Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

“We are facing budgeting challenges that will have an impact on the student, and that will have an impact on the classroom,” North Carolina Community College System President Dr. Scott Ralls told the attendees of a legislative breakfast at Richmond Community College Monday morning.

Ralls cited an article he penned prior to accepting his current post in May called “Brutal Realities.”

“What I didn’t realize was that all the brutal realities would come true in my first eight months as community college system president,” he added.

Ralls addressed an audience including three state legislators, RCC officials and trustees on community college funding difficulties and the potential impact of these institutions on economic recovery.

“What (Ralls) is going to talk about this morning is how we are going to move forward as a community college system, so we can do a better job of educating the students of North Carolina, preparing the workforce for our community and getting the economic engine started again so that our economic situation will get better,” RCC President Dr. Sharon Morrissey said.

“The more the economy turns down, the more our numbers go up,” Ralls told those in attendance. “There are great strains on the state budget like we’ve never seen before, certainly in the history of the community college system.”

Morrissey later explained record numbers of students enrolled for the spring semester at RCC, and there are even more on the way because many displaced workers who were laid-off during the course of the fall semester are currently taking brush-up and adult education courses in anticipation of enrolling full-time at the college.

Ralls said throughout the state, enrollment in community colleges has risen about 7 percent, and funding has been cut about 5 percent.

“We haven’t yet received the numbers from the spring semester, but because many of the jobs that have been lost were lost after Labor Day, we expect to see an even greater increase,” Ralls said. “But that 7 percent is roughly the size of our second largest community college, Wake Tech, and that is roughly the size of Appalachian State University, so you can think of it as we have grown about the size of Appalachian State University.”

He laid out four areas of concern for the community college system as a whole: reaching the national average in faculty compensation, establishing a six to seven year cycle for acquiring new technologies, expanding health care programs and increasing technical or vocational courses.

Ralls also discussed concerns being expressed over summer school courses being cut across the state to grapple with budget reductions amid high enrollment.

“Our challenge as a community college system, and for our legislators, is that we have grown so much in recent years, the truth is we probably won’t be able to continue doing everything we currently do, and also then be where we need to be in those four areas that will help North Carolina get where it needs to be in the future,” Ralls said.

Ralls and Morrissey fielded several questions after Ralls' speech, concerning energy efficiency and sustainable development programs, state funding of community colleges, the particular budget needs of RCC, the modernization of equipment and others.

Morrissey said she hoped the state legislators in attendance would take away an awareness of the challenges facing the community college system as a whole, and RCC in particular.

“With our enrollment growing so rapidly, we will be overtly challenged if we have to face additional budget cuts,” she explained afterwards.

During the discussion, Morrissey voiced needs of the college including renovations to the Forte Building where heavy industry training is administered, a student center where student services can be centrally located, equipment needs for technical education and better salaries for faculty to help recruit and retain qualified staff in technological fields.

She also told the anecdotal story of a woman named Barbara.

“She is in her 50s and she worked at UCO, it was also Fruit-of-the-Loom for awhile, but she worked there for 20 years, and she saw this as a lifetime career,” she said. “She got laid-off a week before Christmas, and she wants to enroll in summer classes. How can we not have summer school when we have people like her in our pipeline?”

She explained Barbara’s family’s past involvement with the community college system.

“The fact of the matter is we have hundreds of Barbaras coming through our doors,” she said. “Every day we hear about new lay-offs ... Those people are coming to RCC in record numbers, and we’re here to serve them in the best way that we can.”

“I think the most important thing is strengthening our understanding of the community college system’s principal goals, which will ultimately help us to prioritize funding,” said Rep. Melanie Goodwin.

When asked if she felt help is on the way at the state level for institutions like RCC, she responded, “We’re in the same financial situation they are.”

Ralls said rural community colleges like RCC face greater challenges than larger institutions located in more urban areas, after his remarks.

“They face greater challenges in recruiting staff than a Raleigh or a Charlotte because they’re in a rural area,” Ralls said. “... Layoffs can also have a more significant impact in these communities. When you have 200 people laid off in a community like this, it means a big increase in enrollment.”

He also said a unique challenge RCC faces is the fact there are two high schools located on the campus.

“The state funds programs and equipment, but the counties fund the building,” Ralls said. “Of course, there’s a smaller tax-base in more rural areas to pay for that. When times get tough it really becomes more difficult for smaller community colleges.”

“I think it’s important that they understand our needs and that they’re different than the larger areas,” said RCC Trustee Jim McCaskill. “We are a small, rural area, and the community college is huge for us in economic development and training our workforce.”

McCaskill stressed the differences between the situation at RCC and that of institutions with more funding.

“They have access to more county funding,” he said. “When you say 7 percent across the board for everybody - if you are just barely able to get by not cutting anything - you end up not cutting into fat, but actually cutting out muscle.”

“I’m pro-education, so it was no new news for me,” said State Representative Douglas Younge. “I know the predicament they’re in, I’ve spent my whole life in education, so they’re preaching to the choir. It’s a matter of, this year, the availability of funds. Unlike the federal government we have to balance our books just like you’d balance your personal checkbook.”

Yongue represents parts of Hoke, Scotland and Robeson counties.

“It’s difficult, but it’s a great opportunity,” State Representative Garland Pierce said. He represents parts of Hoke, Scotland and Robeson counties.