H. Martin Lancaster,
President
North Carolina Community College System
Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC
March 1, 2000
Good morning. I am, as always, delighted to be back at this wonderful hotel in this lovely city. I am equally delighted to be back with you, some of the most creative and important members of the community college family! And I join you in thanking John Bennett and his colleagues at Capital Development Services for our breakfast.
I first spoke to a CORD conference in October of 1997, only three months after I had come to work for the community college system. That appearance was at the top of my priority list, because boosting support for community colleges from every source was at the top of my assignment list from the State Board of Community Colleges.
At that meeting, I talked to you about the need to revive the statewide Community Colleges Foundation. Three of your members agreed to serve on the task force that did such good work outlining the need and goals for the Foundation. Diane Ledbetter from Brunswick, B. Townes from Wilkes and Lou Russell from Durham Tech all contributed great ideas and helped establish an excellent spirit of cooperation. Lou Russell continues to represent you as a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation.
Also in 1997, you drew up for me a list of services you would like the System Office to help provide for you, in your role as the principal fundraisers for your institutions. Some of those requests concern the Foundation, and I will speak to the Foundation's progress in a moment. Most of the others dealt with the need for a clearinghouse of information about major grant opportunities; for professional development; and for consistent communication with the System Office and between colleges.
I am pleased to tell you that we have made excellent progress on those issues -- and that you will hear the details of that progress later this morning from Carolyn Girardeau and Lin Frye. Many of you know Carolyn from the work she has been doing for the past several years on encouraging grant-sponsored programs. Lin is a new addition to her staff, replacing Allen McNeely, who is now a program auditor. Lin comes to the System Office with a strong background in grantsmanship and a terrific go-get-'em attitude. Carolyn and Lin will bring you up to date on an exciting initiative designed by their new boss, Dr. Delores Parker, Vice President for Academic and Student Services. Dr. Parker has many years' experience in the community colleges of North Carolina...and, very importantly, with the Kellogg Foundation, one of the most important sources for large grants to community colleges. I'm not going to steal the thunder from Carolyn and Lin -- I just want you to know that I share their enthusiasm for this new focus on major program grant opportunities.
There is no question that North Carolina's community colleges need -- and deserve -- a much larger share of Federal grants than we are now receiving. And we -- that is, YOU -- need and deserve a much larger investment from major national foundations.. I know that some of you have had great success in this area already; Southwestern Community College is just one place where great ideas and persistence have combined to bring millions of dollars into crucial programs. This is on my mind right now because I flew to Asheville from Washington, where I have spent the past two days visiting with our Congressional delegation to keep them informed about community college issues and funding needs. Every time I make that trip, at least one Congressman makes a point to tell me that he wants to help us bring more federal dollars into the state. We pledge to work with you to build even more creative partnerships needed to bring more of this money home.
This new focus on major grants is a welcome complement to the efforts of the revived Foundation. Most of you know that the Foundation is in the midst of a capital campaign, the major goal of which is to build an endowment of $5 million. Income from the endowment will fund efforts to
- Study the ongoing needs of the community college system;
- Strengthen statewide advocacy and Marketing
- To support professional development for faculty, staff and senior leadership education;
- And to motivate faculty, staff and students statewide by rewarding excellent performance.
In October, Foundation Chair Greg Poole reported to you that the campaign stood at about $1.6 million. The pace picked up between October and January; now we're pushing $2.5 million, with a number of very large proposals outstanding. Yes, we expected to be closer to the goal by now, but Hurricane Floyd changed the timetable for us. We have extended the campaign into this year. I am confident that we will make and probably exceed our goal.
Those of you who have met Greg Poole know that he is one of the most important reasons for the Foundation's success to this point. In August of 1998, Greg, then chairman and chief executive officer of Gregory Poole Equipment Company in Raleigh, agreed to VOLUNTEER as chairman of the North Carolina Community College Foundation Board of Directors. Greg has embraced that role with an exceptional vigor. He has recruited to the Board an impressive group of almost four dozen of North Carolina’s finest business and community leaders.
He has also been unwavering in his commitment to make sure that The Community Colleges Foundation does not negate nor overrun the efforts and mission of your. Rather, there is a commitment to keep local presidents, trustees and development professionals informed about the progress at every stage. A strong effort is made to ensure there is an awareness of a prospect in a community college region and local college representatives are invited and encouraged to participate in calls made on potential funders .
The goal of this process is to enhance fundraising for all community colleges, not to take away from local contributions to increase statewide support. In fact, we have had the experience where money given by a corporation to the statewide foundation was followed by a sizeable new contribution to its local community college. We are also grateful for the excellent ideas that have come from the colleges. The College of the Albemarle, for example, suggested we use Foundation funds to create a matching program for endowing faculty positions, similar to the University's program. We are actively seeking funds to do that now; if we succeed, perhaps we can encourage more donors to follow the example of those who have set up faculty endowments at COA, at Wilkes and perhaps elsewhere, too.
Greg Poole continues to be an amazement and an inspiration to us all. His leadership, tireless energy and enthusiasm are the strength of this campaign. His successor, Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr., chairman, Board of Directors, and C.E.O., Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. of Raleigh, has already begun preparation for assuming the lead later this year. He has a tough act to follow.
I want to thank the trustees, presidents, development officers and others in the community college family who have accompanied us as we made calls on potential funders, or who hosted events to generate support, or made personal contacts on behalf of the Foundation We all have to work together to make this work.
We learned that lesson well during last year's legislative session, when we truly came together to make a unified case to our biggest "contributor" -- the members of the General Assembly who decide where to invest the taxes that you and I pay.
Community colleges had our best year ever, in terms of increased and absolute dollars. The General Assembly approved about $57 million major new investments in teaching, high-tech equipment, financial aid and other critical areas for FY 99-2000,
Students came up big winners. The new financial package helps make a community college education free for most students when combined with the benefits of federal Pell Grants and the Hope Scholarship Tax Credits. This new state investment will help reach literally ten times more students than through the former scholarship endowment.
What's missing from that list? Well, the item everybody knows about is the bond package for community colleges and the University system that didn't pass. The Senate had one plan, the House had another, and the legislature left without agreeing on how to go forward. Of course, the tremendous facility needs in community colleges and the University have not gone away…and fortunately, many of our friends and supporters understand that.
Discussions are underway now about possible bond packages for this year's short session. Community college and university officials are working with representatives of the NC Citizens for Business and Industry to work out a joint proposal. The work just began a couple of weeks ago. We will keep you posted.
I know that you are also concerned about pay raises for non-faculty positions. I can understand that, because everything you hear and see concerns faculty salaries. You know why; our instructor salaries are mired near the bottom of regional and national rankings, and that has to change. I am also aware, however, of the need to keep top-notch professionals in jobs like yours. Each community college has great flexibility in setting salaries and awarding raises for most positions. The president can only exercise that flexibility, however, if there's money in the till. And one way we try to put the money there is to work very hard to boost funding in all essential areas. Money for salaries needs to go for salaries, not be shifted to pay for critical equipment and basic supplies. We have already seen that the new funds appropriated last year have encouraged our colleges to give greater increases for faculty and staff than the General Assembly required.
I want to leave plenty of time for your questions this morning, so let me close with this thought from Benjamin Franklin. Remember this when you're wondering why you do what you do…and whether anybody really understands how tough it is to FIND the money for all those good ideas! Franklin said:
"The importance of money flows from it being a link between the present and the future."
That's what you bring to North Carolina's Community College -- the money that turns today's ideas into tomorrow future. I thank you for everything you do, and I welcome your comments and questions.
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