Dr. Thurman Brock was a part of Craven Community College's story from the very beginning. His first day on the job was Aug. 15, 1961 as the inaugural Director of Vocational Education for Craven County Schools. He went on to become the College's first president, serving April 23, 1968–December 31, 1989.
To help preserve his institutional knowledge from those early years, Dr. Brock wrote an 18-part history of the College in 1984-85 for the school newspaper, "The Panther."
This is the final segment of this series that was intended to give the reader a brief historical sketch of Craven Community College. It has been an interesting experience for me. However, it has not been an easy task, but I have enjoyed doing the series.
We begin this segment with the October 1982 meeting of this College Board of Trustees. At this meeting, the Board approved a longevity pay plan for College employees paid totally from county funds. All employees paid from state appropriated funds had been receiving longevity payments for some time. The Craven County Commissioners had adopted a plan for its employees. Therefore, the College Board adopted the same plan for county paid College employees. This category of employee includes the maintenance personnel and the College Police Department. I commend the College Board for this action, as well as the county commissioners for their initiative in rewarding Craven County employees with a longevity pay plan.
It was in October 1982 that the College Board approved a plan submitted by Dr. L. S. Redd to offer daytime curriculum programs for the Havelock-Cherry Point area. The plan included curriculum programs in Electronics, Data Processing Secretarial Science, and Cosmetology. It would require the College to secure rental facilities to implement this plan. The Board endorsed this idea, and Mr. Roger R. Bell and Mr. Charles T. (Chuck) Denham assisted us in locating a suitable space in Havelock.
Among the personnel changes approved in October 1982 by the College Board were: David Bauer was reassigned as Director of Industrial Services from his former position of Evening Director, Dr. David Tinsley was reassigned as Director of Developmental Studies from his previous position as Director of Special Programs, and Matthew Prescott was employed as a new Business Instructor. Mr. Dennis Holton was employed as first director of our Data Processing Program. However, after one year he returned to his previous position as Director of Data Processing Services with Craven County and the City of New Bern.
Enrollment of the College had continued to increase and facilities in New Bern were very crowded. To help relieve our shortage of classroom space, the Board of Trustees had advertised for bids to build four temporary classrooms on campus. The bids were rejected by the Board in April 1983 as being too high. Therefore, we began to look for another solution. We did find two used modular units which we purchased from Durham County Schools. Each unit contained two classrooms, which gave us the four classrooms we needed. Also, the Board approved the leasing of rental property in the East Plaza Professional Center in Havelock at the April 1983 meting.
In July 1983, Mr. F. Gray Lancaster, Jr. became our new Board Chairman. He succeeded Mrs. Kathleen S. Orringer, who had served as Dean of Students since July 1981. Mr. Robert Myers began his new job as Frances Noble retired after 10 years as my administrative assistant. Mrs. Noble was Mr. R. L. Pugh’s secretary when I first came to Craven County in August 1961. Mr. R. L. Pugh was Superintendent of Craven County Schools and my first boss when I moved to Craven County Schools. When Mr. Pugh retired, Mrs. Nobles returned to the classroom, where she had previous experience as a business teacher. I was pleased to have Mrs. Nobel as my administrative assistant, and she proved to be a valuable asset to me and to the College. We employed her as soon as the College was large enough justify a person of her talents and ability as administrative assistant. She is now enjoying a well-deserved retirement, although she occasionally teaches an evening class for the College.
During odd number of years, one-third of the College Board of Trustees is subject to change due to the expiration of their terms. To maintain continuity, one trustee from each of the three categories will have their term of office expire. It had been a number of years since we had any type of in-service training for our new trustees. We had never had an outside consultant conduct this training for us. So we asked Dr. Gerald James, retired President of Rockingham Community College, to conduct a session for all trustees. This was done on November 11, 1983, and Dr. James did an outstanding job for us.
At the fall quarter meeting in October 1983, Dr. Redd reported on the success of our annual Statewide Fire and Rescue Conference, which was held on our campus the weekend of October 8-9, 1983. Over 300 people from across the state participated. This year, the 8th annual conference will be held on October 12-13, 1985, on our campus. Dr. Redd began this conference eight years ago when he was Dean of Continuing Education. I commend him and Mr. McClanahan, current Dean of Continuing Education, for this leadership in conducting this excellent training opportunity in Craven County. This is of special significance since the College does not have the facilities that it ought to have for this type of conference. One day it will.
Mr. Les Williams was employed to begin September 1,1983 as our carpentry instructor. He is doing a superb job for us in less-than-adequate facilities. Also, the College Board approved plans in January 1984 to begin a new program of masonry. It was scheduled to begin the summer of 1984, and Mr. Frank Wade became our instructor for this program.
At the January 1984 Board meeting, it was reported that the College radio tower would be complete in February 1984. The estimated on-air date for the radio station was to follow in late spring or early summer of 1984. The station did go on the air June 4, 1984. Today, the station continues as an affiliate of both National Public Radio and American Public Radio Networks. WTEB is an asset to the county, the College, and the entire East Central Region of North Carolina as a quality public radio station that provides a public service which other regions of our state had been enjoying for more than 10 years.
Over the past 20 years, I have had the privilege of working with a large number of outstanding people. Craven Community College has given me that opportunity. It is true that the College is behind most of our sister institutions in terms of having the kind of buildings we need to make available the programs and services that the College should provide within its assigned mission. However, we are second to none in the quality of people who have chosen to share their time and talents in making the College what it is today. The employees of the College have the dedication to service that makes this College a special place to work. These people not only make Craven an excellent community college, they also make our community a better place to live, work, and play. To each of you, I am most grateful. May your life continue to be as pleasant as you have made mine. Have a good year in 1985-86.