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| For Release: IMMEDIATE | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: August 19, 2005 | (919) 807-6963 |
Industry training a tremendous success for community colleges
RALEIGH – North Carolina’s community colleges support the economic development of the State by providing education and training for new and expanding businesses. The State Board of Community Colleges heard a report today (August 19) that shows the New and Expanding Industry Training (NEIT) Program is the cornerstone of that support and provides a strong incentive for business location and expansion. The State Board heard about the success and the growth the program has experienced over the last year.
"We are on the upswing in our industry training," said Dr. Larry Keen, Economic and Workforce Development Vice President at the System Office. Keen presented a comprehensive report that shows the number of NEIT projects increased from 121 in 2004 to 164 in 2005. The number of trainees increased from 10,117 in 2004 to 12,398 in 2005. An interesting trend is the drastic increase in new verses expanding businesses that were served. Last year, 38 new and 83 expanding businesses received training.
This year the new businesses served almost doubled to 70 and there were 94 expanding businesses served. Industry satisfaction with training provided was high regarding expectations (98%), impact (91%), and effectiveness (93%).
Dr. Keen highlighted one of the most important aspects of the program. NEIT is most active in the rural parts of North Carolina. Seventy-one percent of the training involved projects located in rural counties. Fifty-seven percent of trainees were in rural counties. Expenditures were about 50-50, with 51% spent on rural projects and 49% in urban counties.
The Board expressed its gratitude to the General Assembly for one of the best budgets in community college history. They approved several policy items related to the 2005 Appropriations Act. These items include:
- Salary increases for community college faculty and professional staff
- A new salary plan to incorporate salary increases for community college employees paid from State funds.
- Salary schedule improvements for community college presidents
- Allocation of $1 million appropriated for Small Business Centers
- An Enrollment Reserve Fund that will assist colleges that experience enrollment growth in the Fall Semester that exceeds 5% over the previous year
- Implementation of a new Customized Industry Training program
- Oversight of specific special allocations to individual community colleges
The Board also elected to withhold from any community college president, whose college is under investigation by either a federal or state agency, any salary increase appropriate for fiscal year 2005-06, until all issues surrounding the investigation have been resolved. The authority for this action comes from the North Carolina Administrative Code.
The Finance and Capital Needs Committee will work on the detailed budget for the individual colleges at a special called meeting on August 31.
In other action the Board:
- Approved an Agricultural Biotechnology program at Southeastern
Community College, the first such program in the NC Community College System.
- Welcomed Dr. Steven Greiner, who assumed the post as president
of Brunswick Community College on July 18. Greiner was previously the president
of Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, VA. He succeeds Dr. Michael Reaves,
who retired after serving as the college's second president since 1987.
- Welcomed Dr. Donald Stanton, who began as interim president at Haywood Community College on July 1. He retired as president of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta in 1999. He replaced Dr. Nathan Hodges who left to take a presidential position at a college outside North Carolina.
- NCCCS-
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