By FULLER ROYAL

Kathy Matlock, who celebrated this past fall her first anniversary as president of Southeastern Community College, is happy with the way things have turned out.

“It’s been a great first year.” Matlock said. “The community and college have welcomed me.”

In an interview Wednesday, Matlock discussed several of SCC’s accomplishments, initiatives and plans for 2006 and beyond.

She said that her first few months on the job kept her on campus, focused on establishing a rapport with faculty, staff and students.

Once she had settled in, she began visiting communities and civic groups, learning about the people and resources of Columbus County.

Matlock said she discovered in her first year here that the needs of SCC were similar to, and connected with, the needs of the county.

She said it is a priority of hers to find new ways to serve Columbus County and to “grow the institution.” She said that because SCC has a very limited service area – a small population – new programs have to be created to increase the school’s annual enrollment.

She said the school must look at new populations of residents – those not being served by the college. One such area is the professional who has never started or finished a degree.

Other areas of underserved residents are those who need to upgrade their skills for jobs they already have.

Matlock said she openly solicits new ideas from SCC employees, its students and from the community.

One new initiative Matlock is excited about is the bio-agriculture curriculum that is scheduled to begin in the fall of this year.

Bio-agriculture is a growing field and offers much promise for Columbus County as well as SCC. Matlock said SCC instructor Becky Westbrooks had laid much of the groundwork for the program. Westbrooks was also instrumental in finding numerous grants to help with the startup costs.

Matlock said a full-time bio-agriculture instructor will be hired for the program and that already, there is interest in the position.

She said the college’s afternoon and evening registered nursing classes had been a tremendous success, especially with students who are working during the day. Students who work during the day as licensed practical nurses can attend class at night.

Matlock offered praise for local state legislators – Sen. R.C. Soles and Rep. Dewey Hill – for finding $3 million to help the college attract biotech industry.

“We were one of two institutions in the state with these sizable capital appropriations,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre found another $150,000 for the project.

Matlock said the college is emphasizing outreach into the community, adding that the college has its first-ever minority recruiter.

That recruiter is also serving as a counselor in an effort to retain the minority students.

Matlock said that the state’s university and community college bond money, passed by state voters several years ago, is being used to construct the school’s new technology building. That’s where the new bio-agriculture courses will be taught as well as other technology programs.

The college’s distance learning program – courses taken online – has grown 22 percent during the past year.

“I have always loved community colleges because they are so responsive to a community’s needs,” she said. “When the gas crisis hit last fall, we had just started working on the spring schedule. We made hybrid classes.”

Matlock said that a number of classes required less time on campus, allowing more work to be done at home on students’ computers.

Instead of requiring students to attend three classes during a week, some courses required attendance for one two days while the remaining work could be carried out online. This proved beneficial to out-of-county students and to students within the county with transportation issues.

Volunteerism is also near the top of Matlock’s list.

“One thing that is very important to me is the volunteer sprit,” she said. “I believe in service to the community by students.”

This spring, six of the school’s courses incorporate a volunteer component.

“With both parents working or a single mother working, it’s hard to volunteer,” she said. “The culture of volunteerism is disappearing. Maybe this will turn that around.”

Matlock said that programs that promote critical thinking skills are being added to all of the school’s courses.

She said that in surveys, local industry wants employees capable of using critical thinking skills to solve problems.

“This is something that’s very important when we go to accreditation,” she said. “We are very much ahead of that process.”

Matlock said that she was concerned that fine arts at the college had been in a state of decline.

“You need to offer fine arts,” she said. “We have our fine and performing arts again.”

She said that art instructor David McCormick was rotating art displays in the college’s main lobby while music instructor Sharyn Edwards was keeping the performing arts programs in motion.

This semester, the community band will be back, bigger than last year’s.

Matlock is also looking forward to SCC hosting – pending state approval – the new early college high school, to be known as Southeastern Early College.

She said that at her previous community college, a secondary center was on campus that hosted students from nine school districts.

“It was so successful,” she said. “There were so many students who got college credit and then an associate’s degree. I look forward to that process unfolding this spring as we hire a principal and faculty.”

Matlock said that Guilford Community College’s early college high school had proven to be a success.

“It will be very positive and beneficial to our campus,” she said. “It will help provide a seamless education.”

Perhaps the biggest news for the college is the establishment of a university center on the campus.

In a move approved by the General Assembly, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke is going to offer a bachelor’s degree – a four-year degree – in nursing.

Also, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington will offer a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

This is the first time that county residents have ever been able to earn a four-year degree locally.

Matlock said she was glad to see how open the universities are to such an innovative program.

Student involvement is also important to Matlock. She wants the students to become more involved with college life and she wants the college’s faculty to take even greater interest in their students and their successes.

She said that the students who have good relationships with instructors and who are involved with activities on campus are more likely to remain enrolled.

Matlock said that her wish list includes more funding and resources for the school.

“There is such a decline across the United States in funding education,” she said. “Education is an investment in our economy and our future.”

Matlock wants to cultivate locally grown ideas that can create rural-based businesses.

“I want the college to encourage people to be creative,” she said. “People with a good idea and a good business plan can have any kind of business anywhere.”

Matlock said another wish is to renovate and improve the college physical plant.

“The college has been here for more than four decades and needs to expand,” she said. “We’re maxed out on space in many areas.”

Matlock would also love to see the grounds and buildings transformed with new design elements and entranceways, perhaps with a large sculpture and fountain in front of the campus with a new sign.

“I think this is a wonderful area,” she said. “We have warm people who show a great deal of hospitality. I think we can attract new people to the area and the college has a role in that.

“There are many changes in our future,” she said. “A lot of challenges and a lot of cost.”