| For Release: IMMEDIATE | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: December 21, 2007 |
Telephone: (919) 807-6964 |
Top ten community college news stories in North
Carolina in 2007
The Public Affairs Office of the North Carolina Community College
System has selected the following stories as the "Top Ten" news
items from the community college system in 2007. For more
information about a particular story, contact the Public Affairs
office at the number above.
1. Changing of the Guard at North Carolina’s community colleges. In March, H. Martin Lancaster, president, North Carolina Community College System since 1997, announced his plans to retire on May 1, 2008. After an eight-month search that considered candidates from across the nation, the State Board of Community Colleges on December 6 selected Dr. Scott Ralls, the president of Craven Community College in New Bern as President Lancaster’s successor. Dr. Ralls, who served as vice president for economic and workforce development with the System Office before going to Craven Community College, is a native North Carolinian with degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland. He will become the system president on May 1, 2008. The year also saw a record number of changes among individual community college presidents, as many veteran leaders retired or moved on to other jobs. For more information, http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/News_Releases/scott_ralls_new_system_president.htm
2. Dr. Dallas Herring, father of the North Carolina Community
College System, passes away. In January 2006, Dr. Dallas Herring
passed away. The Duplin County native was chair of the State Board
of Education from 1957 to 1977. During that time, he worked with
Governors Luther Hodges and Terry Sanford to establish the North
Carolina Community College System. For more information, see
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/Connections/ccnews044.pdf
3. Community colleges clarify admission policy on undocumented
students. In November, David Sullivan, assistant to the
president for legal affairs, issued a “Numbered Memo” clarifying the
System's policy of enrollment of undocumented individuals in
curriculum (for-credit) programs. For several years, each of the
System's 58 community colleges had discretion in decisions about
enrollment. At the time of the memo, about 35 permitted enrollment.
After careful study of North Carolina's law and Administrative Code
and State Board policy, Sullivan concluded that individual
institutions could not bar students on non-academic criteria and
extended the enrollment system-wide. Undocumented students in
curriculum courses must pay out-of-state tuition, with some
exceptions as details in the memo. The full text of the memo, a
public record, is posted on the website for the System Office at
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/Numbered_Memos/docs/MemosFor2007/cc07-275.pdf
and also President Lancaster’s statement on the policy is posted at
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/News_Releases/Statement_Undocumented.htm
4. Crystal Lee Sutton, labor union activist and inspiration
behind the Academy-Award winning movie “Norma Rae,” donates her
papers to Alamance Community College. In July, Alamance
Community College announced that Sutton, whose efforts to unionize
mills inspired the Sally Field character in the movie, “Norma Rae,”
donated her papers to the college. Field won an Academy Award for
that role in 1979. For more information, check this link
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/News_Releases/norma_rae.htm
5. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke praises North Carolina’s
community colleges. During a November speech at the Charlotte
Chamber of Commerce, Bernanke had high praise for community colleges
education and singled out the efforts of North Carolina’s community
colleges in training and retraining the state’s workers. For more
information, see Bernanke’s remarks at
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20071129a.htm
6. New and Expanding Industry Training Program (NEIT) continues
to grow. NEIT provides free customized training to qualified
companies adding at least 12 jobs. This year, the program worked on
208 projects and trained 19,380 workers. According to Willa Dickens,
vice president for economic and workforce development, System
Office, the system has committed “more than $4 million to efforts
that have the potential to add hundreds of jobs all over North
Carolina.” For more information, see
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/Business_and_Industry/neit.htm
and
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/News_Releases/NEITgrowth.htm
Note: this is just one of many programs available through the North
Carolina Community College System. For more information, see
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/businessEducationAndTraining.htm
7. The BioNetwork Capstone Center opens in September. The
North Carolina Community College System has a new world-class,
state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical training facility. The BioNetwork
Capstone Center has moved into the Golden LEAF BTEC building on
North Carolina State University’s Centennial campus. The BTEC (Biomanufacturing
Training & Education Center) is an 82,500-square-foot shared
facility with industry-scale equipment that enables the seasoned
Capstone Center staff to be able to offer unrivalled hands-on
training. They will train second-year biotechnology community
college students as well as offer courses to upgrade the skills of
industry employees or cross- train them. The Community College
System will share the facility - the largest of its kind in the
world - with NC State University. With 10,000 square feet of
dedicated community college clean room space, the BTEC will serve
2,000 students annually when fully operational. For more
information, see http://www.ncbionetwork.org/
8. Innovative transfer partnerships are booming across North
Carolina. Building on ten years of success with the
Comprehensive Articulation Agreement, community colleges this year
announced innovate new partnerships for college transfer with public
and private universities, including the "Western 2Step" with Western
Carolina University and extensive programs to transfer technical
degrees. For more information, see
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/Connections/ccnews047.pdf
9. Community college staff writer pens book on women in Iraq War.
Kirsten Holmstedt, staff writer at Coastal Carolina Community
College in Jacksonville, published the best-selling book Band of
Sisters this year. The book, which has been featured on C-Span
and on a recent cover of American Heritage magazine, details the
lives of women in military service in Iraq. For more information,
check this link http://www.bandofsistersbook.com/
10. Learn and Earn online latest entry in fast-growing distance
learning in community colleges. Governor Easley’s Learn and Earn
program is developing quite a following at community colleges. For
more information, see
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/News_Releases/LearnEarnNov07.htm
The North Carolina Community
College System enrolls more than 800,000 students in 58
comprehensive community colleges. Internationally recognized for the
scope and quality of its programs, the System is North Carolina's
primary provider of workforce preparation and adult education. For
details, visit
www.nccommunitycolleges.edu.
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