Thomas Stith out as NC community college system president | Raleigh News & Observer
Raleigh News & Observer Logo
Heraldsun Logo
detour logo
Raleigh's Best
Education

NC Community Colleges president steps down. He had held jobs under McCrory and Trump.

Thomas Stith
Thomas Stith File photo
Editor’s note: This story was updated Wednesday, July 20, 2022, to note the announcement of a new interim president.

Thomas Stith will step down Friday from his position leading the state community college system.

The State Board of Community Colleges announced the move Tuesday in a news release that did not describe a reason for his departure. Stith also did not return a call from The News & Observer requesting comment, before the news was formally announced Tuesday afternoon.

The board said it would search for a permanent president to lead the 58-campus system.

On Wednesday the board named Bill Carver as interim president. It’s the second time in two years he has served as the system’s interim president; he also held the role in 2020 when the previous system president, Peter Hans, left the job. Carver retired in 2019 from a career at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, including 14 years as the top leader there.

Stith became president of the system in January 2021. He had previously served in staff roles at high levels of Republican politics. He was the North Carolina director for the federal Small Business Administration under former President Donald Trump. Prior to that he was chief of staff to former Gov. Pat McCrory.

“It has been an honor to lead the NC Community College System alongside well-respected college presidents, professionals, dedicated educators, and inspirational students,” Stith said in a news release from the NC Community College System. “While navigating the uncharted waters of the COVID-19 crisis with careful stewardship, authentic collaboration, and unshakable faith, I am thrilled that our community college system enhanced its offerings, making students more competitive for the workforce, entrepreneurship, and transfer to 4-year institutions. That was my job to do and my commitment to our state.”

“I pray the NC Community College Board will embrace a vision for our system that will meet the needs of our fast growing and richly diverse state,” Stith said.

Earlier this year the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges began developing a new four-year strategic plan for the system and also gave Stith his first annual review. Just a few months later, he’s out of a job. The education-focused news site EducationNC previously reported that the four-year plan kicked off during an hours-long meeting in March, followed by a second meeting in April during which multiple board members said they wanted “a more meaningful partnership with the president and system office.”

Burr Sullivan, chair of the board, also did not respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday but said in the release: “The Board thanks Mr. Stith for his service and wishes him well.”

“Despite a change in leadership, the important work of the Great 58 community colleges will continue. The Board remains confident and committed to meeting the higher education and training needs of our citizens and businesses, especially during this critical time.”

Trouble behind the scenes?

Stith’s departure comes as community college enrollment has been down in the last decade. The number of people taking community college courses spiked during the Great Recession. Thousands of people lost their jobs then, and community colleges can set people up for in-demand jobs as welders, nurses, electricians or in other careers more quickly than a four-year college.

But since 2010, enrollment has dropped every year but two, including last year when it rose by 2%. There are still fewer students enrolled now than there were in 2007, before the recession.

And it’s not only enrollment where there are signs of trouble. The Assembly, an online magazine that focuses on North Carolina, reported last month that the 58-college system has lost 25 chancellors in the last three years, as well as nine members of the senior staff in just the last year.

The Assembly reported that an outside consulting firm had told board members in April — when the board also expressed wanting a better relationship with Stith and his deputies — that morale was hurting.

“Rapid staff turnover and a revolving door in the president’s office, they reported, had left employees ‘disconnected and unclear about their role,’” The Assembly wrote about that consultant report.

The board also paid $6,000 for a different firm to conduct a survey of the system’s central office staff. After privately reviewing the results of that survey, EducationNC reported in April, the board “doesn’t plan to present a public version of the findings.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2022, 2:36 PM.

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi is a politics reporter for the News & Observer. She reports on health care, including mental health and Medicaid expansion; higher education; hurricane recovery efforts and lobbying.Luciana previously worked as a Roy W. Howard Fellow at Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative news organization.
Will Doran reports on North Carolina politics, particularly the state legislature. In 2016 he started PolitiFact NC, and before that he reported on local issues in several cities and towns. Contact him at wdoran@newsobserver.com or (919) 836-2858.
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER
Copyright Commenting Policy Report News Privacy Policy Your Privacy Choices Terms of Use