Raleigh: "Given the financial constraints we are all confronted with, the strategy is we should present our total needs as they exist," said State Board Finance and Capital Needs Chair Herb Watkins before offering a consensus budget for State Board approval at the March 15 meeting.

The budget lists the priority items for the 2002-2003 Fiscal Year. Number one on the list is $46.5 million to fund the massive enrollment increase experienced at the community colleges. The North Carolina Community College System anticipates that by the end of the present fiscal year the System will have served more than 14,000 additional full-time equivalent (FTE) students over the budgeted enrollment funded by the 2001 Session of the General Assembly.

The vote came after a budget briefing on Thursday, March 14 where Kennon Briggs, Vice President for Business and Finance, gave the members a thorough explanation of the present fiscal situation. He suggested that if the dismal budget outlook proves a reality, the NCCCS could lose thousands of faculty positions. "Eighty to ninety percent of the budget is people," he told the group. "We have to put a face on the problem," he added.

Before the vote on Friday Watkins suggested to the group that the full needs of the community colleges must be known, even in the face of budget constraints. "People should understand the total picture."

In other action the State Board approved the appointment of System Executive Vice President Stephen Scott as seventh president of Lenoir Community College, effective April 22, 2002. Dr. Scott has been at the NCCCS for two and a half years. He had previously served as Southeastern Community College President for 11 years.

Grady Bethel, Lenoir CC Trustee Chair, told the State Board that Scott was the "unanimous choice from the beginning." Search Committee Chair Harry Williams detailed the lengthy process that led to the selection, and added, "We know we’ve got a great new president, someone who will give us great leadership."

Dr. Scott thanked Board members for the opportunity to work with them. "You are dedicated individuals who have a thankless job," he said. He expressed gratitude to the System Vice Presidents for their tremendous support and to System President H. Martin Lancaster for giving him the opportunity to work at the state level. "I’m looking forward to getting back on the campus where I’ll be at my best," he said.

-NCCCS-

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