Community College System History

In 1952 Dr. Allan S. Hurlburt conducted a study concerning the need for community colleges in North Carolina but it was not until 1957, during the administration of Governor Luther H. Hodges, that the Community College Act was passed. The legislation authorized the establishment of community colleges and placed the general administration of the colleges under what was known then as the State Board of Higher Education (now the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina).

By 1961 five community junior colleges had been established under the jurisdiction of local boards of trustees and the State Board of Higher Education. These first five community colleges were College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, Wilmington College in Wilmington, Mecklenburg College and Charlotte College in Charlotte, and Asheville-Biltmore College in Asheville. In 1963 Gaston College in Dallas became the sixth community college approved under the 1957 act.

Industrial Education Centers

At the same time, a vigorous effort was being made to provide a statewide program in industrial education. Funds were allocated by the 1957 General Assembly to the State Board of Education to initiate a statewide system of industrial education centers. These centers were established to provide a better trained labor force in the state by training both adults and selected high school students.

The leadership of three individuals was especially important in the conception and development of these centers: Governor Hodges (1954-1960); Dr. W. Dallas Herring, chairman of the State Board of Education (1957-1977); and A. Wade Martin, state supervisor of trade and industrial education (1957-1961).

In 1959 the General Assembly officially designated industrial education centers as a type of vocational school and placed the administration of the schools under both the State Board of Education and local boards of education. By 1961 there were 18 centers in full or partial operation and two more centers were in the planning stage.

To make this program accessible to more North Carolinians, the State Board of Education approved an extension unit plan in 1961. Five new extension units were created, each a branch of an existing industrial education center. These units were operated under an agreement between an individual center's board of trustees and the local board of education.

Although they were under the jurisdiction of separate boards, the programs at both the community colleges and the industrial education centers were designed for education beyond high school.

In 1961 Governor Terry Sanford established the Governor's Commission on Education Beyond the High School (the Carlyle Commission). The Commission was to serve both as a vehicle for future planning and to answer a concern about duplicate programs. The commission studied methods for expanding educational opportunities at the post high school level. They recommended that the community colleges and the industrial education centers be joined into one administrative organization under the State Board of Education and local boards of trustees. By joining the two types of institutions all of the state's two-year higher education needs (whether academic, technical, or vocational) could be developed under the administration of one educational system - the comprehensive community college system.

The Department of Community Colleges

In 1963 the General Assembly followed the recommendations of the Carlyle Commission and passed the Community Colleges Act of 1963. The act established a Department of Community Colleges under the State Board of Education.

Of the six community colleges operating under the 1957 Community College Act, three were now converted to four-year state colleges and three were brought under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education and the Department of Community Colleges. The three remaining community colleges were College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, Mecklenburg College in Charlotte (which was combined with the Central Industrial Education Center in Charlotte to form Central Piedmont Community College), and Gaston College in Dallas. Supervision of the then 20 industrial education centers also was given to the new Department of Community Colleges.

The 1963 Community Colleges Act was revised and recodified in 1979. It was also decided at that time that the terms "technical college" and "technical institute" were synonymous and that an individual institution could use whichever term it preferred.

However the most important higher education legislation that year created a new State Board of Community Colleges. The governor appoints ten of the board's 20 members, four members come from the North Carolina Senate and four members come from the North Carolina House of Representatives. The Lieutenant Governor and the State Treasurer both serve as ex officio members and complete the board. The board has the authority to adopt and administer all policies, regulations and standards necessary to operate the department and the institutions in the community college system.

Also in 1979 the General Assembly created a Community College Planning Commission whose chairman was former Governor Terry Sanford. The Commission was created to recommend a plan for the orderly transfer of the Department of Community Colleges from the State Board of Education to the newly created State Board of Community Colleges. The Sanford Commission Report was presented to the 1980 session of the General Assembly.