Friday, July 15, 2011
We, the State Board of Community Colleges, oppose the finding from the Program Evaluation Division’s Efficiency Study* recommending the reduction in the number of smaller colleges in North Carolina through as many as 15 mergers among 22 colleges that have fewer than 3,000 full-time equivalent students. Our opposition reflects our concern that the study does not:
• Weigh the transitional costs of such mergers to either the colleges being consolidated nor those absorbing a college or colleges
• Consider the potential impact on local support from county governments, businesses and citizens in the affected counties, who have contributed greatly to the development of these colleges over nearly 50 years
• Address the loss to communities which comes from the removal of economic and educational leadership of a locally focused institution and does not assess how mergers would compromise our core mission to community – the most important word in our name.
North Carolina’s community colleges are widely regarded as the best in the United States. We will continue to be, as the report noted, an efficient form of education, but we do not believe savings identified from these potential mergers would in any way compensate for the transformational changes this recommendation would have on our system and our state.
*"Purchasing Consortiums and Merging Community Colleges Could Save $26.2 Million Over Seven Years," Report No. 2011-04, June 2011
(919) 807-7106
simsc@nccommunitycolleges.edu
System Office Liaison
