Remarks by H. Martin Lancaster, President
North Carolina Community College System
PRIMA/CORD Joint Conference
Hickory, North Carolina
March 1, 2001
Thank you. I am delighted to be with you this afternoon. Let me begin by congratulating you on your very good idea of this joint meeting between PRIMA and CORD. I'm pleased about it in part for purely selfish reasons; with one appearance, I get to address two of the groups most important to the healthy future of North Carolina's community colleges! I'm also pleased that in this cost-cutting year, you have provided an excellent forum for professionals whose goals and interests often overlap -- and on your campuses, are often the responsibility of the same person!
The theme of my remarks today is, "We Have A Story to Tell…" I want to explain what that title means, and why I chose it.
If you've worked in community colleges for more than a week, you know our most often-used symbol is the "Open Door." It's a good symbol, rooted in the "open door philosophy" of universal education espoused by Dallas Herring when the system was established four decades ago.
From time to time, however, I've thought that perhaps we should borrow from the United Methodist Church the Asbury flame, because I've never before worked with people with such missionary zeal for their work. From top to bottom, community college folks genuinely believe in the community colleges' mission to take people where they are and help them take one more step to where they want to be.
Your colleague Susan Nobles from Pitt Community College summed it up beautifully when she told a reporter during the bond campaign that "Community Colleges are in the 'better life' business." So as I was thinking about what to say to you today, thoughts about mission became thoughts about missionaries, and that led me to thoughts about church.
I can't help that. My resume doesn't say this, but in my youth in Wayne County, I was a church organist, and I'm still a choir member when I have time to go to practice. And the words of a grand old hymn kept running through my head. Some of you probably know it;
"We've a story to tell to the nations,
that will turn their hearts to the right..."
It's just too obvious a metaphor to resist, because in North Carolina's community colleges, we DO have a story to tell, to the state and to the nation, about the value and the rightness of the work we do. And you, of course, do the telling. You are charged with spreading the word of how good we are at "the better life business" to potential students, to the public at large and, with your fundraising hats on, to powerful people, companies and foundations that can give us the resources
So how do you think you're doing carrying out that charge?
Well, here's what I think. I was looking over my notes from last year's CORD breakfast in Asheville, and I was reminded that just a year ago, we weren't quite sure that the higher education bond issue that had died in the General Assembly in 1999 would come up again in the short session. Whoa...what a difference a year makes! And what a difference it makes to have a powerful story to tell...and to tell it well, to the right people, at the right time.
I am well aware that many…probably most…maybe ALL… of you in this meeting were essential players in the higher education bond campaign in your service areas.
I am well aware that many of you had the responsibility for raising your institutions' share of the money used to plan and place the extensive statewide advertising campaign
I am particularly well aware that as you kept your local campaigns fired up, you responded every day -- sometimes five times a day -- to Chancy and Audrey and Peggy as they gathered the local anecdotes that made statistics about growth and need come alive for voters in every county.
You and your Presidents are just as focused on measurable results as we are at the System Office. It's hard for me to imagine more successful results than victory in all 100 counties, a statewide "yes" vote of more than 70 percent and no county below 60 percent.
This story was YOUR story, and you told it beautifully. I can't thank you enough for your dedication and your creativity.
We all learned a good lesson about the value of telling the story CONSISTENTLY, too, as we approached a statewide vote with a statewide strategy and a united effort. I'll stretch my original metaphor a bit and say that this time, we weren't just singing from the same hymnal -- we were on the same line of the same verse, in close harmony with each other and with our partners in business, politics and education.
I mention our education partners because there is no question that this campaign benefited from the high profile of the University.
Likewise, there is no question that this campaign benefited from the broad reach and deep grassroots support for the community colleges.
Now the question is for us is, how do we build on the tremendous success of the bond campaign to keep telling the story of what community colleges do…and what we DESERVE in terms of attention and resources?
You all know that we woke up pretty quickly to a tough reality after Election Day. The "state budget crunch" is real. Part of it is related to a slowdown in the economy, which many of you know first-hand as your institutions deal with plant closings and other economic shocks. Part of it is related to the lingering effects of Hurricane Floyd. Part of it is related to health care costs, especially for Medicaid. A big part of it comes from bills coming due for court decisions that direct the state to return taxes collected from retirees over several years. The crisis will pass eventually, but it is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Aside from general belt-tightening during this year, what this crunch means is that the system's request for an expansion budget may have very little chance of success. Certainly we have submitted a budget that genuinely reflects the needs of our students, faculty and staff. Just this week I appeared before the General Assembly to explain and defend it. Our original request represents an increase of more than 20 percent in our operating budget for the coming year.
The major areas are:
- Funding enrollment growth, which in fact is running significantly ahead of projections and will require twice as much money as we estimated last year;
- Boosting faculty and staff salaries
- Continuing Summer Term Funding
- Bringing Continuing Education to funding parity with Curriculum
- Funding distance education
- Improving libraries
- Expanding support positions in Student Services
- And providing new dollars for Multi-Campus colleges.
Realistically, we probably have a chance to fund the enrollment growth. We’d better have a chance, or all those students you attract and retain so well will COST you money instead of building up your institutions!
So should we lie low, keep quiet and save all the good news about the value of our services until times are better?
Absolutely not. This is the time when the state needs people committed to "the better life business," and we need to make sure everybody understands the value…and the cost…of that commitment.
The veterans among you know that it's been many years since the system has taken a comprehensive, statewide look at public perceptions of community colleges. I hope that most of you know that we are in the midst of doing that now, in partnership with the advertising firm Rockett Burkhead and Winslow and with the sponsorship of the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation.
Let me outline for you how this effort came about. The State Board of Community Colleges made clear to me when I took this job in 1997 that the statewide Foundation needed new energy and new direction.
In December of that year, I convened a task force that included several of you, local Presidents and Local Trustees, among others, to gather opinions about whether reviving the Foundation would work and, if so, what its focus should be.
The clear message was yes, the statewide Foundation could and should be an important part of the community college system, and among its most important functions should be bolstering statewide advocacy and awareness. This message came most strongly from community college presidents.
Under the leadership of immediate past chair Gregory Poole and current chair Steve Zelnak of Martin Marietta, that Foundation has raised close to four million dollars of its five million-dollar goal. Both the chairs and I have been diligent in targeting businesses and foundations that operate on a regional or statewide basis, and we have told every prospect that we are not interested in claiming contributions that otherwise would go to a local institution. A number of you and your presidents have assisted in making contacts and accompanied us on calls, and I thank you for your support.
Most of the money raised so far goes into endowments to bolster statewide efforts. A significant portion, however, has been raised specifically to support the re-imaging project.
It is important that you understand that Rockett Burkhead and Winslow are not advising the Foundation on the image of the Foundation. The Foundation is the underwriter for this effort, which is focused on the perception of community college education in North Carolina. When all is said and done, we expect creative new approaches to use at the statewide level; templates for you to use in your own work as you choose; and innovative advertising that will be worth your while to share.
Step one is to ask people important to community colleges what their perception is…and what they think it should be. You and your colleagues are high on that list of important people. Some of you have already participated in focus groups, and I thank you for your valuable input. Two more are scheduled for this meeting, and I encourage you to participate. Focus groups, surveys and interviews are underway with legislators, business leaders, faculty, students, high school counselors and local government leaders, among others.
I received a progress report last week, and I thought you would be interested in some of the preliminary findings.
The reputation of the community college system is excellent in workforce training and economic development. Legislators and community college presidents are particularly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about this role. Also, reputations of individual institutions are quite strong.
There's a significant focus on the need to emphasize the high quality of community college programs, as well as the broad reach. That translates into a desire to be known as the best, as well as one of the biggest, systems in the country.
We are in fact finding some evidence of continuing…perhaps growing…tension, especially among legislators, between the perception of a system committed to the historic role in worker training, and one moving more toward college transfer. This finding doesn't surprise us. I'm sure it doesn't surprise you, because you have to balance that in your marketing and fundraising work every day. However, it will take some careful work to find the best way to approach it, since community colleges and the University have worked together to smooth out the transfer process expressly at the instruction of the General Assembly.
We are also getting a clear message from you that you would like the System Office to take more leadership in providing opportunities for fellowship and training in marketing and resource development. Certainly your respective associations are doing a great job with your conferences and other activities. I am pleased that we have been able add to that good work the activities of Lin Frye and Jim Young in providing grantwriting and other services.
I will encourage Chancy, Audrey and Peggy to explore with you new services in marketing and public information. One of the areas I have asked them to focus on in the near future is boosting North Carolina's visibility in national publications such as Community College Week, Community College Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education. I hope you saw the recent story in Community College Week about the innovative viticulture program at Surry Community College and aquaculture at Brunswick Community College. They are working now to place similar stories on the Virtual Learning Community and training efforts in Information Technology. Keep the great ideas coming!
We need you to do that, because together we have a story to tell. The story has to be told from the beginning every year.
One of the great blessings about North Carolina in the 21st century is that we're growing fast, a magnet for people all over the nation…and the world. We can't assume that these new voters, taxpayers, business leaders, students…and even lawmakers… understand the mission of this most important part of North Carolina's educational system. We can, however, relish the task of converting them!
I look forward to telling the story with you, and I thank you for your attention.
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