If voters approve on March 15, North Carolina’s community colleges plan to use proceeds from the Connect NC bond package to help students fill jobs in each community they serve.
The $2 billion bond proposal includes $350 million for construction, repairs and renovations at the state’s 58 community colleges.1 State officials stress that no tax increase will be needed to pay for the bonds.
Here’s a sampling of the unique ways community colleges intend to put bond dollars to work (click to read):
- Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
- Guilford Technical Community College
- Wilson Community College
- Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
- Forsyth Technical Community College
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College would receive $7.2 million in bond proceeds.2
In addition to upgrades at its campuses in Rowan and Cabarrus counties, the college plans to add features at its Fire & Emergency Services Training Facility in Salisbury. Those would include a training tower, tactical training facility for law enforcement and an outdoor classroom.
(Photo courtesy of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College: https://www.rccc.edu/emergencyservices/)
“Ensuring public safety officials receive high-quality training is of the utmost importance to the College,” said Dr. Carol Spalding, president at Rowan-Cabarrus.
Guilford Technical Community College would receive $9.5 million from the Connect NC bond issue.3 To improve students’ overall experience, GTCC President Dr. Randy Parker says the college plans to renovate the 40-year-old Medlin Campus Center at its Jamestown Campus.
(Rendering courtesy of Guilford Technical Community College: http://news.gtcc.edu/connectnc/)
There’s little doubt needs have grown at GTCC – as has its impact.
“Since the facility was originally built in 1975, the number of enrolled curriculum students has grown from 4,556 to 11,525 in fall 2015,” Parker said. “GTCC created $528.7 million in added economic value during the fiscal year 2012-13; that’s equivalent to creating 9,447 new jobs.”
“Public-private partnership” has become cliché because the term is so overused. But Wilson Community College is living out the expression at its Lee Campus, a property donated to the college by two local business people.
The college has raised $2 million in county and federal funds to renovate two buildings where it will begin offering technology programs next fall.
“With the $6.9 million from the bond, we could largely prepare the rest of that property, including renovating its three other buildings for further tech programs,” said President Tim Wright.
At Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, President Dennis King says the $5.4 million the college would receive from the bonds would help elevate facilities to ensure quality instruction.
Plans include renovations of A-B Tech’s Advanced Technology Center and conversion of a former day-care center for continuing education courses. A-B Tech also plans to renovate the 100-year-old Ivy Building as a public meeting space, make repairs to the Balsam and Sycamore buildings, and make improvements to the Ramsey Center in Madison County.
“All 58 community colleges will be enhanced through this much-needed bond issuance,” King said.
At Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, Connect NC means connecting urban resources with rural students.
Forsyth Tech would receive $5.8 million from the bonds.4 Forsyth Tech President Gary Green says the money would go to renovate the College’s Forsyth Building, as well as upgrade campus technology and demolish unsafe structures.
But $800,000 in bond proceeds would go to a facility under construction in the Meadows community to bring technical education to neighboring Stokes County. Forsyth Tech has identified lab and industrial arts space as key needs in Stokes.
For new construction at community colleges, counties are required to match the bond funds – the requirement ranges from one local dollar for each $3 in bond funds in poor counties to $1-to-$1 in wealthy counties.5
In both Forsyth Tech projects, Green said, the bond funds will supplement investments already made by Forsyth and Stokes counties. “The counties have already exceeded the investments required as a match for the funds,” he said.
1 http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015/Bills/House/PDF/H943v8.pdf, p. 6.
2 Ibid, p. 5.
3Ibid, p. 4.
4 Ibid, p. 4.
5 Ibid, p. 9.
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