THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240289
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 86 lines
In 1991, something rather extraordinary happened. North Carolina's community college graduates started working at higher pay than their counterparts with four-year degrees, according to the North Carolina Community College System Office.
Community college graduates averaged $23,102 per year, compared with $21,923 by University of North Carolina system graduates, community college officials said. They said a major reason for the shift was the types of jobs that are in demand.
Many professional and white-collar management jobs tailored to bachelor-degree holders have been eliminated by downsizing and automation. But companies are begging for people who know how to run and maintain the machines running the work force.
And to meet the challenges facing the 21st century work force, the area's community college and seven public school districts are embracing ``JobReady,'' a statewide initiative to better prepare students for jobs of the future.
``It's not just another faddish program that's passing through the school systems,'' said Dr. Larry Donnithorne, president of College of The Albemarle.
Donnithorne spoke during a luncheon Monday at College of The Albemarle attended by local media and school officials from Dare, Currituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan and Gates counties.
JobReady establishes connections between the home, school and workplace. It's about re-educating teachers about business' needs and emphasizing the value of vocational and technical training.
It's helping families discover that a four-year college degree is no longer a guaranteed ticket to higher wages.
That's something people in North Carolina already are learning the hard way, according to the state's community college system office.
More people with at least one four-year college degree go back to North Carolina's community colleges each year than go from community colleges to four-year institutions, a published report said earlier this year.
Donnithorne said 12 to 15 percent of community college students statewide are ``reverse transferring'' to two-year schools.
College of the Albemarle appears to be a part of that trend, with a fall enrollment of 2,038 quickly approaching 1992's record high of 2,078 at the campuses in Elizabeth City, Manteo and Edenton.
One reason community colleges are prospering is the increasingly expensive price tag for a four-year degree. Another is the glut of applicants for professional and white collar jobs today.
Machines have displaced some of the human labor, but they've also produced jobs for those trained to make and maintain them.
As an example, Donnithorne cited a bank teller who has been replaced by an automated teller machine.
``The production workers of the future are, and will be, those that build, install and repair those ATMs,'' Donnithorne said.
Monday's luncheon kicked off a week of JobReady promotions that include a related television special 8 p.m. Wednesday on PBS and Thursday's lecture series with Chad Foster, host of a weekly cable program on fly fishing, in Elizabeth City.
Donnithorne outlined three ways COA plans to help schools ``re-engineer what we do for the future.''
The community college is offering more advanced credit programs for high school students who take courses that previously were not transferable, such as keyboarding.
``This enables them to spend less time getting a degree and lets them move on sooner,'' the college's president said.
This year the school also began cosmetology and machinist technology programs for a select group of current high school students, providing early exposure to possible careers.
A third initiative is the industry scholarship that provides a COA student with a full scholarship and guaranteed job at the sponsoring industry.
Public schools, in turn, are exposing their teachers to a community's current job demands. Instructors then can tailor their curriculum to include the necessary skills their students will need to earn a job, and not just an education.
The schools must also work to convince parents and students that the world - and work force - is changing drastically.
``We're at the point where we've got to convince our kids to go to high school and go beyond that, but not necessarily to a four-year school,'' Donnithorne said.
Gwen White, the vocational director at Perquimans County Public Schools, said JobReady also encourages students who have become disillusioned by the current job market.
``I think JobReady provides something that's been missing for our students for a long time,'' she said. ``And that's hope.''
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION by CNB