President’s Report
to the
State Board of Community Colleges
November 16, 2001
It is November and the General Assembly is still in session. Since you do not meet in December, maybe they will have adjourned by our meeting in January. However, there is some speculation that they may be back in January to make adjustments to the budget because of the ever-worsening economy. A Technical Corrections Bill will tweak policy decisions already made that impact us; otherwise, our issues are already resolved.
You are already aware from prior communications that Donny and Becky Hunter have lost their house and all of their belongings to a catastrophic fire last weekend. I know that all of you will join me in extending our grave concern to Donny and Becky and will keep them both in our prayers.
Soon after our last Board meeting, Dr. Delores Parker, her staff, and many participants from all over the System concluded a very successful Global Education Conference which was a follow-up to last spring’s conference. We are very pleased with the enthusiasm that our colleges are bringing to the task of infusing their programs with a global perspective. This is something critically important to the workforce of the future in a global economy.
In the furtherance of one college’s global initiatives, we hosted a delegation from Peru that was visiting Pitt Community College to discuss collaboration between institutions in Peru and Pitt Community College.
Kennon Briggs, Phil Albano and I represented our System at the first full meeting of the Higher Education Facilities Bond Oversight Committee that met at Winston-Salem State University. Our presentation was well received by the Committee and we look forward to working with them in being fully accountable to the people of the state for the use of these funds.
Guilford Technical Community College hosted the fall meeting of the Presidents’ Association and as a part of the meeting showcased its Entertainment Technology curriculum. This program is unique to the entire System and will fill a great need for our state and region.
I was pleased to meet with the Executive Committee of the Instructional Administrators Association to discuss ways that they can become more active in providing input to our priority setting and advocating for those priorities in the General Assembly.
While in Washington on Former Member of Congress business, I hosted a luncheon meeting for education staff members of the North Carolina congressional delegation to discuss federal issues, pending or upcoming. David Baime of the American Association of Community Colleges assisted me with the meeting. I also met with officials of the U.S. Department of Labor to discuss the transfer of apprenticeship programs from the N.C. Department of Labor to us. The General Assembly authorized the transfer subject to U.S. Department of Labor approval.
This has been a very active month for making Foundation calls thanks to the excellent cooperation of Sandra Hayes, Tommy Norman, Ed Turlington, and Richard Moore. Richard and Ed made contacts with several potential contributors on whom I have called. Sandra Hayes and I called on a perspective donor in Waynesville, and Tommy set up meetings that gave us the opportunity to visit with a number of potential givers in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Other meetings are being scheduled in that region by Tommy in the near future. Dub Dickson has scheduled two meetings in Gastonia week after next. I would certainly encourage each of you to consider providing similar opportunities for me to make presentations on behalf of the Foundation to companies or foundations with which you have influence. We also appreciate the pledges and gifts many of you have made.
This has been a good month for positive exposure of our System and its programs to wide audiences. Ken Farmer authored an excellent article on distance learning and the Virtual Learning Community that appeared in the October issue of the Community College Journal. Our System was chosen by the Workforce Strategy Center as an example of "Best Practices" in workforce development efforts by community colleges in the United States. The study was funded by the Ford Foundation and other foundations. Expansion Magazine once again chose us as one of the outstanding workforce development programs in America. You will recall that we were ranked number one for two years, dropped to number four last year, and this year moved back up to number two. As a further indication of our reputation in workforce development, Dr. Scott Ralls was invited to present to the Virginia Governor’s Workforce Leadership Conference.
A number of our colleges and System Office staff participated in the BioFrontiers Exhibit at the North Carolina State Fair. Almost 155, 000 people went through the BioFrontiers Exhibit and the comments were uniformly excellent. We look forward to a similar exhibit next year. We were especially pleased by the support of Joanne Steiner for this endeavor and for her personal participation at the fair.
Hope Williams of the Independent Colleges and Universities, Gretchen Bataille of the University System and I participated in a panel at the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Universities meeting. We discussed the demographic shifts in North Carolina’s population and the impact this has on our state’s education process and resources. You may know that Jim Owen, President of Piedmont Community College, is the president of that organization.
In an effort to encourage collaboration with four-year institutions, including private colleges, I met with the new Vice President and Provost at St. Augustine’s College to discuss various ways to encourage students from community colleges to transfer to that institution.
Last week I was happy to participate in the installation of Dr. Mary Coleman Wyatt as President of Roanoke-Chowan Community College. An impressive ceremony concluded a full week of activity celebrating her installation. We wish her well.
Another happy occasion was witnessing your colleague, Dub Dickson, receiving his high school diploma. The General Assembly authorized the Department of Public Instruction to award diplomas to all World War II veterans who left to fight in the war without graduating. Despite Dub’s being a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, he had never graduated from high school until last month!
As we implement our college information system, Dr. Saundra Williams, Kennon Briggs, and members of their respective staffs provided an update on this implementation to the State Budget Office and fiscal staff at the General Assembly.
Dr. Williams and her staff continue to work with our colleges and potential commercial partners in providing wireless Internet access for our colleges and their communities. We also continue to cooperate with the National Guard in making available at a number of our community colleges access to distance learning technologies.
Six of our colleges were awarded grants totaling $98,780 from the US Department of Education’s Child Care Access Means Parents in School program. The grants will establish or expand campus-based child care programs before and after school, on weekends, and during summer sessions.
Dr. Delores Parker continues to work her magic in raising private funds with a recently announced $35,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for professional development for the System Office Staff.
Kennon Briggs and his staff concluded a successful conference of the NC Association of Community College Business Officers in Asheville where they all commiserated about the sad fiscal situation our state faces and how we will respond to it.
Kennon attended the annual Community College Business Officers national meeting in San Antonio, Texas, earlier this week. We are proud that he serves on the national Board of Directors and presented at the conference on our higher education bond success.
We are happy to welcome to the Community College System Vonna Viglione and her staff in the Training Initiatives Bureau which was transferred by the General Assembly to the Community College System from the N.C. Department of Labor. We are excited about the ways this Training Initiatives Bureau can be used for innovation in our System.
In our ongoing effort to provide programs specifically tailored to meet the needs of industries in North Carolina, we have entered a new partnership with the Society of Plastics Industries that will result in a certification program in plastics.
I am very proud of your System Office Staff for their generous response to the North Carolina State Employees Combined Campaign. Despite the fact that your System staff did not even receive a pay increase adequate to cover their increase in insurance premiums, they have once again made pledges even more generous that last year’s. Our total giving is $19,524. Thanks to the hard work of Chancy Kapp and her committee, our folks have responded to the needs of North Carolinians who face difficult times as a result of our declining economy, have personal challenges, or are less fortunate than we.
Since this will be our last meeting until the end of the year, on behalf of the entire System Office Staff we wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season.
This page maintained by Chancy Kapp.