H. Martin Lancaster, President
North Carolina Community College System
NC Association of County Commissioners and
NC School Boards Association
May 11, 2005
Raleigh, North Carolina
Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. I congratulate you on your initiative in organizing a joint meeting of people who do indeed have SHARED responsibilities toward the COMMON GOALS of rebuilding North Carolina's economy and creating a prosperous future.
Often when I speak on behalf of the community colleges, I define the role we've played through the more than four decades of our system’s history as an effort to help North Carolina move from FARM to FACTORY to PHARMA – that is, from agriculture through basic manufacturing to the high-tech, high-skills economy driven by biotechnology, computers and other exciting innovations.
No matter how I phrase it, I think you’ll agree with me that North Carolina’s community colleges are now, always have been and always will be about jobs – helping our state attract, grow and keep good jobs; preparing North Carolinians to get those jobs; and providing the skills they need to keep them.
When I come to work every day, I walk under a big sign that reminds me that my job is helping prepare North Carolina's workforce. Notice I say "helping," because I am very aware that I share that task with all of you. As we in community colleges look to the future, we see five basic questions that capture the challenges of providing the education and training North Carolinians need to be full participants in a prosperous future.
- First, -- who are the North Carolinians of today and tomorrow?
- Second – what jobs can North Carolinians hope to get?
- Third – what do North Carolinians need in order to get those jobs?
- Fourth – what is the role of North Carolina's community colleges in matching people to jobs in a healthy economy?
- And fifth – what do North Carolina's community colleges need in order to carry out that role?
You have already heard valuable answers to those first three questions in Ferrell Guillory's summary this morning. When MDC produced its most recent STATE OF THE SOUTH report last year, I circulated it to my senior staff with many, MANY underlined sections! The report has a great deal to say about the increasing importance of community colleges in our region’s transformation, and its analysis of economic and demographic trends is tremendously valuable to all of us.
You've heard who North Carolinians are and who they will be. Increasingly, they won't look like me -- and their memories and perhaps their expectations will be different from mine. We are just beginning to understand what that demographic shift means in the education and training that community colleges provide. Language is the obvious challenge, but it is far from the only one accompanying a dramatic cultural shift.
The second important question is – what jobs will these North Carolinians have a chance to get? You can tell from my earlier reference to "Pharma" that I’m counting on the predictions that we’ll have lots of jobs in biotechnology and related field. We already have lots of jobs like that – as of last count, North Carolina ranked third nationally in the bioscience cluster with more than 34-thousand jobs, and first in the southeast. The whole state is gambling that it will grow, and grow fast – perhaps quadrupling within 20 years.
With the Community College BioNetwork and many strong efforts at individual colleges, we’ve made a great start toward ensuring the future of that industry. However, we can’t guarantee that any one answer will be the right answer. And we shouldn’t want it to be. If we’ve learned anything from the sudden collapse of our basic industries, I hope we’ve learned not to depend too much on one or two sectors.
There’s no question that our region and our state have seen a rise in "glamorous" jobs in high-paying fields. There’s no question that the people who have these jobs are driving a parallel increase in service and support jobs. People with money to spend go out to eat, shop at Saks, visit resorts, go to concerts. It takes lots of people to make that happen.
Unfortunately, however, what we’ve wound up with is a split economy – not the old pattern of the "third million or the third shift" of our traditional industrial towns, but a new division between a prosperous upper middle, research and professional class, and a service class where most of the jobs are – but few or no benefits, little security and great exposure to shifts in the marketplace. Certainly there are OTHER kinds of "good jobs" out there – nurses, for example, are in desperately short supply, and demand for other health-related technicians is growing as the population ages. Also, North Carolina can’t come close to keeping up with demand for classroom teachers. I'll talk more about that in a few moments.
However, it is unquestionably true that the blue collar job that pays well is beginning to be the exception across the South. We have to understand that we need to prepare differently for a secure future.
That leads me to my third question: What do North Carolinians need in order to compete for good jobs and careers that will put them in the middle class and offer a chance to move up, too?
You know what a real estate agent says when she’s asked to list the three most important things about selling a house – location, location, location. The three most important answers to "What do North Carolinians need in order to compete for good jobs" are education, education, education.
No matter how you run the numbers, better education translates into better jobs and more money. Education is what our citizens need. Are they getting it? I know you've heard Ferrell's analysis, but I want to reiterate one PAINFUL reality about our state and region's history spelled out in MDC's report.
"Historically low educational attainment in the South was both a cause and a result of the region’s low-skilled economy. Education was not highly valued n an economy based on sharecropping, mining and cotton mills. States and communities invested minimally in public education to keep taxes down and to keep workers in their place."
It hurts to hear that, doesn't it? But I think we are all honest enough to recognize truth in it. How often have we as community colleges people been warned not to "get above our raisin’" by somebody who thinks "those people" don’t need to study, to advance, to dream? That kind of thinking helped create a vicious cycle in North Carolina based on low expectations and stunted opportunity.
Fortunately, that cycle has mostly been broken. Southerners are approaching the national average in the rate of high school and college graduation overall. High academic standards and rigorous reporting are boosting achievement, and North Carolina is leading the way in several areas. I congratulate Chairman Lee and his colleagues in public education on remarkable progress in a short time. Sadly, we still have tremendous gaps between urban and rural students and among racial groups..
Remember MDC's statistics about the importance of African American and Latinos in the future workforce? They will not be able to compete for the best jobs until we see dramatic change in educational attainment Nearly half of the South’s Latinos and 30 percent of African American lack a high school diploma. College graduation rates are half those of white students.
Yes, some of this is about race and language. Most of it, however, is about economics. It’s about poverty and the incredible obstacles that poverty places in the way of education, no matter what the color of the student.
We also have an increasing gender gap –significantly more women than men now go to college. Is it good news that women are flocking to college in great numbers? Of course it is, and that's a sea change from my days at Chapel Hill, when most women had to transfer to get in, and all were excluded from many activities. But it's not just that men aren't keeping up. They are going BACKWARD, and this is beginning to be a real threat to social stability. Intelligent, educated women looking for intelligent, educated life partners are beginning to wonder where all the men have gone! We must continue to support and celebrate the great achievements of women AND make sure men understand how vital post-secondary education is as well.
This leads me to my fourth question – what is the role of the community college in matching our citizens – the future workforce – with the education they need to compete for good jobs?
The simple answer is – our role is ALL of it…providing that education and training any way we can, as best we can. Or in the words of Dallas Herring, our spiritual godfather, "We must take people where they are and carry them as far as they can go within the assigned functions of the system."
I am certain that some of you in this room helped Dr. Herring build the community college system from its earliest days. County commissioners and school board members have always played a huge role in the success of our institutions. In many cases, your history with the system is longer than mine. You know that community colleges have been providing the state’s best education and training since the earliest days of our system. The tasks that mattered then, matter now -- tasks such as:
- Opening the door to opportunity with basic skills, GED and, increasingly, English as a Second Language. Many people are not aware that community colleges are North Carolina's primary providers of adult basic education. And almost everyone outside the basic skills community is astounded by the scale of our programs -- and the challenge of meeting an enormous need. Our state has the sixth largest adult education/basic skills program in the US, with students in every community college and in 29 community based organizations receiving grants through us. Our program is so big because, tragically, our needs are vast. We have the nation’s fastest growing Spanish-speaking population, and most of those new North Carolinians have tremendous educational needs. Also, we’ve just found out we’re tied for third worst in the country for adults over 25 with high school credentials -- almost a fifth lack them. There’s a national ranking we would just as soon do without. Of course we will continue to do this work as long as it is necessary. Let me make very clear, however, that we agree with all of you that the best place to finish high school is in HIGH SCHOOL. We are your partners in efforts to encourage EVERY high school student to finish the FIRST time through. If the day comes when we close those doors on basic skills because nobody drops out or fails, HALLELUJAH. But I'm not counting the minutes!
- The biggest part of our job is providing hands-on technical and vocational training that teaches people to build things, make things, take care of the sick, handle emergencies and push the borders of science.
- For those who want and need baccalaureate degrees, we provide the first two years close to home, at a reasonable price.
Beyond the basic mission, we have roles to play for which we are uniquely suited. For example, we provide opportunities for success for thousands of first-generation college students. This is particularly important in minority populations.
It is a point of pride for this system that our student population and, increasingly, our own workforce mirror our state’s population. For example, We have a strong program at the state level and in many colleges to serve Spanish-speaking populations.
Another exceptional example of special efforts to attract and support minority students, particularly African-Americans, is the Minority Male Mentoring Program in which five of our colleges participate. I attended presentations from program participants last spring, and I can tell you that rarely have I heard such extraordinary stories. We do more than talk about breaking the cycle of poverty. The best predictors of educational attainment for students are the educational level and income of the PARENTS, and community colleges give those parents a chance to succeed in school and get better jobs.
Along the same lines, we are in the first year of an ambitious national grant program sponsored by the Lumina Foundation. Called "Achieving the Dream," the multi-year initiative includes community colleges from five states, including Durham Tech, Guilford Tech, Martin and Wayne from North Carolina. The goal is to use solid data and thoughtful policy to boost the college success of underserved populations -- especially minorities.
A rapidly growing role for community colleges in North Carolina relates to our direct work with high schools and, in some cases, middle schools. We have many years' experience, of course, with Huskins Bill courses and dual enrollment. These are important offerings to keep bright, motivated students fully engaged in high school, whether in urban or rural settings. Yes, in recent years we have worked with public schools to iron out wrinkles about weighted credit and other issues related to balancing high school Honors and AP courses with dual enrollment offerings. Last year, our system reached agreement with public schools and the University concerning weighted credit, and I hope we continue to move forward.
I am pleased that community colleges are helping lead the way in the dramatic experience in High School reform now underway across North Carolina. These "blended models" include Career Academies and the new Early College and Middle College Programs. The massive investment of the Gates Foundation in the New Schools Project and Governor Easley’s Learn and Earn initiative guarantee that this kind of approach will be with us for the foreseeable future. For institutions charged as ours are with the education of adults, it represents a significant shift in our thinking – and an enormous opportunity to shape the educational landscape.
Community colleges are strong partners in almost all of these experiments. The fact that organizers have turned to us is a clear indication that our state’s decisionmakers understand that community colleges are indeed our state’s most important resource in rebuilding our economic prosperity.
And so to my last question: What do community colleges NEED in order to carry out our role – in moving North Carolina's economy forward?
Of course we need money to pay for the people, buildings, equipment and ideas that serve the public. So what else is new, right? Your counties and your schools have your own needs and your own responsibilities for helping us with ours. Your strong support had everything to do with the resounding success of the higher education bonds five years ago, and you are steadfast friends in advocating for many of our budget priorities. I remain cautiously optimistic about this year's budget, thanks to support from Governor Easley and key members of the General Assembly. I will keep my fingers crossed for YOU in public schools and local government as well.
In the context of today's topic and audience, however, I think we should focus on what we need in terms of partnerships -- and where we need to go in developing ways to work together to meet the urgent challenges in the economy and education.
As Winston Churchill put it, "If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail."
A lot of this is about POLICY and FLEXIBILITY. High school reform, for example. Several months ago, we realized that community colleges had some policies and procedures that had the potential to get in the way of decisions that needed to be made about the "blended model" high schools. Because our board and staff understand that these schools make sense for North Carolina, the State Board of Community Colleges quickly voted for new flexibility in certain areas to help make these schools happen on our campuses.
An unexpected wrinkle that has the potential to affect these new schools is the legislation that is such a favorite with most school boards -- THE CALENDAR BILL passed last year to require late August starts for public schools. School calendars are now out of synch with almost all University and community college calendars. We'll find out this year how much difference that will make in partnership programs.
And then there's the elephant in the living room -- the role of community colleges in teacher preparation. One of our state’s most critical workforce shortages is for classroom teachers in elementary and secondary schools. I defer to Chairman Lee on current numbers, of course, but last year’s report from the University system told us that our fast-growing state needs as many as 8,000 new teachers every year. Others suggest the shortage may be as high as 11,000 per year. All of our four-year programs together produce between three and four thousand in their traditional programs. Turnover rates and retention are tremendous problems, especially in rural and low-wealth areas.
Community colleges can and do widen the pipeline for talented, motivated people to become classroom teachers, especially mature adults who will become the "home-grown" teachers committed to the communities where they already live, work and rear their own children. A short list of programs already in place includes Coastal Carolina Community College's great work with UNC-W, a collaboration that now includes several other community colleges; the Appalachian Learning Alliance and the partnership between Western Carolina and Tri-County Community College in the west; Wachovia Partnership East; and several arrangements with private colleges such as the very successful work between Surry CC and Lees-McCrae in the mountains. We now have money from the General Assembly and major donors, including GlaxoSmithKline, for scholarships, and interest in these programs continues to grow.
Community colleges can and should be able to offer lateral entry programs, too. These are the programs that prepare adults who already have baccalaureate degrees in other fields to become certified teachers. At the urgent request of public school systems in Mecklenburg County and Moore County, Central Piedmont Community College and Sandhills Community College set up carefully planned lateral entry sequences and enrolled almost a thousand students. Unfortunately, there have been some bumps in the road to their continuation, due to questions raised by the Department of Public Instruction and by the University . In my opinion, it most important that these obstacles be removed, as soon as possible, for the state to have a chance to meet this urgent and growing workforce need.
Community colleges also assist working teachers with technology training and recertification. Our colleges all over the state have offered those services for years and continue to expand them successfully. One thing they will not do, however, at least during my presidency, is add their OWN four-year degrees. Some states are in fact looking at such degrees as an immediate solution to pressing shortages. North Carolina is well-served by excellent public and private universities; what we need is top to bottom commitment to improving and extending partnerships that identify talented people, prepare them to teach, and support them in the classroom so they will stay there.
You are here today to consider the challenges of shared responsibilities. I know that most of those responsibilities have to do with money -- how to raise it, where to spend it wisely, how to cut costs and extend service at the same time in an entrenched anti-tax environment.
The final thought I want to leave with you today is not, however, just about money. It's about the responsibility itself. I can tell that the people in this room don't need court cases and test scores and rankings to remind us that our real responsibility is to keep moving our state forward by working together to provide every opportunity possible for every citizen. I quoted long-time School Board Chair and Community College founding father Dallas Herring earlier. Let me end with his eloquent definition of the responsibility that we all must share.
"The only valid philosophy for North Carolina is the philosophy of total education; a belief in the incomparable worth of all human beings, whose claims upon the state are equal before the law and equal before the bar of public opinion; whose talents (however great or however limited or however different from the traditional) the state needs and must develop to the fullest possible degree."
Thank you for attention. I look forward to your questions.
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