg Poole, but having already served six months more than his original commitment, we did not feel that we could insist that he remain on as Chairman. What a great pleasure and learning experience it has been for me to work with Greg. I will be coming to you later requesting appropriate recognition of Greg’s outstanding service. However, I want to do that at a meeting when I can be present.
I met with Representative David Redwine to discuss his concerns about cooperation between the colleges in the southeast in the planning for and implementation of a Southeastern Emergency Services Training Center. Your staff is working diligently with the presidents and staff in those programs in the three southeastern community colleges and I hope that progress is being made toward bringing these entities and individuals together to work for this important initiative that enjoys significant legislative support.
The School Improvement Panel, on which I sit, held is quarterly meeting and reviewed the details of the Governor’s initiative for North Carolina to become First in America in Education by the year 2010. The Community College System has an important role to play in early childhood development, teacher preparation, law enforcement training for safe schools, and staff development.
I met with Bill Pulley, President of the North Carolina Hospital Association to discuss our Foundation endowment drive and how our System can be more responsive to meeting the manpower needs of the healthcare industry.
Phil Kirk, Mike Ward and I traveled to Caldwell Community College for the dedication of its new Career Center, an on-campus high school for technical and vocational students. The high school and the community college will share classrooms, labs, and shops in a wide variety of technical and vocational programs that will prepare the brightest high school students in Caldwell County for four-year college technical programs. The programs will also provide invaluable technical and vocational training for students who will remain in the Caldwell County workforce following high school or following community college programs. It is an exciting collaboration and one that I hope other colleges and school systems will embrace.
We hosted the second meeting of the Vision 2030 Task Force Working Group on Science and Technology Training in our Information Highway classroom. During this meeting we ironed out the details of our report to Vision 2030. Dean Joan Michael of North Carolina State University and I chaired this working group. Last week we delivered that draft report to the Vision 2030 Steering Committee.
When you return to our building next month you will see our art as we have finally displayed it. We are receiving rave reviews for the quality of the art and the manner in which it enhances our workspace. On March 28, we hosted the artists, family members, representatives from their colleges, and persons interested in the arts at a wonderful reception.
I met with the delegation going to Europe with Governor Hunt on his Trade and Investment Mission. We were briefed fully on our itinerary and our purposes.
I attended an excellent luncheon at which Bill Moyers spoke on campaign reform. A number of community college presidents, trustees, and State Board members were also in attendance.
In the ongoing effort to redesign the Wood Products Program at Haywood Technical Community College, Kennon Briggs and I met with Dr. Nathan Hodges to review their progress and to give our input.
I spoke to the math and physics instructors from across the System at their annual meeting at Wake Technical Community College.
Congressman David Price has introduced legislation to create a program similar to North Carolina Teaching Fellows at the federal level. He also wants to create a new federal program to encourage the kind of initiative I have been advocating for "home-growing" our teachers through degree completion programs by four-year institutions on our campuses. This latter initiative will encourage place-bound persons with a commitment to education to get their degrees and teaching credentials, most of whom would be unable to do so except for degree completion. I joined the congressman, Dr. Phail Wynn and many of his staff at a news conference at Durham Technical Community College to announce this initiative.
I spoke to the Park Scholars at North Carolina State University. Many of you are familiar with the Morehead Scholarship program at Chapel Hill. The Park Scholarship is equally generous and prestigious at North Carolina State. It was a stimulating experience to share my perspectives on leadership development with these bright young people.
I participated in a luncheon hosted by the Governor to discuss with Nortel Networks their exciting training undertakings across the state which have been piloted at Durham Tech.
Dr. Brenda Rogers and our Strategic Planning Advisory Committee met to review the final draft of that plan as developed by the Planning Council. In May you will have an opportunity to make further adjustments to the plan before its adoption.
Scott Ralls and I represented our System at the North Carolina Economic Development Board meeting in Edenton. I spoke on the education proposals coming from the Rural Prosperity initiative.
Before leaving for Europe with the Governor, I attended the American Association of Community Colleges Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, and appeared on a panel discussing funding strategies for continuing education programs in community colleges.
Dr. Brenda Rogers and her division, in addition to putting the finishing touches on the Strategic Plan, have been making numerous presentations on the performance measures and standards and the performance funding plan across the state. Dr. Peter Ewell, senior consultant with the National Center for Higher Education Management System, met with her staff and the Accountability Monitoring Committee last week to review the implementation of this initiative. Further information will come to you at the May meeting on performance funding. Dr. Ewell’s appearance in this office was in conjunction with his speaking to the annual conference of the Community College Planners and Researchers Organization at which Dr. Rogers and Keith Brown both made presentations.
The Personnel Services section of Dr. Rogers division developed and presented a new employee orientation program which was well received by all participants.
Kennon Briggs and his staff have been very active since we last met, participating in the Facilities Needs Study visits to our campuses at Pitt Community College and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College’s new Off-Campus Center at Enka.
They have participated in a leadership program for Guilford Technical Community College at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro and hosted an Off-Campus Center/Multi-Campus College Task Force meeting.
A mini-orientation session on fiscal issues was conducted for Drs. Kathy Johnson and Ann Britt, new presidents.
Kennon and Larry Morgan spoke at the North Carolina Association of Adult Educators Annual Conference discussing issues of continuing education fees and the budget to be considered by the Short Session.
The management review made by the Management and Productivity Section of the Office of State Budget and Management has been completed with very positive comments and excellent recommendations, which are now being implemented.
Dr. Delores Parker and her staff are working closely with University System staff to implement Pathways. This is a new, single-access source of information about higher education in North Carolina. This Web site will be available by June 30 and will provide information about all community colleges and universities as well as information about applications for financial aid. In the ongoing effort to keep our Common Course Library up-to-date, the Curriculum Review Committee met on April 5 to review requests for adding or revising courses.
Elizabeth Isler and Judith Mann are working with David West and Dr. Nolo Martinez of the Governor’s Office to identify ways in which our colleges can provide additional services for our growing Latino population.
Elizabeth Isler is working with the UNC System and the Kate B. Reynolds Healthcare Trust to address the critical need for dental hygiene and dental care across North Carolina, especially in under-served, rural areas.
A Financial Aid Advisory Committee has been organized to work closely with the System Office staff to determine how to provide more financial assistance to more students. They will ascertain what changes need to be made in order to maximize the number of persons who can attend our programs and get the financial aid they need.
The North Carolina Comprehensive Community College Student Government Association held its Spring Conference at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel with record participation. Sandra Hayes of this Board and Dr. Delores Parker were among the presenters. he Association presented the System Office with a framed copy of the legislation that officially placed a student representative on the State Board along with one of Governor Hunt’s pens used to sign the legislation.
The Basic Skills Directors’ Institute met in Raleigh in early April and at the request of the Basic Skills Advisory Board, we have purchased media materials for those programs which have been nominated for two Emmys for "Most Outstanding Educational Series" and "Best Direction."
Scott Ralls and I have begun to create an exciting information technology initiative similar to our biotechnology initiative, which has been so successful. Leaders of the information technology industry met with us to begin the planning process.
Scott’s initiative for manufacturing certification is off to a good start with the first train-the-trainer session held last week. Instructors from six community colleges participated at the three-day session conducted at Piedmont Community College. The next session will be conducted at Catawba Valley Community College in May.
Susan Seymour of the Economic and Workforce Development Division attended the BIO 2000 Conference in Boston focused on biotechnology. More than 2000 companies from forty nations attended.
Gayle Harvey met with representatives of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center to discuss a more in-depth partnership between the Microenterprise Loan program and our Small Business Center Network.
If you have not visited our new Web site, I hope that you will do so immediately. It looks great and is going to make a real difference for every aspect of our community college program. Perhaps one of the most important uses of this Web page will be in economic development. However, it will also be important for students seeking information about courses and programs offered by our colleges.
I sincerely regret that I am not with you for your meeting at Montgomery Community College. First of all, I regret missing any meeting, but I am especially sorry to miss the meeting at Montgomery. I know that Mary Kirk and her staff and Board have rolled out the red carpet for you and that I would enjoy very much being with you on this special occasion.
This page maintained by Chancy Kapp.