Gov. Pat McCrory recently announced plans to propose legislation that would redirect state funds from liberal arts programs to “job creation,” according to McCrory’s plan for higher education.
He has outlined his plan on his website, www.patmccrory.com. According to the strategic plan, reforming schools for job creation includes easing the transfer from community college to any of the UNC System schools.
“I think some of the educational elite have taken over our education where we are offering courses that have no chance of getting people jobs,” McCrory said on The Bill Bennett Show, a conservative radio program, Tuesday morning.
McCrory specifically noted gender studies and philosophy courses as examples.
Currently, legislation allots money to universities based on how many students attend. McCrory’s proposed legislation would change it to provide money based on how many graduating students get jobs.
“Starting in high school and continuing through our higher education system,” McCrory said on his website, “we must ensure our students are on the right path to acquiring marketable skills that will lead to a productive and satisfying career. My goal is for every student to get a job after they graduate — not move back in with his or her parents.”
The governor also said he hopes to measure success in a more comprehensive way, but how exactly he plans to do that remains unclear.
Throughout the radio interview, McCrory used UNC-Chapel Hill for examples. The first was a comment on gender studies, the second on the athletic scandal.
“What are we teaching these courses for if they are not going to help get a job?” McCrory said.
According to McCrory’s website, a recent uncited study ranked North Carolina as having one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. By implementing his new legislation, McCrory hopes to lead the state into the top 10 most educated states by 2025.
Rather than funding liberal arts programs, McCrory’s proposed plan, presented in four parts, is to “help students find the path to success that is right for them,” “ensure students are attaining marketable skills to enter the workforce,” “encourage degree completion,” and to “integrate resources across campuses and expand use of technology to improve educational quality and drive down costs.”
According to the strategic plan, McCrory hopes to redirect funds toward strengthening K-12 schools and community colleges as vocational schools.
The Board of Governors hopes to ease the college transfer pipeline for students transferring from community colleges to UNC System schools.
The community college reform maintains that community colleges focus mostly on vocational studies, preparing students for the job market or for attending universities.
According to the Undergraduate Admissions Office, more than 25 percent of the student body transferred to N.C. State from another institution.
“I’m a big advocate of community colleges…[and] the priority of community colleges must remain vocational training,” McCrory told Charlotte Business Journal.
According to The News & Observer, faculty in the UNC system received McCrory’s comments with disdain.
“If we want to create a society of non-thinkers, follow McCrory’s line,” Meg Morgan, a UNC-Charlotte English professor, said. “If we want critical thinkers and world changers, we need to make them look at new ideas and change their lives … based on them.”
