President’s Report
To the
State Board of Community Colleges
November 18, 2005
Your staff had hoped that after the General Assembly went home that things would settle down to a little more reasonable pace here in the System Office. However, the pace seems to have only accelerated.
The week after the last State Board meeting we hosted a delegation from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland interested in pursuing degree completion using distance technologies for our graduates. Meetings were set up in the Department of Public Instruction and at the University of North Carolina, with telephone conference calls with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. There are major hurdles to cross, but this may be an exciting opportunity for our students to finish their degree in an accelerated and work-friendly way.
The Joint Boards Liaison Committee met in Chapel Hill to receive a report from Richard Thompson of UNC-OP and me with regard to the teacher preparation conference we attended in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Later that day, Richard and I spoke to the new public school superintendents at their orientation session, each presenting on the relationship between the public schools and our respective systems.
The next two days were spent with the Presidents’ Association fall meeting hosted by Forsyth Technical Community College, followed by my going to New York for the Community College Advisory Panel of the College Board. I am pleased that the College Board continues to aggressively seek ways to be more relevant to community colleges and to provide more services and products for their use.
Dr. Keen and I met with Joe Fredosso and executives from Cisco with regard to our continuing cooperation in the offering of Cisco Networking Academies across the state.
Following that meeting, Weaver Rogers and I had lunch with the new Superintendent of Public Instruction, June Atkinson, to explore ways that our System and public schools might work more closely together.
That afternoon, your senior staff and I met in Chapel Hill with the Pappas Group and university leaders on the ongoing study of the role of higher education in economic development.
Elizabeth Isler, Fred Williams, David Sullivan and I met with the leadership of the NC Hospice Care Association with regard to criminal background checks for certified nursing assistants. They were unaware that we have legislation which has passed the House and is now pending in the Senate. They were excited to know of this initiative and pledged their strong support. That meeting was followed by the first meeting of the Medical Aides Study co-chaired by Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom and me. I left that meeting to go to a meeting hosted by NC Citizens for Business and Industry and Jim and Ann Goodnight at which the featured speaker was Steve Forbes. That afternoon I met with Luther Hodges Jr. and that night I attended the Leadership North Carolina reception.
Sprint is going to restructure itself in a way that will re-emphasize local telephone service. I was one of ten people invited to meet with its senior executive team from Kansas City to learn more about this initiative. There may be training opportunities with the new company.
State Auditor Les Merritt and his senior team met with ours to discuss audit changes and initiatives under his new leadership. I left that meeting for the North Carolina Rural Center Board meeting which was followed by a reception that evening.
The next day, I left for Berlin where I spoke at an international conference on incorporating soft skills training in technical education. Participants from about ten countries participated.
Earlier last week, the North Carolina Community Foundation Board (on which I serve) met, followed by the grand opening of the Bill and Ida Friday Institute at North Carolina State University.
Late last week, I met with Jean Murphy to explore ways that North Carolina community colleges could be involved in the North Carolina Model Teachers Consortium program. That afternoon Suzanne Williams and I met by conference call with the senior staff of Senator Richard Burr to discuss an exciting opportunity he is making available to community college resource developers and presidents on how to better access federal funds for our colleges.
I concluded that week with the General Hugh Shelton Leadership Forum, including being a part of a panel.
This week, we were pleased to help host former Congressman Jim Greenwood, now the CEO of US Bio, the national trade association for biotechnology. He toured our interim Capstone Center at Wake Technical Community College’s Cary Campus. He was very impressed with our BioNetwork initiative and its interface with universities and industries.
This week, the Rural Dislocated Worker Commission met and I met with Bill Hudson with regard to the role of community colleges in Homeland Security. I was a speaker at the World View meeting in Chapel Hill and had lunch at SAS where they were sponsoring a resource development professional development conference. It was a well-attended, excellent meeting.
Representative Joe Tolson met with participants who attended the Jackson Hole conference to get a better understanding of legislative intent in creating the lateral entry opportunity for community colleges. It was a very positive and productive meeting.
Yesterday morning, I met with Dr. Kathy Matlock, president of Southeastern Community College and her Board Chair and with the Presidents Association Executive Committee.
Last night, several of Governor Bob Scott’s friends met with him to have dinner. They were in town for our awards luncheon later today. It was good to see him.
North Carolina's community colleges participated in the Great American Smokeout on Thursday of this week, helping publicize the new effort to help young adults stop smoking. The effort is sponsored by the Health and Wellness Trust Fund, chaired by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue. We distributed the information here at the System Office, and many community colleges e-mailed every student, put details on their websites and sponsored special activities.
Fred Williams has been working hard with Glynda Lawrence as we try to bring some coherence to our numbered memo system and to make certain that it is more closely tied to the General Statutes, the Administrative Code, and policy guidance established by the State Board. This is a much needed initiative.
Dr. Larry Keen and his staff participated in the North Carolina Community College Adult Educator’s Association fall conference in Winston-Salem. That meeting was followed with the Awards for Excellence in Workforce Development Banquet in Greensboro. We are happy to note that all of the recipients of awards were involved in close partnership with community colleges in their community.
Three community colleges were awarded US Small Business Administration Partnership Awards. Wake Technical Community College received the Top Performance Award to the Northeast Region. Coastal Carolina Community College received the award for the Southeast Region, and Asheville Technical Community College received the award for the Western Region.
Susan Seymour, Director of the BioNetwork, spent a week in Northern Ireland sharing the story of our BioNetwork with our partners there.
Kennon Briggs and his staff have participated in an unusually high number of association meetings since we last met, from the Presidents’ Association to Facility Operators, to the Higher Education Bond Oversight Committee, to the Association of Community College Business Officers, to the N4CSGA, the State Budget Conference, and the State Construction Conference.
Work continues on several studies in addition to the Economic Development Study. These include a study of education and training of ferry boat employees and a study of the possibility of reciprocal free tuition for our employees to study at UNC and their employees to study with us.
Kennon Briggs participated in a retreat with Dr. Don Cameron and others for the Western Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees.
Dr. Delores Parker and her senior staff participated in a big way in the North Carolina Community College Instructional Administrators Association meeting in Asheville.
Dr. Blake Reynolds and representatives from Durham Technical Community College, Guilford Technical Community College, Martin Community College, and Wayne Community College continue to work on the Achieving the Dream Initiative which will focus on low income and minority student success.
Karen Yerby presented at the North Carolina Student Development Personnel Association conference in Wilmington.
Wanda White and Pam Little have been meeting with representatives from the colleges as they look at a common cut score for placement tests.
N4CSGA held a very successful fall meeting in Raleigh with significant participation from your staff. We regret that the keynote speech by your Chairperson had to be delivered by Dr. Delores Parker as a result of Ms. Pinnix-Ragland’s bereavement.
Dr. Parker reports that the Golden LEAF Foundation has informed the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) that our "Golden LEAF Scholars Program - Two Year Colleges" has been funded at $300,000 for 2006. These funds assist students with the cost of higher education at the community colleges. Since 2002, the NCCCS has helped over 1,900 students with funding through this program. Students have used these funds for tuition, fees, books, supplies, required uniforms, transportation and other educational expenses.
It sounds like a broken record, but Dr. Saundra Williams and her staff continue with their aggressive training schedule for colleges implementing different phases of the CIS Project.
Dr. Betty Adams continues to provide excellent leadership and staffing for our Planning Council.
Dr. Williams and Dr. Bill Randall spoke at the North Carolina Collaborative E-Learning Conference and with the E-Learning Commission.
Dr. Williams presented at Mr. Briggs’ Business Officers Conference in Wilmington, focusing on the CIS Project.
You have no doubt seen the impressive ads promoting the training provided through the NC BioNetwork. Those public service announcements won first place at the North Carolina Association of Government Information Officers advertising awards.
Since we are unlikely to meet again before Christmas, let me take this opportunity on behalf of Alice, our staff, and myself to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season.
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Friday, November 18, 2005 06:31:54 PM
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