 On May 1, Dr. Scott Ralls became the seventh president in the history of the N.C. Community College System, which is the country's third largest with more than 800,000 students enrolled in 58 institutions. |
GREENVILLE�Dr. Scott Ralls, newly-elected president of the N.C. Community College System, was the featured speaker Wednesday as Pitt Community College kicked off its annual Leadership Institute at the Greenville Hilton. Ralls, who replaced retired NCCCS President H. Martin Lancaster in May, told Leadership Institute participants that there has never been a more important time than now for community colleges and for leadership within those institutions. The former Craven Community College president cited several factors in support of his assessment, including a rapidly increasing number of retirements among Baby Boomers, which has produced workforce shortages nationwide, particularly in the area of health care. Ralls said increasing international competition is also placing emphasis on the educational services provided by the state�s 58 community colleges. He said foreign countries, such as China and Singapore, are �focused on education like a laser.� But at a time when America must recognize the importance of developing a skilled workforce by �stepping on the gas educationally,� Ralls said the country was, instead, �sputtering.� Opportunities for individuals to achieve middle class status with less than a high school education are nearly extinct, the 43-year-old Ralls said, adding that for the first time in American history, today�s youth would be less educated collectively than their parents� generation. Though stiff tests lie ahead for educators across the country, Ralls said North Carolina community colleges can take steps to meet the challenges by helping their employees develop effective leadership qualities. He said PCC�s Leadership Institute and programs like it play a pivotal role in helping community college personnel develop the competence, inspiration, forward thinking and integrity necessary to �walk the walk and lead by example.� Ultimately, Ralls said, community college leaders must constantly ask themselves one question. �If you say, �What�s in the best interest of your students?� you�ll always be on the right side,� he said. Developed four years ago, PCC�s Leadership Institute encourages employees to consider ways they can contribute their leadership qualities to the college�s educational mission. The three-day program features seminars and team-oriented activities designed to foster interaction among participants while helping them grow personally and professionally. �The philosophy behind the Institute is that leadership is measured by contribution not position,� said Dr. Brian Miller, who helps coordinate the event as Pitt�s Assistant to the President and Director of Institutional Effectiveness. �The program is also about forming professional relationships and friendships,� Miller said. In 2006, a national report on leadership development in community colleges was published through the American Association of Community Colleges� Leading Forward Initiative. Pitt is mentioned several times in the 55-page document, which states the school �takes its mission to educate and empower people for success seriously.� It also calls PCC�s Leadership Institute a program for schools across the country to emulate. PCC President G. Dennis Massey is quoted in the AACC report as saying the Leadership Institute was designed to help Pitt employees realize their potential. �The Leadership Institute is one expression of my commitment to professional development and creating learning environments for employees,� he said. Miller is also quoted in the report. He states that by having the Office of the President develop the leadership program at PCC, participants are assured that President Massey �has invested in the program and in them.� Leadership Institute participants apply to the program and are chosen by a selection committee at the college. In addition to hearing from the new NCCCS president, this year�s Leadership Institute class will benefit from the wisdom of several of their PCC colleagues and Dr. Richard E. Eakin, former chancellor of East Carolina University. |