President’s Report
To the
State Board of Community Colleges
May 20, 2005
As always, our Academic Excellence Award Luncheon was the highlight of the year. Celebrating the success of 116 of our best and brightest is always a treat. This year was no exception. We sincerely appreciate the leadership of Dr. Gordon Burns and the NC Association of Community College Presidents in hosting this wonderful event.
The legislative process continues towards its conclusion, with the Senate having adopted one of the best community college budgets we have seen from the Senate in my eight years. We were pleased that our top priorities were funded (enrollment growth, faculty and professional staff salaries increases, $10 million additional equipment funding, three additional positions for the System Office in critical areas, $1 million in Small Business Center Network funding, the adoption of the Customized Industrial Training initiative with $3 million in funding, and full funding of the continuation of the BioNetwork initiative). We are now working on an additional System Office position (a coordinator for fire, rescue and law enforcement training), distance learning education, and resumption of off-campus center funding. I appreciate those of you who made legislative calls yesterday and for your continuing support of our legislative agenda. These visits reinforced the many individual appointments the Presidents, staff, and I have had with members of the General Assembly all session.
Speaking of biotechnology, since our last meeting I have participated in the grand opening of the Robeson Community College Agricultural Biotechnology Center and appeared with Joanne Steiner, Senator Martin Nesbitt, and Representative Bill McGee on OPEN/Net talking about our BioNetwork. Also, just this week, Susan Seymour gave a magnificent presentation to the One North Carolina Committee of the Senate. On Wednesday night I participated in a high level, confidential biotechnology industry recruitment dinner.
We continue to work through our proposal to respond to the request of superintendents and principals for additional help in the preparation of teachers through lateral entry. Following a committee hearing on this issue at which Dr. Katherine Boswell of the Education Commission of the States and the University of Texas testified, the committee almost unanimously endorsed the legislation. It has run into a buzz saw from public and private colleges and universities and is now back in committee for further consideration. We have stated that this is a response on our part to requests from LEAs and not an attempt on our part to build a program not requested. Another version has now passed the House Education Committee which is not as favorable to us as the first version, but I hope we can make it work.
Excellent curriculum demonstrations have been offered in the Legislative Building since our last meeting, including programs of Wake Technical Community College, Sampson Community College, Catawba Valley Community College, Caldwell Community College, Carteret Community College, Stanly Community College, and Fayetteville Technical Community College.
The North Carolina Rural Center convened a comprehensive study of rural dislocated workers’ training and retraining needs. An excellent report was released at the end of April which we hope will be the basis for expansions of our training and retraining efforts, especially in entrepreneurial education.
We hosted a daylong meeting of workforce and economic development leadership of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Dr. Larry Keen and his staff did a wonderful job in organizing this visit. I believe that the Kentucky folks went home really impressed with what we are doing.
The faculty of the Department of Adult and Community College Education at North Carolina State University met with your leadership to explore ways that their program could be of greater support to our System and the System Office. We hope that frank discussions with them will lead to a higher level of service and a greater commitment to community college education and leadership in the years ahead.
Alice and I hosted a dinner of leadership professionals at the Department of Public Instruction, the University of North Carolina, the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, and our System. Very valuable, informal discussions are held at these dinners which are periodically hosted by the agency heads.
I met with North Carolina State leaders interested in expanding the collaboration between the marine science programs offered by Duke University, NC State University, and UNC-Chapel Hill in Carteret County. It is hoped that those programs, our program, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the North Carolina Marine Fisheries will be able to create strong initiatives in research and workforce development which will be world-class and very beneficial to the economy of Coastal North Carolina.
This week several of us met with the State Board of Nursing as we move forward in addressing their concerns about faculty credentials and accreditation for the future. Our presidents are greatly concerned about the significant increase in resources that will be needed to comply with their proposals. There is a ten-year lead-time on complying and we will all have to redouble our efforts to obtain the necessary resources if these new rules are adopted.
Also this week we met to allocate resources from the Duke Energy Foundation, which we do periodically. This commitment of Duke resources is proving to be very popular with our colleges in meeting a significant need.
Several of us met this week with representatives of Collegis to discuss the use of their technology in instruction.
Your senior staff was much involved in the Spring Conference of Presidents hosted by President Phail Wynn and Durham Technical Community College in the Research Triangle Park. Issues important to all of us were on the agenda.
Fred Williams has had a busy month with significant travel involved. He represented the System Office at the dedication of the new continuing education facility at Robeson Community College and at a special SACS visit to Haywood Community College.
Dr. Larry Keen, Dr. Stephanie Deese, and Barbara Boyce were presenters at the National ACT Conference in Chicago. The Career Readiness Certification program which they presented is an exciting opportunity for our colleges to provide a portable credential for workers in North Carolina. These three people have assumed national leadership roles in this effort.
Willa Dickens has recently returned from Thailand where she and three of our Small Business Center directors provided training for their Thai Small Business Center counterparts in the new Thailand Community College System.
The CIS project continues to make progress under Dr. Saundra Williams’ leadership. At the April meeting of the Presidents Association, important discussions took place between our staff and the presidents about the further implementation of this system.
Bill Randall has learned that he will be participating in the Southern Regional Education Board sponsored electronic Learning Management System (RFP) Development and Evaluation Project. This is to update the present RFP established several years ago.
Dr. Williams, Bob Blackmun, Larry Butts, and Jim Clark participated in the NC Information Technology Security Conference that focused on laws, privacy issues and risk management as they relate to information security.
Kennon Briggs and his staff have been busy responding to legislative inquiries and actions with regard to the budget. As always, he has done a wonderful job keeping you and our colleges informed.
Annette Dishner has prepared a comprehensive set of “close-out” instructions as we bring the fiscal year to a close. This has been a much better year for our colleges, as reversions were limited to 2 percent and cash flow has not been an issue.
Larry Morgan directed the Spring Finance Conference hosted by the System Office at which 300 business office staff attended sessions offered by our office, SACS, the State Auditor, the State Treasurer, the State Energy Office, and others. The banquet speaker was our new State Auditor, Leslie Merritt.
Larry has announced his retirement after 38 years of state and military service, 35 years which have been spent with the System Office. We will miss his faithful and dedicated service, but hope that we will be able to involve him as a part-time employee for at least some period of time.
Sharon Rosado has been named the Director of Administrative and Facility Services. She replaces Phil Albano in that capacity.
Dr. Randy Whitfield, the Associate Vice President for Basic Skills, and a GED student at Rockingham Community College were featured in a nationwide National Public Radio broadcast on May 3.
Representatives from 29 community-based literacy organizations attended a Directors’ Institute at the System Office.
We hosted a very successful Minority Male Mentoring Project Best Practices Conference in High Point, which was attended by 260 participants. This is an incredibly important and successful program funded by a grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission. We regret that those grant funds are expiring. We hope that not only will these colleges continue this important program, but that others will do so as well.
The College Transfer Program Association has proposed the development of a Transfer Core Diploma, which will assist in the transfer of our students to colleges and universities prior to completing the associate degree. Following feedback from the Instructional Administrators, the Presidents Association, and the Transfer Advisory Committee, we are moving forward towards its implementation.
Fred Williams, Dr. Delores Parker, and other System Office staff are working with the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on collaborative programs. Subcommittees are hard at work developing a program.
Between now and our next meeting in July, we hope the General Assembly will complete its work. Please continue your good work with members of the General Assembly to ensure that the best possible outcome will be achieved for our appropriations and non-appropriations issues.
It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge that this is the last meeting before the election of a new chairman. Chairman James Woody has provided effective and strong leadership for this Board and distinguished himself as an articulate advocate. We will miss him and wish him well.
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