Retirement times two

RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2007

CONTACT: Audrey Bailey, (919) 807- 6963

Community College System President announces retirement

Executive vice president also sets departure date

RALEIGH –State Board of Community Colleges received a one-two punch at its meeting today. North Carolina Community College System President H. Martin Lancaster announced he will retire on May 1, 2008. Also, the number two man in the System Office, Fred Williams, the executive vice president and chief operating officer, announced his September 1, 2007 retirement. In detailing the decisions, President Lancaster explained there is a reason for the staggered retirement schedule.

“There comes a time for Fred and me to ride off into the sunset,” said Lancaster. He added the staggered schedule offers an opportunity that would prove advantageous to the System. The plan would have the Board select a president-elect who would begin service in the System Office on September 1 as chief operating officer until May 2008, when President Lancaster retires. “This will provide transition for the new president and allow that person to get to know the executive staff and make decisions regarding their future,” said Lancaster.

Lancaster explained that when Williams was recruited to the System Office in 2002 from Robeson Community College where he was president, it was with the knowledge that he would retire September 2007. At that time, Lancaster had plans to leave May 1, 2007, thereby giving the new president transition time while Williams was still around. Lancaster subsequently decided to stay a while longer, but that did not change Williams’ desire to leave. Together, they devised the reverse transition proposal that the Board approved this morning.

In explaining his decision to retire, Williams praised the System. “I’m not sure that the citizens understand the magnitude of this System,” said Williams. “The changes made in students’ lives are just untold.” He thanked the Board for giving him the opportunity to work at the System Office level.

Several Board members offered words of praise for Lancaster and Williams. It began with Chairperson Hilda Pinnix-Ragland praising Williams’ leadership and integrity. “He will go down in history as one of the best.” She complimented Lancaster on his successful expansion of the System and the global impact he has made. “I first met President Lancaster on a bus in South America during an economic recruitment trip.”

Dr. Bob H. Greene, past president of Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, said he has worked with every president of the System, but that Lancaster was “head and shoulders above all the rest.”

After Board acceptance of the resignation letters and approval of the transition plan, the Chair appointed a committee to conduct the search for the new president-elect and chief operating officer. Herbert L. Watkins will chair and Norma B. Turnage is vice chair of the committee. Members are Dr. Greene, G. Gordon "Buddy" Greenwood; Anne-Marie Knighton, Dr. Linwood Powell, John Q. Shaw, and student member, Bently Pagura. Richard Sullins executive director of the State Board, and David Sullivan, System legal counsel, were assigned as staff support.

The State Board meeting began with the oath of office being administered to the new member. The North Carolina Comprehensive Community College Student Government Association (N4CSGA) President, Bently Pagura, a student at Alamance Community College, took the oath with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, at his side. Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Edmunds administered the oath. (left)

The State Board approved proposed changes in Performance Funding Measures and Standards that will have to be approved by the General Assembly to become effective. The measures and standards are used to provide accountability to the General Assembly. Colleges are also rewarded for superior performance based on these performance indicators. The new plan eliminates some funding measures and changes the standard grade for others.

Keith Brown, associate vice president for planning, accountability, research & evaluation, told the Board that the modifications include a change in terminology. Instead of a “superior” designation, colleges exceeding standards would be termed “exceptional.” He told the Board to expect a reduction in the number of colleges achieving that exceptional status. This year 36 colleges were rated superior; he predicted a 50% drop for next year. “This will not be a drop in college performance, but an indication that we have raised the bar,” he said. Kennon Briggs, vice president for business and finance, added the new rules will allow the withholding the exceptional status funding for any college under investigation by a federal or state agency, or if performance does not meet standards established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), State Auditor’s Officer of the State Board.

The Board also approved an amendment to its Bylaws adding an Accountability and Audit Committee to the list of Standing Committees. Chair Pinnix-Ragland named Shaw as chair and Knighton as vice chair. Members are Nancy Brenner, James W. Daniels, Rai Glover, Dr. Greene, and G. Gordon “Buddy” Greenwood. The panel is responsible for ensuring that the finances of the System are well documented and accounted for. She also took the opportunity to praise Briggs and his business and finance staff for the two clean financial audits of System financial records and procedures that were conducted by the Office of the State Auditor. “There were no audit exceptions - none, zero, zip,” she said.

-NCCCS-

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