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State board selects Monty Sullivan to head NC community colleges
The former Louisiana higher education leader brings extensive experience in workforce training and community college administration.
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Wilkes Community College president named new head of statewide system
Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox will serve as the 11th president of the N.C. Community College System. The system’s board approved the hire Friday. Cox had led the Wilkes campus since 2014.
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Stith named new leader of state community college system
The N.C. Community College System elected Thomas Stith III to lead it through the coronavirus pandemic and steep enrollment losses. Stith will become president of a system of 58 community colleges that enroll about 700,000 students a year. He now serves as district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, a federal agency that secured...
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Public schools at all levels ask General Assembly for more COVID-19 money
North Carolina’s public schools and universities are asking the General Assembly for millions more to deal with COVID-19 challenges. The House Select Committee on COVID-19 education working group met for the first time in months to hear updates on how the state’s various education systems are handling the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. N.C. public schools and...
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N.C. Community College President Peter Hans expected to be named new head of UNC System
The University of North Carolina System will name Peter Hans its new president, CJ has confirmed. Hans, president of the N.C. Community College System since May 2018, will be elected Friday, June 19, to head UNC’s 17-campus system, WRAL first reported Thursday. Multiple sources have corroborated the story. The UNC Board of Governors will meet...
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Community college board debates police training as system expects enrollment surge
The State Board of Community Colleges clashed over spending more than $100,000 on police training as community colleges brace for what could be an unprecedented spike in enrollment. During a tense meeting Friday, June 5, board members voted to beef up police de-escalation and community relations training as protests over the killing of George Floyd...
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Community college board will wait to decide fall schedule, setup
Community colleges plan to decide the future of their online and in-person learning in July, when they will revisit their strategic plan for the summer and the fall. Other colleges in the country have canceled their fall semesters for in-person learning. North Carolina’s State Board of Community Colleges has advised colleges to build up its...
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State regulators relaxing some rules to let nurses, doctors graduate, go to work
State regulators are helping nursing and medical students graduate and enter the workforce. The coronavirus froze students’ clinical hours, partly shuttered testing, and threatened to block hundreds of students from graduating and treating patients — just when the state most needs them. The N.C. Board of Nursing has waived regulations and stepped back as a...
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COVID-19 pushes N.C. community colleges to move academic calendar online
Community college classes are canceled or moving online through the end of the month as COVID-19 spreads in North Carolina. N.C. Community College System president Peter Hans has advised colleges to make plans to keep classes online for at least eight weeks, or until the end of the semester. Colleges say they might extend the...
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Budget stalemate leaves community college pay stuck in neutral
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College has food pantries on its campuses — for its teachers. Full-time professors at North Carolina’s community colleges earn less than K-12 teachers. Their average pay is $51,478 — some $2,500 less than the average salary of K-12 teachers — and community colleges say that’s not enough to hire or keep teachers. ...
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Transfer agreements between ECC and ECSU part of growing trend
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from North Carolina Community College System President Peter Hans. Co-admission partnerships between community colleges and University of North Carolina schools are multiplying. On April 29, Elizabeth City State University signed four transfer agreements with Edgecombe Community College, ensuring community college students a clear path to...
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Florence revealed need for better community college emergency planning, Hans says
The N.C. Community College System should take notes during the aftermath of Hurricane Florence and make better emergency plans for future natural disasters, system President Peter Hans says. While the University of North Carolina System kicked into emergency mode at the storm’s onset last week, NCCCS also worked hard to evacuate and secure at-risk campuses...
