RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2009
CONTACT: Megen George georgem@nccommunitycolleges.edu
PHONE: (919) 807-6962
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Randolph Community College President Robert Shackleford welcomes the State Board of Community Colleges to the Asheboro Campus. For more photos of the Board's visit, click here.
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ASHEBORO - The State Board of Community Colleges today gave final approval for the allocation of funds that would provide colleges with resources necessary to launch the JobsNOW: 12 in 6 Initiative. The initiative was requested by Governor Bev Perdue and developed by North Carolina Community Colleges and the NC Department of Commerce, targeting at least 12 career areas that a student could train for within six months.
“JobsNOW will give our citizens an extra hand in working toward new employment opportunities,” said Dr. Scott Ralls, president of the NC Community College System, in his President’s Report. “It will give our businesses the workforce they need to succeed, and it will offer our communities and their economies the boost of newly employed workers.”
The 12 career options fall within the areas of healthcare and technical education. The Finance Committee approved the allocation of $13.4 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to all 58 of the community colleges during its meeting on Thursday. The action received unanimous approval by the full board today. Working with local workforce development boards, community colleges across the state will begin next week developing plans for offering 12 in 6 programs specific to the employment needs of their respective service areas. Programs should begin in August or September.
Other information from the Finance and Capital Needs Committee included a report on the budget currently being developed by the General Assembly as well as an update on the current budget year situation. President Ralls and Jennifer Haygood, Vice President of Business and Finance, laid out the budget for the community colleges as proposed by the Senate.
In describing the budget process, Ralls likened it to a baseball game. “The Governor threw out the first pitch, and the first three innings were played in the Senate,” he said. “We’re now into the middle three innings waiting for the House to come to bat, and the last three innings will be played out in the conference committee. While we feel very good about where we are as a community college family, we’ve still got quite a few innings to go before we’ll know the outcome of the game.”
Haygood also discussed the additional budget restrictions announced last week that mean increased hiring, travel and expenditure constraints for both the community colleges and the system office.
“The system office will be treated like other state agencies and will receive a larger proportional budget reversion than the colleges,” she said.
When asked by board members how the system office was dealing with the reductions, Ralls added, “We’re doing just what the colleges are doing - more with less. But you should expect us to take a bigger hit because we know the impact that additional cuts would have on our students.”
The State Board officially took receipt of the study on the admissions of undocumented students conducted by JBL Associates of Bethesda, MD. Dr. Stuart Fountain, Policy Committee Chair, said, “The Policy Committee will be grappling with this over the next several months. With travel restrictions and two new committee members being added this summer, we’ll need some time to work through this lengthy document and process. After careful deliberation, we’ll bring our recommendations back to the board.”
Also on today’s agenda was the introduction of Dr. Kerry L. Youngblood, the new president at Carteret Community College. Youngblood, who took over the presidency following the retirement of Dr. Joseph Barwick, began his new role on March 2.
In other board news, Chair Hilda Pinnix-Ragland announced that the May board meeting would be held telephonically to help reduce costs. The Board does not meet in June, and because this was the last face-to-face meeting during this fiscal year, Pinnix-Ragland recognized the service of three long-time board members whose terms will expire on June 30. Dr. Bob H. Greene of Winston-Salem, Anne-Marie Knighton of Edenton and James W. Daniels of Asheville have 33 years of combined service to the State Board.
“We thank you for your distinguished service to the Board and our community colleges,” Pinnix-Ragland said. “Your leadership has been exemplary and very, very much appreciated.”
