(The Center Square) – North Carolina lawmakers want to look at ways to revamp the state’s community college system to improve its funding model and accountability measures.
Jerry Vaughan, former chairman of the State Board Policy and Governance Committee within the State Board of Community Colleges, said he believes change is needed for the system “to become more efficient in starting new programs and ending existing programs that are less economically viable.”
“We also need to move to a funding model that better calibrates fewer classroom hours with the delivery of a market recognized credential,” he said. “This requires study, planning, and consensus building so that colleges can absorb the transition.”
Republican representatives introduced House Bill 601 on Monday to direct the State Board of Community Colleges to study options for improving the system’s funding and accountability, with a report back to the General Assembly by Jan. 15.
The legislation would require the study to address the process for allocating funds; the effect the current formula has on small colleges that rely on part-time students; institutional accountability measures and performance standards; how courses line up with actual demand for occupations; and anything else the state board deems relevant.
The bill would require the 22-member state board to consult with the Department of Commerce about job fields.
The North Carolina Community College System is asking the General Assembly to increase the state’s roughly $1.3 billion in funding by $232 million over the next two years. The funding request – split $72.9 million for students and $43.4 million for employees – would increase salaries by 7% across the biennium, which the college sytem’s legislative agenda says will “ensure 58 community colleges have the resources and capacity needed to meet the strategic student and business needs.”
The recurring funding would bring faculty salaries to the projected average of $56,693 of the four surrounding states of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The student full-time equivalent funding would be 66% of public university student funding for comparable courses, according to the legislative agenda.
Vaughan has proposed an alternative budget increase of $273.5 million over the next two years. It would supplement employee funding for practical labs that increase technical training opportunities; and set goals and performance bonus programs at each campus that incorporate enrollment, retention and completion of degrees and certifications.
Vaughan has argued the system’s $232 million proposal would do little to address the need to implement goals to drive accountability, and does not intentionally align the community college system with the state’s economic development efforts.
College leaders have pointed to faculty and staff recruitment and retention and declining enrollment as major concerns in the last year. They’ve also noted that the current funding model based on past full-time equivalent enrollment makes starting new programs difficult, doesn’t cover costs for high cost or high impact programs, and doesn’t align with services that are delivered by headcount.
