A note from us
Welcome to Awake58 — a weekly newsletter where you’ll find the latest updates on community college related news and events around the state. Plus, a look at what’s trending nationally in higher education.
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Meet this year’s student winner of the Dallas Herring Achievement Award… A look at serving students with intellectual and developmental disabilities… Gov. Josh Stein announced a new Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships… Davidson-Davie’s international education program recently visited Japan and EdNC tagged along… Duke Energy Foundation awards grants to 19 community colleges across the state… The State Board of Community Colleges will meet this week…
Hi all — Emily Thomas with this week’s Awake58.
This week, the North Carolina Community College System, State Board of Community Colleges, and the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation will honor the winners of the 2025 excellence awards. EdNC will be rolling out stories on each of this year’s winners. Our first profile story is on Vance-Granville Community College student Kyle Harris, the Dallas Herring Achievement Award winner. Harris is a military veteran who faced PTSD, addiction, homelessness, and incarceration after his service. While enrolled in a program for at-risk veterans, he discovered Vance-Granville’s educational and job training opportunities.
“God has really blessed me, because college has been challenging,” said Harris, who is 43 years old. “I didn’t know if I was past the point of learning, but it was nice to know that somebody recognized where I was coming from, and how far I had made it, and that my journey was really challenging. It really feels good that somebody noticed that, and noticed that I’d overcome a lot and that I’m doing really good now.”
You can read more about Harris’ journey and how he’s now paying it forward to fellow veterans.
EdNC’s Chantal Brown has spent weeks visiting and interviewing community college staff and students about their experiences with “Access to Achievement” — a program that aims to serve students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) at North Carolina’s 58 community colleges. Chantal’s article tracks the history of IDD programs in North Carolina, and shares insights and lessons learned from Access to Achievement pilot schools, including Brunswick and Catawba Valley community colleges. Plus, you’ll see firsthand the impact of IDD programs on students and the community.
In other news, Gov. Josh Stein announced the creation of the Council on Workforce and Apprenticeship last week while visiting Forsyth Technical Community College. The new council will be responsible for identifying workforce needs and amplifying strategies that help North Carolinians access the education and training needed for high-wage, high-demand, and high-growth careers. The group will consist of leaders from business, education, labor, and state agencies.
The State Board of Community Colleges will also meet this week. Committee meetings will be held Wednesday, April 2 and the full board will convene Friday, April 4. You can view the agenda and Board related materials here.
ICYMI: In last week’s edition we shared Gov. Stein’s first budget proposal, which included a 2% raise for community college staff and faculty along with a $1,000 bonus. You can find more information about bills and budgets in our ongoing cover of the legislature.
We also mentioned the wildfires impacting several areas in western North Carolina last week. While progress has been made to contain the fires and some evacuation orders have been lifted, several large fires continue to burn.
Many community colleges in the western part of the state were preparing for possible impacts to students and employees last week, an all too familiar feeling. Last week marked six months since Hurricane Helene hit those same areas that are now battling wildfires. Haywood Community College is currently serving as a staging area for the N.C. Forest Service. We continue to lift up the people and places of western North Carolina.
Until next week,
Emily Thomas
Director of Postsecondary Attainment – EdNC.org
EdNC reads
Vance-Granville student Kyle Harris says Dallas Herring award is testament to overcoming challenges
A few years ago, Kyle Harris was enrolled in a program for at-risk veterans at the Veteran Life Center of North Carolina when he found out about educational and job training opportunities at Vance-Granville Community College.
As a military veteran — who faced PTSD, addiction, homelessness, and incarceration after his service — Harris was looking for a new start. Harris decided to learn more about Vance-Granville’s offerings, eventually enrolling in the college’s automotive systems technology program in 2022.
“It was just the very beginning of my journey,” Harris said.
Today, Harris is about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, is a homeowner and working full-time with Southeastern Specialty Vehicles, and is helping mentor other veterans. And as of this month, Harris is also the recipient of a statewide award from the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS), the prestigious Dallas Herring Achievement Award.
Providing ‘Access to Achievement’ for all
The counselors on the college campuses are either housed in student services, workforce development, or basic skills departments. Their official titles are Access to Achievement Coordinators. According to Nancye Gaj, state director of Access to Achievement and NCCCS director of career pathways of IDD, they are tasked with recruiting and advertising their services to students and families in schools, on college campuses, and in the community.
Support looks different for every student. It is not required for a student to disclose any disability for a student to work with the coordinators. Therefore, they work with a wide range of students; some that may need to be placed in specialized programs, and some who may need a couple of accommodations to succeed in standard curriculum courses. Most of the 300 students the program touches are the latter, Gaj said.
Gov. Stein creates new Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships
“Our state’s greatest asset is our people, and to invest in our future, we must invest in our people. No state will outwork North Carolina when it comes to developing our workforce,” Stein said during the announcement. “I am proud to sign this executive order and launch this council to keep delivering on the promise of North Carolina – that where you come from should never limit how far you can go.”
The announcement took place at Forsyth Technical Community College’s Transportation Technology Center, which houses programs like diesel repair, automotive technology, and motorsports. Stein toured the center, meeting with several students and faculty members.
‘Global is Local’ at Davidson-Davie Community College
Our trip to Japan included early college students, community college students, Davidson-Davie graduates, faculty, and community members. It included moms traveling with their daughters and a family.
In January 2025, the group started taking a humanities class on Japan together, taught by Michelle Williamson, one of the trip leaders who teaches English at the community college. In the weeks leading up to the trip, Williamson covered travel logistics but also history, religion, art, and contemporary culture.
Photo Essay | Japan through the eyes of a student
Axel Roca is a photographer and a student at Davidson-Davie Community College. He is a recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, a competitive merit-based scholarship.
Around NC
Grants | The Duke Energy Foundation will give 19 community colleges $500,000 in grant awards to help meet workforce needs. Additionally, a $100,000 grant will support the Forward Fund to expand access to students in southeastern North Carolina.
Student stories | Andrew Zonneveld is a junior at Harvard studying education and a former Onslow Early College High School student. During high school, he earned free college credits from Coastal Carolina Community College. Now, Zonneveld talks about returning to North Carolina to teach and maybe one day becoming an education policy reformer.
Alamance Community College biotechnology student Areli Velazco Lopez will travel to Puerto Rico to learn about the biopharma industry. She is among a select group accepted into the competitive NIIMBL eXperience for highly motivated first-and second-year STEM college students, a college press release says.
New continuing education course | Stanly Community College will offer a new continuing education course in the early child care department on trauma and resilience. You can find more information about the course here.
Rural | In this piece by Carolina Public Press, Rep, Julie von Haefen (D-Raleigh) said community colleges are one solution to address the workforce shortage that drives rural women’s lack of access to quality women’s health care services. “Investing more in community college programs is really important because they’re bringing in people who live in those areas to grow the health care workforce,” Haefen said.
Research | The Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research recently announced the Community College Data Hub. The hub is a publicly available resource for researches, faculty, and doctoral students that houses curated community college datasets and publications. The Belk Center worked in partnership with the Center for the Study of Community Colleges and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan to create a central hub for all community college data.
Upcoming events | Fayetteville Technical Community College and the North Carolina Military Business Center will host a Federal Food Symposium April 1-2. More information about the event can be found here.
Central Carolina Community College’s Small Business Center will host a three-day Procurement Summit on April 8-10, along with other partners. The summit “aims to help local, minority, women-owned, and veteran-owned small businesses build the capacity to apply and win contracts,” a college press release says. To attend the Central Carolina Procurement Summit, visit https://fsuhub.eventbrite.com to register.
MerleFest, a music festival fundraiser for Wilkes Community College, is scheduled for April 24-27. You can find the full lineup and more information on MerleFest’s website.
Multi-platinum country music icon Wynonna Judd will perform on Sunday, June 15 at Cape Fear Community College’s Wilson Center. You can find more information about the event here.
Other higher education reads
