RALEIGH (December 29, 2021) – 2021 was slightly less chaotic than 2020, with distribution of vaccines that temporarily calmed the coronavirus pandemic before new variants began to emerge.
The state also saw its first new budget in three years, with much-needed raises for higher education faculty and staff and generous investments in capital projects. It’s a sign of our times that it’s considered news when elected officials do what they’re supposed to do.
And tensions continued to grow over politicization of North Carolina higher education: An extended, nationally embarrassing debate over tenure for journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones; questioned searches for a chancellor at Fayetteville State University and a provost at UNC Chapel Hill; and a puzzling plan to move UNC System offices to Raleigh and merge the UNC and NC Community College Systems.
Higher Ed Works continued to build its audience through the year, reaching nearly 2 million people with double-digit percentage growth in social media followers over the year. We saw more and more people read, watch and share our content. And along the way, we delved into rich, complex topics:
GOVERNANCE
Questions of proper governance of our public colleges and universities continued to crop up throughout the year.
BUDGET
For the first time in three years, legislators and Gov. Roy Cooper agreed on a state budget, which meant overdue raises for educators and sorely needed investments in postponed capital projects.
PANDEMIC CRISIS RESPONSE
Higher education continued to step up as the coronavirus pandemic stretched into a second year: Students returned to campus. Online offerings improved. Universities hosted mass vaccination clinics. University officials refused to mandate vaccines, however.
NURSING EDUCATION
There is no better time to appreciate nurses. North Carolina faced a nursing shortage before the coronavirus pandemic, and the pandemic only exacerbated it. There’s no shortage of people who want to be nurses. There’s no shortage of people who want to hire them. The shortage boils down to a shortage of instructors. That’s because an instructor can make more being a nurse than teaching how to nurse.
DISPATCHES FROM THE CLASSROOM
Each fall, UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz co-teaches a seminar for graduate students – professors of the future – called ‘The American Professoriate.’ Instructors and students write regular reflections on the role of public higher education. We share some of those here.
NC COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Officials expect North Carolina’s community colleges to lead the state’s recovery from the pandemic. Yet the state’s community-college instructors rank 41stin the country for faculty pay. Contrary to the usual pattern in recessions, enrollment declined during the pandemic. But officials created new forms of financial help for students, and the first agreement in three years on a state budget granted sorely needed raises to faculty and staff.
MYFUTURENC
The state has an ambitious goal to generate 2 million North Carolinians with degrees or credentials by 2030. Despite the pandemic, efforts continue to meet that goal, focusing on community college access, adult learners, “part-way home” students with some college but no degree, and immigrant students.
LATINX STUDENTS
The 2020 census revealed that Hispanic people now account for more than 10% of the state’s population, and those students will be critical if the state is to meet its attainment goal. Organizations like LatinxEd are working to ease the transition of these students into higher education in North Carolina.
PREK-12 EDUCATION
Successful public schools are essential to successful colleges and universities. So business leaders continue to push for expansion of NC Pre-K and instruction in the science of reading. Education officials expanded a pathway for aspiring teachers to start at a community college, then transfer to a university to complete their preparation. Other efforts attempted to recruit more teachers of color. And a 27-year battle over state funds for public schools came to a head with a judge’s order.
REMEMBRANCES
We remembered some of those we lost: A legislative champion. A constitutional scholar. A friend who shared the word about North Carolina’s community colleges. And a white Higher Ed Works board member recalled his complicated Southern parents.
Higher Ed Works wishes you a healthy, productive and prosperous 2022!
Leave a Reply