President’s Report
to the
State Board of Community Colleges
April 16, 1999*
Gaston College
Dallas, NC
Has it really only been a month since our last meeting? Your meetings seem to be coming closer and closer together as we become busier and busier.
I know that I speak for all of us in commending and thanking President Skinner and her staff at Gaston College for the wonderful job they have done in welcoming and providing for us here and for what they do to serve the students here in their community.
Immediately following the last State Board meeting, I left for Greensboro to speak to the North Carolina Association of Education Office Professionals, one of the largest conferences to which I have spoken since I have been President. The large ballroom in the Khoury Center in Greensboro was filled to capacity by outstanding professionals from the Community College System, the University System, and the public schools. We all owe more to these professionals than we can ever adequately thank them for.
In my joint capacity as President of this System and a member of White Memorial Presbyterian Church, I have begun meeting with a committee of the Church on an educational outreach program to the minimum security Women’s Prison in Raleigh. The Church will be building an education facility for the prison and providing volunteer support for educational programs which the Community College System will offer. It is an exciting opportunity for all of us.
Dr. Beth Johns, Dr. Carolyn Girardeau and I met with Chancellor Marye Anne Fox with regard to the Advance Technology Education Center proposal that is being jointly proposed by North Carolina State University and our System to enhance educational opportunities in math and science through a professional development resource center to be located at North Carolina State. It was a very positive meeting and we are optimistic about our chances.
Our second professional development institute, this one for senior administrators, is off to a roaring start. I spoke to their second session in Fayetteville and was impressed with the quality of participants and with the ambitious nature of their program over the next year. This program will help us home-grow our senior administrator (vice-presidents, deans, department chairs, etc.) just as we hope to grow our presidents through our Institute for Future Presidents which was completed in February.
Scott Ralls and I made a presentation to the North Carolina Economic Development Board, on which I sit, at its March meeting at Campbell University. The subject of our presentation was the role of community colleges in economic development. Our report was well-received and I value my participation on that Board.
I spoke to the banquet of the North Carolina Comprehensive Community College Student Government Association Annual Conference in Asheville and was pleased by the enthusiasm of our student government leaders from across the state. Outstanding student leaders were recognized with awards as a part of the banquet.
I spoke to the Moore County JobReady Partnership in Pinehurst and could not leave the area without swinging by Sandhills Community College to see their incredible arboretum which was hosting an outdoor sculpture exhibit for the first time. Though the azaleas were not at their peak, visiting this garden is always a treat. I returned from that speech in time to participate in the Emerging Issues Forum at North Carolina State University that afternoon. Just as at the NCCBI Legislative Conference, several speakers mentioned the important role of community colleges in the economic boom we are now experiencing. David Wessell, Wall Street Journal reporter and author of Prosperity, was very eloquent and strong, especially in his assessment of the funding support (inadequate) that we receive. The Governor was present to hear these remarks, but no legislators.
The following day I traveled to Asheville to speak at the statewide JobReady/Tech Prep Conference, and participated in the recognition of outstanding programs around the state. Many of our community colleges were recognized for their outstanding support of these important ways in which we work with secondary students who are preparing themselves for technical careers.
Work on the Foundation campaign continues at a fast clip, though my legislative and other responsibilities have not permitted me to be as fully engaged as I would like. However, the incredible, continuing leadership of Greg Poole has not appeared to suffer from my inability to participate fully. We are making visits now to the Foundation Board members to discuss their personal participation in the campaign and to seek their advice on prospects and levels of giving.
With mixed feelings--happy for David, sad for us--I announce that David Sullivan will be leaving us this summer to return to law school. Having not identified a person from the community college family to take his place, I have elected to participate in next year’s State Government Management Intern Program. I am pleased to announce that Clyde Higgs, from that program, will be serving as my Executive Assistant for the coming year while I make decisions of a more long-tern nature with regard to that position. Clyde will receive his Masters in Public Administration from East Carolina this summer.
Dr. Beth Johns, Greg Smith and I met with officials of Gale Force Management, the owner of the Hurricanes Hockey Team and operator of the new arena in Raleigh, with regard to the training needs for bringing that arena into full operation. Thousands of full-time and part-time employees will require training and the potential exists for creating a new curriculum in Sports and Entertainment Facilities Management as an outgrowth of this effort. With the proliferation of stadia, amphitheaters, arenas, etc. across the state, there is a growing need for a cadre of professionals to operate these facilities. We are excited about this collaboration.
Dr. Barry Russell and I represented the System Office at the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges in Nashville, Tennessee last week. The state directors had a full day’s meeting as a part of this conference at which time I made a presentation on the human resource development programs in our System. I also made a presentation in one of the breakout sessions on our implementation of the Workforce Investment Act in North Carolina. A number of other North Carolinians also made presentations. Without regard to my own two presentations, I found the sessions this year much more relevant to my work than the sessions last year in Miami. Dr. Tony Zeiss presided this year as Chairman and did an excellent job. I always return from this national meeting with renewed pride in our System and confirmed in the knowledge that we are the envy of most other systems in the country. I think Barry would say the same.
I met this week with Dr. Carol Kasworm, one of the candidates to head the Adult Education and Community College program at North Carolina State University. It was an excellent opportunity for me to impress upon her the importance of this program to the success of community colleges in North Carolina. I was very impressed with her. I will also have an opportunity meet with the other candidate before a final decision is made.
As you can imagine, the entire senior staff and I are spending an incredible amount of time in the General Assembly. I am happy to report that many of our agency bills have received final committee action in one house and should be on the floor before long. We were delayed in completing our presentations on the Continuation Budget because of the Tobacco Settlement controversy, but that sessions were very helpful in explaining our programs to members of the General Assembly. I presented our expansion budget yesterday morning. Though questions have been raised about many of our issues, there has been very strong support expressed for our budget priorities for each of the substantive initiatives and no audible negative votes have been heard on the bills which have been considered.
I spoke at the Carolina Hosiery Associations Annual Meeting in Hickory earlier this week. Also, earlier this week, the Legislative Strategy meeting made up of representatives from each of the parts of the community college family had another productive session.
On Tuesday I met with the Council of Chambers of Commerce of NCCBI to seek their support for our legislative agenda. They were enthusiastic in their expression of support.
Since our last meeting, Kennon Briggs has spoken to the Durham Technical Community College Board of Trustees and County Commission and to a joint meeting of the legislative delegation and Trustees from Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. However, the biggest thing of the last month for his Division was the Association of Community College Business Officers Conference in Greensboro which brought together 325 office personnel from across the System for very worthwhile sessions on their work. Business and Finance Division personnel traveled with the business and industry services people who work with Dr. Scott Ralls as they held their regional meetings on new and expanding industry, focused industrial training and other economic development programs. This was an excellent opportunity for a collaborative effort by the President’s Office and this Division.
We continue to work with professions whose members are trained by community colleges, but whose licensing performance has not lived up to the new standards set by your recent action. Dr. Beth Johns attended a statewide education seminar with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission in that continuing effort.
The Department of Human Services and the Department of Corrections officials met with staff from Dr. John’s division to explore implementation of a "fatherhood/parenting initiative."
Dr. Donny Hunter, Dr. Johns and I continue to work with the School Improvement Panel and the Governor’s "First in America Task Force" as we work for the improvement of our public schools.
Dr. Johns and I met with the new staff person of the North Carolina Space Grant Consortium with regard to our working more closely with them in preparing science and math professionals and in making opportunities available to colleges and students through Space Grant. Dr. Johns and her staff have also worked with a Counselors’ Forum in Asheville.
Dr. Rogers has begun filling the eleven new positions created by the appropriation for technology support approved in the Short Session. Eight of those positions have been filled, with seven of them filled by promotions from within the Division. Though this simply means we have to recruit people to backfill those positions, we are happy to have these promotion opportunities within the Division.
The Community College Planners and Researchers Organization met in Wilmington with significant support from Dr. Rogers and her staff.
Dr. Rogers and her staff, especially Dr. Larry Gracie, have been monitoring the progress of our implementing our Strategic Plan which you adopted last year. We want to link employees’ work plans to specific objectives in the Strategic Plan and to make certain that all of our budget requests likewise support our objectives.
Dr. Rogers on a visiting team with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to Pasco-Hernando Community College in Florida. These visits are always helpful to learn from other systems and colleges. It was fortuitous that Dr. Janyth Fredrickson was an observer on this team. She heads up our joint substantive change visit from SACS for our distance learning technologies and the chair of the team to Pasco-Hernando will be the chair for that joint substantive change visit. This joint visit will save our System untold dollars and time over what would be required if each college were visited by SACS for the changes that they are making to make greater utilization of distance learning technologies.
The various vice presidents and I make, with sadness, the announcement of the retirement of a number of long-term employees since our last meeting. These include Dr. Bill Cole and Phil Marion from Program Audit, and Bill Strickland and Faye Steele from Student Development. We certainly wish these persons well in their retirement and thank them for their splendid service over many years. They are just four examples of the quality professionals with whom I am privileged to work.
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