Dr. R. Scott Ralls
Report to the
State Board of Community Colleges
Friday, June 20, 2008
One difference between working on a campus and here at the System Office is the cycle of activity in late May and June. On campus, these were days when we could briefly slow down and catch our breath. By contrast, this period at the System Office is one of the busier times of the year, particularly with our engagement with the General Assembly.
This past month was made uniquely busy by the reorganization changes we made, and again the System Office staff has proven to be a remarkably dedicated and resilient group. They take changes in stride and keep moving forward with a focus on supporting the colleges and serving our students.
Since the last meeting of the State Board, I have been particularly busy as result of a number of speaking opportunities throughout the state. Within our community college family, I met with the executive committee of the Community College Faculty Association, boards and leadership teams from Durham Tech, Forsyth Tech, and Guilford Tech, and participated in the Global Education Forum at Wilkes Community College and the 3-D Visualization announcement at Fayetteville Tech. I also had the chance to present on the impact and role of our community colleges to the Gaston, Charlotte, and Greenville/Pitt Chambers of Commerce, to the N.C. Economic Developers Association, the NC County Commissioners Executive Committee, the NC Chamber’s Manufacturing Summit and the Morehead City JobLink. I have also participated in several media interviews and panel discussions. Interest is high across the state in who we are and what we do for North Carolina.
On a college family note, Pamlico Community College lost Rufus Brinson, Jr., director of fire and rescue training and occupational health continuing education programs, when he collapsed and died June 6 at the end of a fire-training class on campus. At his funeral, Mr. Brinson, a nearly 10-year instructor at PCC, was honored by a procession of 35 fire and rescue vehicles from across Eastern North Carolina and by the attendance of firefighters from three states. In memory of his contribution to so many, PCC has named its fire school The Rufus E. Brinson, Jr. Fire Academy. Mr. Brinson’s legacy will also continue on July 7 when the first paramedic training classes, initiated by him, begin at PCC. We know he will be sorely missed by his family, his college family and the close-knit firefighter community in our state. Our deepest sympathies go out to them all.
As a teacher, I believed Mr. Brinson would have agreed that you learn as much about your subject through the experience of teaching as your students do. I found that years ago as a college statistics instructor, and I find that today as I prepare to talk to groups around the state about community colleges, and as I revisit places I haven’t been in many years. In my travels, I am continually amazed to learn about the innovative and remarkable ways community colleges in North Carolina are responding to meet community and statewide needs.
Last week, I was fortunate to represent Governor Easley when I presented along with James Blackwell, a recent Learn and Earn Early College graduate, to the selection committee of the Innovation in American Government Awards at Harvard. While I have been very involved in this initiative for a number of years, there were things I learned in preparing for the presentation that I did not realize, and I felt as though I needed to share them with you.
Did you know that in the last four years, there have been 42 Learn and Earn Early College High Schools initiated in North Carolina, 38 of them on our community college campuses? That means that today, 22% of all the Early College High Schools in the United States – programs championed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a cornerstone effort in addressing the issues of dropout prevention and college readiness – are located on North Carolina community college campuses.
Last year, these innovative schools served 5,183 students across North Carolina, and approximately 60% of the students were the first generation in their family to attend college. Traditionally, they would be thought of as high schoolers. But through Early College High Schools, they already are the first college attendees in their families. In this program, students enroll in the ninth grade at high schools located on our campuses and participate in rigorous high school curricula as well as take our colleges’ classes. With only one additional year after high school provided at state expense, they can complete either an associate’s degree or earn up to 24 hours of transferable college credit. To date, close to 50% of the Early College High Schools have had zero dropouts, and they had a 96% ninth-grade passage rate. I think you’ll agree that is impressive and a great step forward in addressing our state’s high drop-out rate.
Next school year, there will be 19 additional Early College High Schools started in the state, and again, the vast majority of those will be located on one of our campuses. I bring this to your attention today because often we hear about the significant problems we collectively face in education, but we don’t always hear about the solutions to address them. We also sometimes hear about things we are not doing. In this case we are doing something very remarkable, and it has happened on our college campuses in a short period of time without a great deal of notice or media attention.
In just a four-year period,, North Carolina has become an undisputed leader in a revolutionary new form of education that combines high school and college, that is a result of Governor Easley’s leadership, incredible partnership and collaboration between our state’s public schools community colleges and universities, and has been championed by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates and garnered the attention and accolades of Harvard University.
And again, for the most part, these achievements have taken place on our community college campuses. Something that I find extraordinary about North Carolina community colleges, is that extraordinary accomplishments can often become routine, and while there are many things that we can do better, this is a remarkable collective accomplishment that I felt should no longer go unnoticed.
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Tuesday, August 05, 2008 02:38:07 PM
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