President, North Carolina Community College System
North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees Newsletter
September 2004
Remember 2000? In that election year, our ballots had lots of names and lots of important issues. None was more important to the community college family than the one authorizing higher education bonds.
We pulled together, joined hands with our colleagues from The University of North Carolina, stumped the state with members of the General Assembly and convinced the voters in all 100 counties to pass the largest higher education bond in history to that time -- $3.1 billion, with $600 million as the community college share.
We promised the voters that we would use the money - their money - to build and repair the classrooms, labs and shops that our institutions had to have to answer the challenge of building a prosperous future. We promised we would put people to work on the projects and prepare people for work in the classes offered in the finished products.
Four years later, what do we have to show for that effort? Or more to the point, what do our community colleges, our faculty and staff, our students and our taxpaying supporters have to show for it?
As of August 20, we have 90 projects completed and more coming on line every month. We've spent or committed more than $376.4 million for new construction and more than $70 million for repair and renovation, which add up to almost 78 percent of our total share. So far, we're spending more than 12 percent of those dollars with companies owned by minorities and women, an important investment in these historically underutilized businesses in North Carolina.
I'm proud of those numbers. But I am much more impressed with what those numbers represent.
Space. Safety. Innovation. Access. The opportunity behind our "open doors" for many more students to take advantage of the excellent training and education our community colleges offer. The ability of our community colleges to expand our programs to meet the most critical workforce shortages.
You know what's happening on your campus. Here is a small handful of examples from around the state.
At The College of The Albemarle in Elizabeth City, the newly opened Dr. Zack D. Owens Health Sciences Center is allowing the college to expand its associate degree-nursing program. Over the next five years, the college plans to add eight to 10 students a year to the current 32 students a year in the program.
Johnston Community College in Smithfield opened the William Britt Industrial Technology Building this summer. The building will house five different programs: machining technology, air conditioning, heating and refrigeration technology, industrial maintenance technology, welding, and metal fabrication. The Britt facility will consolidate these programs in one building, sharing common courses and resources among them.
The new Computer Technology Center at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College opened this past spring. It contains more than 300 workstation computers, four to six servers, 15 computer labs, and 1,500 network connections. The 36,150-square-foot facility houses three academic departments: business computer technology, network technology and administrative/medical system technology as well as the Regional Cisco Networking Academy.
When Sandhills Community College opened the Hoke Center in Raeford three years ago, it extended its vital services into a county so lacking in educational opportunities that it has provided the definition of "low-wealth" in the landmark Leandro case about equity in public education. . About a thousand students so far have flocked to adult high school, GED, English as a Second Language, computers and real estate courses as well as curriculum offerings.
Do those sound like promises kept to you? They do to me, at least so far. Of course, we're not finished. The economy has endured drastic shocks during these last four years, and some of the plans and projects are going more slowly than we had hoped. Community colleges most affected by large layoffs have had to invest their energy in coping with enrollment demands far beyond the projections of four years ago. Others are finding that bids on their carefully timed projects are coming in far over budget due to steep price increases in concrete and steel.
As trustees, you have tremendous responsibility for the successful completion of these bond projects, and you may occasionally have some concerns. Rest assured that the System Office staff works closely with the presidents and senior administrators on the campuses to make sure bond projects stay on track. It's our job to work with you to guarantee that the promises we made together four years ago become promises kept for the millions of North Carolinians who voted with their dollars to support community colleges.
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