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Will community college faculty and staff see raises?

Welcome to another week of Awake58! If you were forwarded this email, be sure to subscribe by clicking here.

Mini budget bills are passing that address community college funding priorities — including faculty pay raises… The Senate veto override is moving forward this week (maybe)… An effort is underway to prepare early childhood educators with the skills to tackle childhood trauma — and perhaps their own trauma too… Anthony Clarke has assumed the presidency at Guilford Tech.

We live in a state with an ever evolving budget situation. As I type this email, my colleague Alex Granados is keeping his eye on a possible veto override of the budget by the Senate. By the time you read this email, a vote may have happened. I would encourage you to stay tuned to EdNC.org to understand what is happening.

Last week, Senate Bill 61 passed. SB61 included funding for all of the community college system’s budget priorities aside from faculty pay increases and capital funding. This was particularly important to your local college because it included funding for short-term workforce development.

And then HB231, a bill to boost faculty and personnel pay, passed the Senate. HB231 provides $12.4 million recurring in the first year and $24.8 million recurring in the second year for community college personnel. The bill is on the calendar for a vote in the House tomorrow.

All of this has unfolded while we wait to see if the original budget will occur through a veto override.  As I write this email, SB61 is awaiting the governor’s signature and HB231 must pass the House before heading to the governor’s desk.

We will keep you informed. And in the meantime, please let us know your thoughts on your own budget. We are particularly interested in your thoughts about faculty pay, so please share your story by replying directly to this email.

Also, we are curious. When a hurricane strikes, what information do you need? Let us know by clicking over to take a brief survey for the chance to receive a $50 Amazon gift card. The results will inform how media organizations can better serve North Carolinians during and after future storms.

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Thank you for being with us,

Nation

EdNC reads

Will community college faculty receive pay raises?

A bill passed the Senate that included the personnel pay increases that were part of the community college system’s budget priorities. The bill provides $12.4 million recurring in the first year and $24.8 million recurring in the second year for community college personnel. This bill is on the calendar for a vote in the House tomorrow, and then it will proceed to the governor for his signature. For more information, check out this companion piece.

Community college funding priorities clear the Senate, now on the governor’s desk

While we are following the possible veto override by the Senate, SB61 passed last week that funds many of the system’s original priorities, including short-term workforce development funding. For more, check out Alex’s original piece.

(SURVEY) We need to know more about your information needs during a hurricane

Recent years have brought us Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Dorian, and more weather events. Recovery is a process. We want to know what information needs are still present for people recovering from past hurricanes. The results will inform how media organizations can better serve North Carolinians during and after future storms. If you fill out the survey, you have a chance to receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

How do you prepare early educators to navigate students’ trauma  and their own?

Trauma can have lasting effects on the minds and lives of young children and those that care for them. That’s why early childhood faculty across the state’s postsecondary systems are being trained on trauma-informed teaching. Liz Bell has the story.

Why Ta-Nehisi Coates thinks we need to recontextualize America’s heroes?

“Capping the day-long Color of Education event Saturday, acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates talked about his new novel ‘The Water Dancer’ and spoke about the need to recontextualize American history and its heroes. ‘There would be no George Washington without the people he enslaved,’ Coates said. ‘No America without the people this country allowed to be enslaved.’”

Other reads

Out of the fields: In a North Carolina county where few Latino parents have diplomas, their kids are aiming for college

Hechinger reports: “Without a high school diploma or GED, it will be next to impossible to find a decent job in the coming decades, but 27 million American adults are in this predicament, without the basic level of education they need to reach the middle class. It’s a particular problem for immigrants from Mexico and Central America, who drop out of high school at much higher rates than their native-born peers.”

Prison officials cut off higher education for people on North Carolina’s Death Row

A death row inmate writes, “It is imperative that I pursue every educational opportunity regardless of whatever relief may come of my appeals. There is, for example, a small number of degree-bearing prisoners who mentor young, uneducated prisoners or facilitate educational programs within the prison system. There is even a new degree-bearing ministry program at Nash Correctional Institution, funded by former NFL coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs, that trains life-sentenced prisoners to become counselors and assistant chaplains.”

Helping students with intellectual disabilities conquer college

A spotlight on one program focused on helping students with intellectual disabilities: “The goal of Aggies Elevated — and the 274 other postsecondary transition programs for students with cognitive disabilities scattered across the country — is to prepare students for meaningful work and independent living.”

Around North Carolina

(Opportunity) Apply for the ZSR Fellowship

The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation offers one two-year, paid fellowship (beginning July 1) to an individual who demonstrates an interest in philanthropy, public policy, community service and/or the nonprofit sector. This position is salaried and includes benefits. Please forward this opportunity to students who may be interested.

One week in, Guilford Tech’s new president is settling in

New Guilford Tech president Anthony Clarke attended his first GTCC Board of Trustees meeting last week after a week of visiting the various campuses of the college, meeting leaders from across the region, and getting a handle on what Clarke calls the “breadth and depth of the college.”

UNC Charlotte and CPCC Partner for the 49erNext Program

We are studying student transitions as part of an upcoming series around transfer articulation agreements, the transfer process for students, and dual admission programs. Check out this article on 49erNext to learn more about a unique partnership between UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont CC.

Cape Fear Community College to expand in Pender County

Cape Fear CC will be able to expand due to an important lesson gained from local elected officials: “The succession of hurricanes that brought havoc to large swaths of Pender County had lessons to teach, and, earlier this month, elected officials there demonstrated that they learned from the destructive visitations… One of the more important hurricane lessons was to point out the relative lack of trade professionals in the county…and the supplemental allocation to CFCC is geared toward vocational classes to address that shortcoming.”

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Nation Hahn

Nation Hahn is the chief of growth for EducationNC.