BOONE – With word that NC Community College System President Scott Ralls will leave his post next fall to head a 75,000-student college in Virginia, the system’s former president says Ralls will be difficult to replace.

“His loss to North Carolina is great,” H. Martin Lancaster, who headed the community college system from 1997-2008, said in an interview with Higher Education Works.  “Scott Ralls is really one of the most visionary and effective community college leaders in the country.”

Ralls has headed North Carolina’s community college system – which has 58 colleges and more than 800,000 students – since 2008.  Officials announced Thursday that he will leave in September to head Northern Virginia Community College, the nation’s second-largest community college, with six campuses.

Ralls headed Craven Community College in New Bern and Havelock before he became the system’s president.  He told The News & Observer he always intended to return to a campus, where he could interact with students and faculty.

“That’s who I am and where my heart is,” Ralls, 50, told the newspaper.  “I’ve always aspired to go back to a campus.”[1]

Lancaster said that Ralls – who served as the system’s vice president for workforce development under Lancaster before he went to New Bern – has always focused on workforce issues and has been invited to the White House to make presentations.

Enrollment at community colleges tends to spike during recessions as unemployed workers seek to upgrade their skills.  But that poses a management challenge because state revenues tend to plunge during recessions.  North Carolina saw an extraordinary 28% increase in enrollment from 2007 to 2010 as displaced workers converged on community colleges after Ralls took the helm.

“Always when the need is greatest, the revenue is the least,” said Lancaster.  “It is a challenge…. You just have more students and less money.  You just have to squeeze those dollars.”

Lancaster, now a trustee at Appalachian State University, noted that the state will have to replace both Ralls and Thomas Ross, the president of the University of North Carolina system, at the same time.  Ross will step down at the end of 2015 at the request of the UNC Board of Governors.

“Losing Scott Ralls and Tom Ross at the same time in my opinion is a terrible blow to higher education in North Carolina,” Lancaster said.  “They have both worked so hard in making these systems seamless….  It will take, in my opinion, years for those new leaders to forge that relationship.”

The relationship between the systems’ leaders is particularly important in light of a $3 billion bond proposal unveiled Thursday by Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration, Lancaster said.  McCrory’s proposal includes $504 million in university construction projects and $200 million for community colleges.  The bonds would require approval from voters in October or November.[2]

“Investment in transportation, infrastructure and education – particularly higher education – must continue in this state,” McCrory said Friday at the installation of Appalachian State Chancellor Sheri Everts in Boone.[3]

Community college officials are forming a committee immediately to search for Ralls’ successor.  Asked what officials should look for in the next system president, Lancaster replied:  “Scott Ralls.”

“It’s critically important that they get someone who’s focused on workforce development,” Lancaster said.  “The community college is key to preparing the workforce and preparing them for the specific jobs that are needed.”