Community colleges are stepping stones, training schools, economic engines and a vital part of every community in this state.
There are 58 community colleges across the state of North Carolina, each working to provide a high quality education to high school students, non-traditional students and others preparing to go on to universities. Community colleges give our citizens the chance to attend a college closer to their homes and a chance to improve their standards of living. Community college graduates earn about $250,000 dollars more than a high school graduate over their lifetime. These institutions bring our communities closer together and train employees for our workforce.
Our community colleges are internationally renowned for the scope and quality of their programs and are the main source of workforce preparation and adult education in our state. In keeping with our commitment to education, my colleagues and I have worked hard this session to support community colleges with more money, improved facilities and equipment and programs that will help North Carolinians.
Please contact me if I can be of assistance or can provide any additional information. Thank you for your interest and support.
Enrollment Growth
Enrollment at our community colleges increased 1.2 percent during the past year, bringing the total number of students to more than 195,300. We appropriated a recurring sum of $3.3 million to help deal with this enrollment growth.
An additional $2 million was set aside for the Enrollment Growth Reserve to help those community colleges that have high growth in the fall semester. The reserve is intended for community colleges that have an enrollment increase of more than 5 percent over the previous fall semester.
Financial Aid
This session my colleagues and I helped create the Education Access Rewards North Carolina, or EARN, Scholars program by setting aside $127 million for it over the next two years. This program will give more North Carolinians access to higher education by providing $4,000 grants each year to the 25,000 community college and University of North Carolina system students with the greatest financial need. All North Carolinians with family incomes of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for the program. We are extremely proud of this program because if makes the dream of attending school, from pre-kindergarten all the way through college, a reality for all of our citizens. Students can now focus on their studies without worrying about finding money to pay for college and will be able to graduate with a bachelor’s degree without any debt.
Salaries
We gave university and community college faculty and professional staff a 5 percent pay raise so that we can attract the best educators for our students.
Allied Health
The General Assembly appropriated $5.6 million to support the allied health programs at our community colleges. This funding can be used for equipment, supplies or faculty salaries and will recur each year.
Distance Learning
Our community colleges strive to accommodate all students who desire a college education. The distance learning programs facilitate students who cannot physically attend classes on campus. We appropriated a recurring sum of $3.8 million to increase community college bandwidth. This will greatly improve connectivity and expand the distance learning initiatives. We also appropriated $261,700 for three staffers who will help our community colleges with distance learning and technical support.
My colleagues and I set aside $595,000 for Virtual Learning Centers. These centers help develop and improve online courses. They can revolutionize the way our students learn.
North Carolina State University’s Virtual Computing lab will soon have 100 seats dedicated for community college students. This year we appropriated $631,000 to provide state-of-the-art computing services for these students.
Equipment and Facilities
The General Assembly set aside $10 million to provide instructional equipment at all 58 community colleges.
A $100,000 fund will be used to support multi-campus centers. Multi-campus centers are satellite campuses for four-year universities that provide a low-cost way for students to earn degrees in their communities. The State Board of Community Colleges has approved the 24th multi-campus center to be housed in Ashe County at Wilkes Community College.
Programs
Fayetteville Tech, Craven Community College, Coastal Community College and Wayne Community College work together to operate the NC Military Business Center. NCMBC helps develop businesses spawned by the state’s military bases. We appropriated $1.25 million to operate the center and the state website, www.matchforce.org. The website matches state businesses with federal contracts.
The General Assembly has set aside $475,000 to expand the Male Minority Mentoring program. The program strives to increase the graduation and retention rates of minority males at our community colleges through mentoring, retreats, community service and counseling and other personal growth opportunities. It will now be implemented at 15 additional community colleges.
The NC Center for Viticulture and Enology at Surry Community College will receive an additional $500,000. Viticulture is the study and production of grapes. Enology is the study of wine and winemaking. Surry Community College is located in Dobson in the Yadkin Valley wine region. North Carolina is the nation’s ninth-largest wine producing state.
The Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Biotechnology Training Center and Greenhouse at the NC Research Campus in Kannapolis will receive $1.4 million this year.
Facilities
The North Carolina Community College System will receive $8 million to plan capital projects and develop facility master plans.
The General Assembly appropriated $15 million for the Facilities and Equipment Grant Fund. These funds will be awarded to community college projects that support the college’s strategic plan and show potential to promote economic growth.
Please remember that you can visit the General Assembly’s website to look up bills, view lawmaker biographies and access other information.
I plan to attend the following meetings/events:
& Reunion, Henderson-October 20
Please invite me to attend your county, city, community or civic, etc. meetings or events.
As I’ve said many times before, I hope you will continue to let me know how you feel about the issues that are being debated by the North Carolina Legislature and the challenges you and your family are facing each day.
By working together, we can make Northampton, Vance and Warren Counties and all regions of North Carolina a better place to live, work and raise a family.