News

November 8, 2006
ECC President Participates in Higher Education Forum

Dr.Deborah Lamm

 
Dr. Deborah Lamm, president of Edgecombe Community College, was among the presenters at a recent forum for leaders of the state’s public higher education institutions.

The daylong forum, hosted by East Carolina University on October 23, brought 200 educational leaders together to focus on partnerships between community colleges and four-year schools.

Erskine Bowles, president of the University of North Carolina System, and H. Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College System, said it was imperative that partnerships among the state’s educational institutions be fostered.

“In today’s world, the taxpayers of North Carolina should have a seamless educational system; someone should be able to move easily from high school to community college to the university,” Bowles said.

Both Lancaster and Bowles cited examples of existing community college and UNC partnerships, particularly in the fields of nursing, teacher training, and biotechnology.

Edgecombe Community College, for example, is a partner in the Wachovia Partnership East teacher education program, an initiative that unites ECU with area community colleges. ECC also is a partner with the UNC Kidney Center in educational outreach programs on kidney disease.

Dr. Lamm, in delivering the closing address for the forum, suggested that partnerships “are a way for us to share ideas, facilities, and financial and human resources.” They also are a way to “build relationships - a way to connect with each other, with our communities, and with our citizens - a way to give all that we can to communities that need us and that depend on us.”

Chancellors from UNC-Wilmington, Elizabeth City State University, Appalachian State, and N.C. State University; and college presidents from Pitt Community College, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, Craven Community College, and Central Piedmont Community College were among those who spoke and attended the forum.

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