We reported on the initial rollout of the N.C. House budget last week. On Thursday, the budget passed its third and final reading. The budget will now officially proceed to conference committee in order to develop a compromise budget that will then be sent to the governor. House Speaker Tim Moore has pledged to include Gov. Roy Cooper’s office in the negotiations.

The challenge before the Senate, the House, and the governor is to land on a budget proposal that either Gov. Cooper will sign or a proposal that will secure enough Democratic votes to override a gubernatorial veto.

The relevant details for you all remain the same as last week:

Community college faculty would get an average raise of 7% over two years and staff would get an average raise of 4% over two years.

For community colleges, this budget would also allocate $8.6 million recurring to establish a fund to recruit and retain faculty in high-demand fields.

The House budget also includes funding for budget stabilization, broadband access, and capital projects, including a unique facility located in the Catawba Valley Community College service area but serving a number of other institutions in the region. Look for more coverage soon.

How this fall will shake out for our state’s community colleges is a question on everyone’s mind who we met with last week. A month ago it seemed as if we were set for a fall that looked much closer to the fall of 2019 — albeit with additional health requirements and the shadow of COVID-19 lingering among the unvaccinated in particular. As we traveled to four community colleges over three days last week, it seemed that everything was shifting.

Emily provides a great analysis of the state of play for the four colleges we visited last week in her piece, but she also looks at the strategies they are implementing to prepare for their future — including targeting adult learners. Check out this excerpt and then read the full piece:

As the 2021 fall semester begins, community college leaders prepare for more uncertainty in the months ahead.

“This pandemic has caused my whole outlook on education to change because what I’ve known for the last 30 years is not holding true,” said (John) Gossett. “For 30 years, [students have] come to us, in my experience. Well, they didn’t this year … We’ve got to adapt.”

At McDowell Tech’s convocation, president Brian Merritt said the college will need to adopt a new way of doing things.

“We’re a great institution,” Merritt said. “We’re doing things well. But if we want to stay competitive and we want to make sure that we’re doing the best we can do to serve students, we have to reimagine and reinvent how we do business.”

EdNC will continue to follow and report on community colleges’ engagement with adult learners. Stay tuned for more coverage.

A bill that would expand eligibility for in-state tuition at North Carolina community colleges is closer to becoming law, according to my colleague Anna Pogarcic:

Already passed unanimously in the Senate, Senate Bill 421 passed through the House Committee on Education – Community Colleges last week. If signed into law, the bill would allow recent high school graduates to qualify for in-state tuition if:

• They were eligible to attend a public school in NC
• Graduated from a public school unit
• Can’t establish residency due to lack of evidence through the Residency  Determination Service

This is meant to benefit students who may be estranged from a guardian and were not able to establish residency for the one year required prior to enrolling, according to lawmakers. The bill has been referred to the House Rules committee, which will decide if it will go to a floor vote.

The State Board of NC Community Colleges will meet on Thursday and Friday of this week at Wake Tech’s RTP campus. More information can be found here. The agenda and board book can be found here.

A-B Tech announced incentives for vaccinated students that you will want to check out as your own college considers potential strategies to bolster your vaccination rate. We also know a number of colleges are offering vaccination clinics. Please forward any information you all have on the efforts of colleges to combat the spread of COVID-19.

A-B Tech president John Gossett also sat down with a local journalist who attended A-B Tech for a wide-ranging conversation.

Craven Community College’s focus on workforce development and their array of offerings were profiled in the New Bern Sun Journal.

Check this out: “The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program today announced that Dr. Tracie Clark, vice president of strategy and organization excellence, at Central Piedmont Community College, is one of 40 leaders selected for the 2021-22 class of the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship, a highly selective leadership program preparing the next generation of community college presidents to transform institutions to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success.”

Cleveland Community College is hosting an “enrollment frenzy,” as written up by the Shelby Star, who described the approach: “The enrollment frenzy aims to take the guess work and worry off students who are leery of how to get started. Advisors will be on hand to help students register for courses. Students will be able to check out different clubs offered by the college and can enter a contest for a chance to win a $500 scholarship.”

As I traveled the state last week, a number of the community colleges I visited were altering their policies on masks as classes are set to begin. A-B Tech, Beaufort County Community College, Cape Fear Community College, Carteret Community College, Johnston Community College, and Rockingham Community College are among the colleges who have updated their mask guidance as delta looms large.

Edgecombe Community College was selected for “Project Vision, a grant-focused initiative supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).” The goal of the project is to support smaller colleges in their pursuit of NSF funding.

Gaston College has a series of announcements planned this week as part of a rebranding effort and their 50th anniversary.

Randolph Community College’s use of federal funds to wipe away outstanding balances for hundreds of students was featured on local television.

Auditors zeroed in on a number of clerical errors at Roanoke-Chowan Community College.

South Piedmont Community College reported a 4% increase in enrollment as the fall semester starts.

Wake Tech Community College announced a new partnership with ECU last week: “Some community college graduates can now pursue a bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University at Wake Tech. ECU will offer the Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology, with a concentration in either Mechanical Design or Architectural Design, at Wake Tech’s Southern Wake Campus beginning in the spring semester 2022.”

Wayne Community College is pledging wide-ranging transparency and public input in their presidential search. We will cover this process in the months ahead.

Our colleagues at the Carolina Public Press have a look at enrollment declines among some of the rural community colleges in western North Carolina. I would encourage you to read the entire piece, but this section stood out to me:

“According to Alleghany High School Assistant Principal Melissa Vestal, the mixture of synchronous and asynchronous instruction last year made it possible for some students to take on jobs and complete their classwork outside the traditional school schedule.”

“After entering the workforce, a number of students became dependent on the money they were making and chose to continue work rather than to continue their education, citing that ‘they would go to school once they had some money saved,’” Vestal said.

Click here for the full story.

We expect additional action in Washington, D.C. on President Joe Biden’s proposals — including free community college. CCDaily.com has a piece out now looking at the next steps for the legislation.

Bradley University has published this special look at diversity in higher education. One key statistic: “Other data demonstrating gaps in diversity in higher education include enrollment of 2019 high school graduates. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 66.2% of all students who graduated from high school between January and October 2019 were enrolled in a college or university, a drop of nearly 3% from the previous year. The data shows that college enrollment was highest among Asian and white students and lower among Black and Latinx students.”