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Editor’s note: This story was first published by NCInsider on Jan. 21, 2025.
Gov. Josh Stein praised the system as among the nation’s best, highlighting the need for continued investment. As the system seeks nearly $100 million for Propel NC, a new model for modernizing the funding of the state’s 58 community colleges, State Affairs spoke with Tom Looney, chair of the State Board of Community Colleges, about what’s ahead for 2025.
The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. In his acceptance speech on election night, Gov. Josh Stein proclaimed the state’s community college system as one of the best in the nation. What does that type of support mean to you heading into 2025?
A. I’m incredibly optimistic. I watched that and noticed that myself. We’ve got to be the No. 1 place for the workforce. Our community colleges are going to enable us to secure that title across the U.S. I couldn’t be more optimistic. We’ve got a lot of wind in our sails because we’ve had significant enrollment growth and we see that growth continuing.
Q. The NCCCS is requesting close to $100 million from the Legislature for Propel. How confident are you that this funding can be secured?
A. I actually own racehorses. I’ll put a bet on horses — this one I won’t bet on — but I will tell you we have brought support from the governor’s office and from the House and the Senate during the short session. I believe the case has only gotten stronger. This will be a tough year because of the disaster in the western part of the state, but I think the General Assembly will continue to look very hard at return on their investments and I am very confident that our ROI will be some of the highest that the General Assembly is being asked of this year. Last year, I challenged our presidents to come up with a plan for Propel NC — I was told it would take a couple of years. We got it done in about 90 days. We got over 200 letters of endorsement, from chambers of commerce to hospital systems across the state.
Q. North Carolina is routinely ranked No. 1 for business. How does the community college system contribute to that rank?
A. I’ve always found in life and business that you fail when you work in silos. What is great now, we’re working closely with the Department of Public Instruction, the university system, we’re working closely with business and our partners and focusing on the student as a customer with a seamless experience. Our students are embracing things like Career and College Promise, dual enrollment and I think we’re one of the leaders of the country in that area. We have one of the broadest, deepest, widest community college systems in the country. Students want the fastest way to a good-paying job. We’re embracing business at a level I’ve never seen before. And you also have to listen to the businesses, because they’re the ones that will hire these students. One of the major igniters of that ability to be No. 1 is Propel NC.
Q. Is there any other legislation that the community college system is seeking for 2025?
A. We continue to deploy our enterprise resource planning for our IT [information technology] systems. That will be evaluated over the next few months of our requirements to continue to build out our ERP system. We’ve had great success with our CRM/AI [customer relationship management/artificial intelligence] tools that are being deployed at 29 colleges. We were given a small investment in the short session to support that, and we may look at additional investments in new technology so that we can assist our colleges in treating students like customers, doing business the way they want to do business and doing it in an efficient manner. I spent 40 years in IT. I continue to be on the lookout, looking at piloting and embracing technology in every aspect of our business.
Q. Do you see that investment in new technology being replicated in other schools?
A. We’re really just trying to accelerate that CRM/AI investment and give every college the opportunity to use these tools. I chair the board at Wake Tech and we have significant resources. My goal is to provide the same level of technology and resources to colleges in our rural communities. They tend to be the late adopters, and what I’m trying to do is give everybody the same student experience, whether you’re at Pamlico Community College or Central Piedmont Community College.
Q. Could you provide an outline of Propel NC?
A: We’re modernizing the funding to be more labor market-driven. [Under the proposed model, funding would shift resources from full-time enrollment tiers to workforce sector tiers]. We’re creating parity between those taking continuing education courses and the curriculum. Students will be able to pursue credentials at a pace that works best for them. We’re getting students into jobs faster, which is what is necessary, and we’re focusing on the fastest-growing workforce market segments. We’re very aligned with business today.
Q. How is the community college system uniquely able to assist rural communities?
A. I think the uniqueness of the North Carolina Community College System is that they really represent their communities. They’re aligned with the local employers and hospitals. Their trustees are members of their community. Students want to overachieve, and if you give them opportunities and open their eyes to what is out there and the options available — we have so many options available to our students. One program we don’t talk about is the I/DD program for individuals with learning disabilities at 14 colleges. We’re giving them an opportunity that, a lot of the time, their parents didn’t know was available.
Q. At the last NCCCS board meeting, you said you called Dr. Jeff Cox, president of the NCCCS, on Jan. 1 and said, “It’s time to put your seatbelt on.” Elaborate on that.
A. Over the last year, we worked hard to get Propel approved. Now we’re going to take it over the line. We’ve got a foundation over the last 18 months; now it’s time to accelerate and execute. We’re going through a modernization that is happening at an accelerated pace. In life, the way it is, I’ve found you’ve got to earn the right to ask. Over the last 18 months, we earned the right to ask and earned the right to ask of other people. We have a great value proposition; now we’re out there marketing and selling that value proposition. We’re also igniting our foundations to secure grants outside of the state as well. There are hundreds of millions of dollars spent on community colleges each year by foundations, whether it’s loans or fidelities. We want to be first in line and the only one in line to secure that funding, and I believe we have the best value proposition of any state in the country.
Q. Anything else you want legislators to know about the community college system?
A. We’re going to move at the speed of business and innovation. That’s what we have to do, and traditionally education has not moved at that speed. That is my commitment. We want to be No. 1 in the workforce, and the way we get there is through innovation and relationships in business.
