President’s Report
to the
State Board of Community Colleges
November 16, 2007
With hardly time to catch my breath or wash my clothes after the
Japan trip reported on last month, I headed to New York for meetings
of the National Commission on Community Colleges and the Community
College Advisory Panel of the College Board. I am pleased with the
work of the Commission and believe that its recommendations will
create a platform for meaningful conversation with policy makers in
North Carolina and across the country. It is my hope that I will be
able to set up several editorial boards with newspapers across the
state to talk about the recommendations and to use this as a vehicle
for expressing my thoughts about the future of community colleges as
I retire.
I flew directly from New York City to Bangkok, Thailand, on a
17-hour non-stop flight. A team of community college leaders from
North Carolina (Keith Stewart, a trustee from Wayne Community
College), Illinois, Missouri, New York, and Florida conducted
workshops on the role of trustees in the governance of the new
community colleges in that country. Incredible progress has been
made in Thailand since my last visit several years ago. Nineteen
colleges now exist with enrollment of more than 35,000 students.
When Governor Jim Hunt and I visited Thailand in 2000, they had no
community colleges. They have embraced the North Carolina model
completely and have developed colleges of significant quality and
community impact. I will retire with great satisfaction from my role
in this effort. In the process of conducting these workshops, we
visited four community colleges from the Burmese border to the
Laotian border to the Malaysian border.
When I arrived back in the office, the New Presidents Orientation
was already underway. Richard Sullins and a number of our staff
conducted an excellent three-day program which received rave reviews
from the eight new presidents who attended, six of whom are women!
It is interesting to note that since I took office on July 1, 1997,
this Board has approved 53 new presidents.
We received a visit from the Government Accounting Office, the
investigative arm of Congress, looking at the Workforce Investment
Act, other worker training programs, accountability, and impediments
to worker training.
We continue to explore the acquisition and implementation of the 3D
technology, which I have reported on to you before. Fayetteville
Technical Community College and Dr. Larry Keen will take the lead in
this initiative.
Last week I participated in the long-range planning effort of
UNC-General Administration called “UNC Tomorrow.” This ambitious
undertaking has resulted in listening sessions across the state with
more than 2,500 people participating. We were pleased that at many
of these listening sessions the cooperation and collaboration
between community colleges and universities were praised and
encouraged. There was also significant input with regard to the
challenges of allied health careers education and the need for the
university to produce more instructors.
Dr. David Batts of East Carolina University came to report on the
expansion of East Carolina’s applied science programs which enable
graduates of our applied science degree programs to obtain
technology degrees from East Carolina University. These programs
have been so popular that East Carolina is considering capping the
enrollment. We hope that that will not be the case as this is an
important way to increase North Carolina’s college graduate
percentages.
Alice and I attended the dinner hosted by the UNC Board of Governors
at which the University Award was presented to former Board of
Governor Chairman and gubernatorial senior staff member, Ben Ruffin.
Ben died almost a year ago, so this award was presented
posthumously.
Also last week, I attended the inauguration of President Michael
Clyburn at Louisburg College, the last private two-year college in
North Carolina.
On Saturday, I spoke at the Campus Compact State Conference at East
Carolina University. I have referenced this Compact before. It is an
effort to engage more colleges, and thus more students, in service
learning.
This week I was to have given the keynote speech at the World View
Community College Globalization Conference. Because of a really
nasty cold, I attended and answered questions, but Chancy Kapp had
to deliver my remarks. Dr. Delores Parker moderated a panel.
Approximately 350 participants from 40 colleges benefited from this
excellent UNC-Chapel Hill program.
This week the Advisory Group which reviews Duke Energy economic
development grants met.
GlaxoSmithKline has recognized the important work of Cleveland
Lewis, our Regional Training Director, who has worked closely with
them in workforce development. Also receiving recognition on this
occasion was Wake Technical Community College and its President, Dr.
Steve Scott.
For the first time our Small Business Center Network and the Small
Business Technology and Development Centers of the University System
collaborated on a professional development conference in New Bern.
It is good to see these organizations working together instead of
fiercely competing.
Five additional Career Readiness Certificate sites have been
approved, bringing the total to 41 sites. I am pleased that more
than 9,000 credentials have been issued.
With the completion of training and consulting for Phase 2 colleges
and all of them having “gone live,” we can now predict that our CIS
implementation will be completed by the end of this year. The
Release 18 Migration Project is completing the “roll-out” of the CIS
software, with the last four colleges in their final migration at
this time.
Dr. Saundra Williams and Dr. Delores Parker spoke at the North
Carolina State Chapter on Black American Affairs 20th Anniversary
celebration. Dr. Parker also spoke at the University of Texas on
staff and professional development.
As you know, funds come to us for reimbursement of college expenses
for “Learn & Earn – On-Line.” Kennon Briggs and his staff have been
hard at work making these first reimbursements.
We are pleased that this meeting resulted in your approval of the
facilities and equipment grants funded by the recent legislative
session. With only $15 million to distribute, only about half of the
funding requests could be honored. Sharon Rosado and her team did an
excellent job.
Sharon and Tom Hunter continue to work with colleges on their Master
Facility Planning processes.
Renee Batts, Health Sciences Coordinator, is participating in an
Associate Degree Nursing Discussion Group facilitated by the Center
for Nursing to look at success factors with regard to retention,
graduation, and successful passage of the National Council Licensure
Exam.
Jessica Ray, a second year Associate Degree Nursing student at
Gaston College, received The Judith Mann Nursing Scholarship. This
scholarship was established by the Associate Degree Nursing Council
and named in honor of our Associate Vice President.
Now that all of the business functions through CIS are fully
implemented, we are beginning to use this system for academic
purposes. Kimberly Pearce of the System Office and Rhia Crawford
from Mayland Community College provided training to 143 staff
members from 54 colleges on the use of CIS in curriculum programs
and curriculum common course libraries.
Antonio Jordan hosted North Carolina Information Highway sessions
explaining the new Cooperative Innovative Programs Procedures
Manual.
Joanne Steiner, Linwood Powell, David Sullivan and Richard Sullins
met with the NC Association of Community College Trustees Executive
Committee to discuss new policies with regard to the internal audit
controls mandated by the State Auditor.
Fred Williams and Renee Batts attended the dedication of the Kidney
Outreach Program’s mobile unit in Chapel Hill. This is a
collaborative program we have undertaken with the UNC Kidney Center
in an effort to combat kidney disease in North Carolina.
Unfortunately, North Carolina ranks ninth in the rate of end-stage
renal disease.
I am now less than six months from my retirement. There does not
appear to be any letup in the activities of your staff or me in
these final months. I solicit your continued support in these
concluding months.
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