President’s Report
to the
State Board of Community Colleges
May 16, 2008
When I accepted this position, I knew I would have high points and low points, but I never anticipated I would feel those extremes so acutely during my first couple of weeks on the job.
Certainly, a low point was the death of my wife Lisa’s mother last week, and I want to thank everyone from throughout our System who expressed sympathies to our family I mention it today only because Eileen Rowe’s story was one the many great community college stories that only goes untold because there are so many great stories. She gained her bachelor’s degree in nursing at the age of 50, the same year one of her four daughters graduated from high school, and was a nursing instructor at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College for the next 13 years. I’ve never seen any one more spoiled than when she was in the hospital a few years ago, because she had trained many of the nurses there. At the age of 70, she was recertified in nursing so that she could do medical missionary work and in her late 70’s she taught English as a Second Language in China and later entertained Chinese officials in her home. Eileen Rowe embodied lifelong learning and the community college story and her passion for community colleges was one of the influences on my passion today.
Another low point has been the challenges we have faced in addressing this extremely difficult issue of the admission of undocumented immigrants. Like many I believe in our System, I share the dual objectives of wanting to always remain within the law, and in that regard follow legal counsel, and to also follow the principles of the open door philosophy that has been at the very foundation of our System. It is difficult for those of us in the Community College System when it may appear those objectives can seem at odds with one another. While our position on admitting undocumented individuals has now changed four times since 2001, what has remained constant has been our efforts to remain within law and to follow legal counsel, which is what we have recently done in following the advice of the Attorney General’s office. I believe the attention we have gained but not sought and the challenges we have faced have made us poster children for why the overall issue must be addressed and requires greater clarity at the Federal level.
High points of the past few weeks have been the chance to participate in several graduations, our ultimate celebrations of student success and accomplishment. A particular high point also occurred on Wednesday when I attended the announcement that Spirit Aeorsystems will locate over 1,000 new jobs to the Global Transpark in Kinston. Our System and particularly President Lancaster were extremely involved in this effort, and I have been closely enough involved to feel very confident in saying that without the existence of our System and the training opportunities to be provided through Lenoir Community College, this economic development announcement which is one of the biggest to ever occur in Eastern North Carolina would not have taken place. I have had opportunity to visit Wichita twice now to meet with Spirit officials and tour their facilities, and this opportunity I believe has the opportunity to help propel our state and our system into the forefront of aviation and advanced materials technology.
Another real high point was the opportunity to meet with all of the incredibly talented and motivated staff here at the System Office which I am sure to them must have seemed a very long meeting. During that meeting I attempted to emphasize the great importance of their jobs and the sense of urgency that I believe these times require of community colleges, as well as some of my personal philosophies.
I also wanted them to know as I move into this position, what I considered to be ten strategic emphases that I hoped to pay attention to. As I have said before, I believe developing a vision or strategic plan for the future is a very collective process and so these emphases do not represent that vision. I do believe strongly in focusing on priorities, however, and while I know priorities will change over time, these ten strategic emphases as you will are areas where I told them were areas where I hoped we at the System Office could focus and give priority in the next few months.
They include many areas that I have discussed with you previously, and areas which I hope to discuss more with you in the future. The ten areas I have identified and discussed with the System Office staff include the following:
l Foster “system simplification” and facilitate colleges to be nimble, effective, efficient, and accountable.
l Enhance completion rates and bridges between programs
l Foster opportunities and clearer pathways for low-income students
l Expand health care programs
l Reenergize technical education
l Develop stronger training infrastructure and focused partnerships to enhance economic development
l Support drop-out prevention efforts, and increase outreach, awareness and college-readiness of middle and high school students.
l Enhance 2+2 partnerships through distance education and provide focus to the strategic workforce areas of teachers, nurses, and engineers.
l Focus on the utility of technology to enhance student learning and customer service and promote economies of scale with our educational partners, and
l Foster community college champions throughout North Carolina and increase awareness of the value of our North Carolina Community College System
I shared with the System Office staff that when I returned to North Carolina many years ago and interviewed for the position I eventually held with the Department of Commerce, I had several interviews on one day that ended with Governor Hunt in his office. At each step along the way, I noticed a poster board in the office of each person I interviewed with that had Governor Hunt’s ten strategic priorities. That struck a chord with me, and I believe that focused prioritization was effective because it moved people as Governor Hunt would say to “get things done.”
The ten strategic emphases that I shared with the System Office staff and with you today are really just a starting point that will be massaged, fleshed out, and with feedback I am sure in some ways will change – but I share them as areas that as I start this position, I hope to focus with our System Office staff, and areas where I hope we can “get things done.”
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