H. Martin Lancaster, President
North Carolina Community College System
Joint Trustees/Legislative Delegation Meeting
Wilson, NC
April 16, 2002
Good evening. I appreciate the chance to be with you. I have been given a very tempting topic: What Community Colleges Need from the General Assembly. The temptation is to keep it simple -- we need a check, preferably a really large check, with no strings attached. But this is serious business, so I will approach the topic with the seriousness it deserves.
Let me begin by thanking you for your strong support in the recent past. Your willingness to put the Higher Education Bonds on the ballot in 2000 and your votes in favor of innovative funding for community colleges in past sessions have boosted both the quality and the reach of our community colleges.
What do community colleges need now from the General Assembly? Well, I guess it really is simple. We need you to understand that we, community colleges, are your strongest and most important partners in the most important task we all must tackle this year.
That task is economic recovery...period. At the close of 1999, North Carolina enjoyed the 12th lowest unemployment rate in the nation. At the close of last year, we had the fifth highest unemployment rate of any state in the nation. In 2001, North Carolina had 63,222 announced layoffs, more than twice the layoffs of the previous year. Rural economies are facing the brunt of these challenges, due to the double blow of the recession, plus the economic restructuring that has led to significant losses in traditional manufacturing jobs.
These numbers come as no surprise to you in eastern North Carolina. It is hard for me to imagine a place where sudden, dramatic economic change is more evident than here in the heart of old tobacco country. I grew up pulling tobacco and listening to the auctioneer's chant. I never imagined that most of my experiences would vanish into memory, so quickly. That disbelief is echoed now in textile mill towns along the rivers and in the furniture belt in the foothills.
Statewide we lost more than 50,000 jobs just in manufacturing last year, almost a third of the 155,000 manufacturing job losses we have seen since 1990.
Yes, there are bright spots, created in many cases by the innovation and plain hard work of community college people. The Nash-Edgecombe-Wilson-Halifax Nursing Consortium is a perfect example of a creative approach to a workforce crisis in a vital and fast-growing industry. The plastics consortium, which involves several colleges in the East is another example of important investment in the future. The success of biotechnology programs at Vance-Granville, Alamance, Central Carolina and a number of other colleges adds to the list.
Job losses, retraining requirements and investments in new industry sectors are the most important reasons why in just this year, enrollments in our curriculum programs have grown 10% and workforce continuing education programs have grown approximately 19%.
That's supposed to happen, because North Carolina's community colleges have always been about economic change...and economic recovery.
Frequently, I am asked to talk about our role in economic and workforce development. When I am asked which of our 59 institutions are involved in economic and workforce development, I answer "all of them." When I am asked what portion of our budget is devoted to workforce and economic development, I say "All of it."
Because our System was created 40 years ago with a mission to support economic and workforce development, we are unique across the nation in our support of economic and workforce development. Wilson is a good place for us to remind ourselves of our workforce focus. Wilson Tech holds the place of honor as the first of the Industrial Education Centers, the forerunners of today's comprehensive community college system. Today we sponsor the most comprehensive system of workforce development and lifelong learning in the nation.
- One out of every six North Carolina citizens participates in one of our education or training programs each year.
- We produce the fifth highest number of technical and vocational graduates in the nation.
- We have the fifth largest basic skills/literacy program in the nation.
- Our customized industry training programs have received the highest average annual ranking of any state by Expansion Management magazine.
- We sponsor the largest State-sponsored small business assistance programs in the nation.
I know that I'm preaching to the choir here. Trustees and legislators alike know what the economy looks like and what that means for revenue and spending. Trustees and legislators are quick to speak up in defense of the value of their community colleges to their hometown economy.
Why, then, is the North Carolina Community College System faced with budget cuts that could lock 100-thousand students out of the education and training they need, to be part of economic recovery?
In March, the community college system responded to Governor Easley's request for information about the impact of potential budget cuts on the colleges and the System Office. We based our response on detailed information supplied by the local colleges. The Governor asked us to avoid cutting instruction, if possible. What we found was -- it isn't possible. If we have to cut four percent, we will probably lose about 144 full-time and about 675 adjunct faculty. A 10 percent cut will take more than 5,600 instructional jobs, 340 vital jobs in student services and other support areas, and $4.5 million in classroom supplies.
Of course we know that community colleges are not unique in facing budget cuts. Every state and local agency is struggling this year. Budget writers face an incredibly difficult job in sorting through priorities.
However, community colleges are unique in our ability to help North Carolina climb out of its economic hole, and I will not be shy about saying so. When people lose their jobs, they come to us for the new skills they must have to start over. Money spent on educating these workers for a fresh start is investment in the most important part of today's competitive economy -- the "human capital" of smart, competent, committed employees.
Community colleges must be able to offer the classes North Carolinians need to prepare for good jobs with good futures. To do that, we need your bold, creative leadership to design -- finally -- a sensible way to fund essential growth. Right now, we get a double-whammy. First, our growth funds are always in expansion budgets, so they are always at risk. Second, we are funded this year for what we did last year, so in growth times, we are always losing ground. In times like these, with rapid growth in response to economic necessity, we teeter at the top of a dangerous downspiral that can become a death spiral. We want to work with you to move growth funds into the continuation budget, with expansion devoted instead to improving our colleges.
We also want to make clear that steady tuition increases are not the long-term answer for growth funds. The average age of our students is in the 30s. Most juggle work, school and families. More than half get some sort of financial aid. Many study part-time. Parents with deep pockets are rare among our students.
We also need your trust. General Assemblies of the past designed a system that made community colleges institutions OF our state's communities, not just IN them. Local colleges are best equipped to respond to local needs -- and the needs of your eastern counties are very different from those of the I-85 corridor or the far west. I urge you to trust the local colleges -- and us -- to respond quickly and creatively to local needs, and to give us the flexibility and authority to make that happen.
Of course, I expect you to demand results in exchange for trust. Accountability is our part of that bargain. Hold us accountable for the results as we work together for economic recovery. Trust us to manage the money, people, time and materials needed to achieve them. We have smart, committed people working in every one of our community colleges, and at the System office. Let me share some wisdom from one of them.
Recently, I received a thoughtful note from Bill Rannells, an economics instructor at Nash Community College. He reminded us that his students learn that the rate of economic growth depends a great deal on productivity. While many factors determine productivity, most economists today, including Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, think that productivity and long-run growth may be more related to future levels of human capital than the other factors of production. Rannells defined human capital as the amount expended to increase workers' knowledge and skills.
His conclusion was, "Because of the recession and tuition increases at state universities, the community college is more important now than ever."
That says it all, doesn't it? Community colleges are about economic recovery, and community colleges are more important now than ever.
Thank you for your attention.
###
RETURN TO TOP OF CURRENT PAGE
Last modified: Friday, May 20, 2011 01:55:51 PM
This page maintained by Chancy Kapp.