The President's Report
to the
State Board of Community Colleges
November 20, 1998
Since we last met the Legislature
finally went home. Though we did not receive nearly what we need or what
we requested, most would characterize the Short Session as having been good to
us. The total new money received is $67.3 million, more than has been
received in almost any year in recent memory. Of that amount, the big
items within our request are a $21 million nonreverting equipment reserve, $9
million additional dollars in nonrecurring equipment funds and books, and $10
million for technology support. The latter appropriation will allow us to
add a significant number of new technology positions in the System Office and
across the system and add a modest sum to the "other cost" item which has not
been increased since 1985. When all sources of funds are added together we
will have $47.1 million available for equipment purchases, about one-third of
what we requested. We were very pleased that the General Assembly
recognized the concept of multi-campus funding with an appropriation of
$650,000. This will allow us to give to each campus the sum of $52,000 if
it has been in operation for at least a full year or half that amount if it has
been in operation for six months. We were very disappointed that we did
not receive additional funds for Occupational Extension or for repairs and
renovation. We will continue to request funds for our important priorities
that were unfunded or under-funded in this session and hope that we will have a
better reception next year.
I have just returned from eleven days in China with the
Governor, so much of the time since our last meeting was taken up with that trip
or preparation for it. It was a successful trip from the state's
prospective. We met with several companies who are considering investing
in new plants in North Carolina which will require job training and the Chinese
were very interested in our worker training and retraining programs. I
believe two delegations from there will visit us in the spring to see how we do
what we do.
I have met with the Johnston Community College Board of Trustees on their presidential selection and have done the research for the assessment of the finalists at Vance-Granville Community College. Finalists have also been chosen at Carteret and at the College of The Albemarle, but the assessments have not yet been done. They will be on our agenda at our next meeting. We have also just received notice of President Doug Kearney's retirement from his position at Pamlico Community College.
Chairman Wicker, Greg Poole and I
continue to have remarkable success in recruiting excellent candidates for the
Foundation Board. We hope to have an announcement made in early December
of the full Board. The quality of those who have accepted our invitation
will make a significant statement of support for our System, even if we do not
raise a single penny in our solicitations. Greg Poole was a wonderful
choice and is proving that over and over again everyday.
The vice presidents and I met with the community college presidents at
their fall meeting in Hickory and had full and frank discussions on a wide range
of issues including the need for salary increases for all of our personnel and
the concerns of some presidents with our Foundation initiative.
The conference co-sponsored by our System, Wake Technical Community College, and North Carolina State University on the future of science and math education was a great success. It was well attended by faculty and staff from community colleges, universities, and private four-year institutions.
In our continuing efforts to work closely with the public schools, I attended, as did Donny Hunter, the School Improvement Panel fall retreat.
Congressman David Price scheduled a
meeting for community college and private college presidents and university
chancellors with U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley during his recent
visit to North Carolina. A wide range of higher education funding and
policy issues were discussed.
During an excellent visit to Nash Community College, I
spoke at the Rocky Mount Kiwanis Club and learned a great deal about the
excellent facilities and programs of Nash Community College. They are
really ‘going to town' on their new building!
I gave the keynote address at the Alliance for Educational Development and
Collaboration, a continuing education initiative of East Carolina University
organized in collaboration with community colleges and businesses in their
service area. Though there were not a lot of people present, it was an
excellent beginning of an important initiative.
Alice and I hosted in our home President Molly Broad,
Superintendent Mike Ward, Dr. Hope Williams, and senior staff from each of these
educational groups. In addition to building relationships, these dinners
have been excellent venues for substantive discussions from which further
cooperation and collaboration always follows.
On a recent visit to Washington, DC, I met with Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Assistant Secretary Jill Long Thompson and General Counsel Charlie Rawls to discuss North Carolina applications for Rural Economic Empowerment Zone grants. Our pitch on these grant applications and the important role of community colleges in the implementation of the proposed programs was well received. We have our fingers crossed for success in the grant application process.
Many of you attended yesterday's
excellent Day of Recognition at which retirees and award winners were honored.
Next year we may even have money to pay for this event! We were also proud
to have Dayle Bailey of Richmond Community College to be named the National
Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year.
Since my last report other members of the staff have also been involved in
numerous activities. Several members of the staff went through the
approved Budget Bill--all 359 pages of it-- searching for items that will have
impact on our System. We will be summarizing and tracking these items
throughout the coming months.
I have periodically reported about our ongoing meetings with NC State University. One of the latest initiatives takes the collaboration discussions from Raleigh to other regions of the State. Last week members of our staff, working with NC State officials, led a one-day conference at Haywood Community College's Regional High Tech Center. The conference brought together leaders from Haywood, Southwestern, and Tri-County Community Colleges along with local representatives from NC State's Industrial and Cooperative Extension Units. The conference focused on a discussion of opportunities for strengthening the capability of our colleges and NC State's Extension efforts by working collaboratively where possible.
We were delighted to learn that Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has recently been named a Regional Technical Training Center by Nissan Motor Corporation. This is the only Nissan Training site between Washington, DC and Atlanta. Last week Barry Russell participated in a vehicle acceptance ceremony on the campus at Rowan-Cabarrus. The ceremony was to announce and celebrate the donation of six Nissan vehicles to the college to assist in their training efforts.
For the third time in four months the Division of Business and Finance hurriedly responded to legislative enactment of appropriations measures by disseminating expansion budget allocations within just a few days of approval. The Division has spent considerable time responding to inquiries from colleges about the use of expansion funds for salary increases, technology, and equipment. Division staff have also been involved in helping colleges maximize opportunities to use the new flexibilities in purchasing and sale and lease of property which were provided through recently enacted legislation. Vice President Briggs reports that the state auditors have arrived for their annual visit but no problems are anticipated.
Staff in the Academic and Student Services Division have been equally busy. Recent activities have included participation in the Future Search Conference at the BioTech Center, participation in the National Tech Prep Network Conference held in Kansas City, hosting the first GIS Advisory Board meeting, and meeting with regional representatives from BellSouth on implementing the telecommunications training initiative in which nine of our colleges will participate. Dr. Johns is not able to be with us at the Board meeting today because she is representing the System at a Counselor Workshop on the UNC-Charlotte campus.
From the Division of Administration, Dr. Rogers has notified the presidents of the Board approved plan for improving reporting. Full implementation of this plan will begin in January and a summary report will be submitted to the Policy Committee in June. Regional workshops are being held across the state to discuss the plan and its implementation. We are continuing to make progress on planning for a new administrative information system for the future. The project management team, consisting of college representatives and system office staff, met last week to work on the request for bids for the system. The project is on schedule to meet the February 1 reporting deadline required by the legislative special provision.
I mentioned last month that we held an employee appreciation event. I failed to let you know, however, that the two employee's who received Presidential Awards were Keith Brown, Associate Vice President for Planning and Research and Lynda Wilkins, Coordinator for Special Workforce Initiatives. Keith Brown was our nominee for the Governor's Award. We regret to inform you that Linda Douglas, our Public Information Director, has accepted a similar job at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and will be leaving us at the end of the month. The very favorable publicity we have received in recent months has been the result of her hard work. She will be greatly missed.
It is also important to note the resignation of Rachel Smith. She has been an excellent board member and has been an outstanding chairperson of the Small Business Advisory Network. We are pleased that she will continue to serve in that capacity.
Since this is our last meeting before the holidays, Alice and I wish to extend our holiday greetings and thanks for your support in the past year.
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