KNOW THE
NCCCAEA Spring 2002
Conference will be held at
the Sheratonj Atlantic Beach^
April 10, I K 12.
NCCAEA Fall 2002
Conference will be held at
Four Seasons, Greensboro,
October* 9, 10, 11.
NCCCAEA Spring 2003
Conference will be held at
the Grove Park Inn, Ashville,
March 5* 6i 7.
NCCCAEA Fall 2003
Conference will be held at
the Sheraton, New Bern,
October 15, 16, 17.
The “Theme” for the
NCCCAEA Fall 2001
Conference is “Change -t-
Challenge = Opportunity”
The first offkial meeting
(confeience) of the
NCCCAEA was held in
Asheville at Asheville-
Buncombe Technical Institute
on October 17 & 18^
Registration for the first
NCCCAEA meeting was
$1.00! Room rates were as
low as $7.00 for a single and
$12.00 for a double (1968),
NCCCAEA was formed in
1965 as part of the Commu
nity College Adult Educators
of North Carolina.
NCCCAEA became an
independent association in
1968.'
Jimmy Lewis (Robeson CC)
is NCCCAEA's immediate
past president and John Smith
(Carteret CC) is NCCCAEA’s
president-elect.
m,
Suggestions for a New Dean
As with most jobs, the position of Dean of Continuing Education rarely
carries a “blue print” of what needs to be done, what they are, ect. New
Deans have to rely on their experience, their contacts, and their intuition to
get them through their first year.
This is an attempt to share some of my own insights and priorities over
the past six months in my new position in Alamance Community College. I
make no claim that the list is without omissions or mistakes or that I have
done everything “right”. Rather, it is simply a list of suggestions based on
what helped me, a generic starting point for new Deans of Con Ed for
planning their own first six months.
One of your first priorities is an easy one: Identify any issues or priorities
your supervisor and the President have in Con Ed, but don’t do anything with
them until you have “the lay of the land.” What (in their opinion) are the
program’s strengths and weaknesses?
Get “the lay of the land” quickly by working on team-building and
communication with your staff. Visit the people in your division individually
at their offices. What do they do? What are they most proud of? What
connections do they have in the community.
Schedule regular lunch meetings with people .
who report directly with you. “Breaking
bread” with people is a congenial way to
begin creating relationships and teams.
Get a handle on the budgets quickly.
How much do you have? How much do
you need to complete the year? Who’s paid
where and why? Are positions coded
correctly? How does the budget compare
with the FTE eamback for your division?
(Assuming that you know how the FTE’s
are calculated).
Read and get familiar with these essential
documents, all of which are available on the
NCCCS web site: North Carolina Administrative Code; North Carolina
General Statutes 115-D; NCCCS Accounting Procedures Manual, Section 3;
NCCCS Fact Book; and the NCCCS Web site in general. Visit the state
numbered memos document daily.
What reports are routine? Who does them?
What are the issues that need to be addressed to ensure SACS
compliance?
Other essential documents? The Continuing Education Master Course List
is important. You also need a copy of your college’s internal audit plan for
continuing education and must ensure that it is being followed and that
location descriptions are up-to-date. If there are internal planning documents
for the division, they may be helpful to see the established priorities. Finally,
the NCCCAEA directory can facilitate contacting more experienced
colleagues when you need a different perspective on a problem or when you
simply need to commiserate.
All of this is pretty general, but
I hope it’s helpful. It would be
very interesting to compare my
perspectives with those of other
new Deans of Continuing
Education in the system. If
you’re at the conference,
look me up!
Submitted by Rob Everett,
Alamance Community College
''New Deans have
to rely on their
experience, their
contacts, and
their intuition
to get them
through their
first year.''