2000

V·!r- cK O F oa~on, and rr ·e. There z. , :act more ·anges pl - ed than could :-ossibly be re– vtewed in Of'· :lterview." In Februa;- :000, it is ob\

• ~ e.."'l begms.

Continued from page lB ous that tho,. :Jlans have bet;;· reHewed and revised," Smith realized, -d thatgoal.. d All 15 of them would be reached in past 15 years considered major undertakings represent - -:e accomplish- for .ny institution. We have ments thar -.ld possibly be d, \'eloped and fine-tuned and reviewed tr last interview honed all of these to the point Despite · _-d of this era, where our college is recognized Smith scu.::. -as enjoyed be- a~ exemplary in many of these ing the F ~ nt of ECCC areas." There ha\ cne or h''O op· The college's strategic plan- portunib~ co something ning process, for example, was else, "But · ,.a:; never any· planned to parallel or include thing tha· a!org that I the major point::. of the accredi- wish I 1"--- he sa1d. tation process used by the "I'm gla.:. .:?en: the Comm.isslon m Colleges of the past 15 • . ._ _: I think Southern Association of Coi- lS years ~ . .: ~o1.1gh." leges and Schools, the organi- The _:- - s.:;;ne prop- zation responsible for accredit- at is a Iit- ing schools and colleges in an ~~- ........ :;ath." He 11-state district. "Our system of

• State funding has in– c:-eased dramatically for :he college. "When I came here, if you drew the funding share for all 15 community colleges m the state as a pie chart, East Cen– tral was receiving about 1 per– cent of the pie," Smith said . "One of my objectives was to in– crease our percentage of that. It is now 4.3 percent--it has a 1- most quadrupled the amount of state money we receive. Of course, that doesn't include the normal increases through the years." • The college in 1996 em– ployed a full-time director of of development of alumni r ela– tions. "Since then, we have raised in excess of $1.2 million for institutional advancement from non-public funds," Smith said. • The hiring process was re– structured so that a commit~ chairperson makes recommt dations for hiring personnel the dean, the dean makes rec– ommendations to the prestdent and the prestde:-tt to t:-e ooa..: "We have not wa,·e:-ec :nxr. this system even under ;:-:es.,.:re from other sources ~o ~e thts or that person, and this has really paid off. We have one of the finest groups of faculty and administrators you could put together," Smith said. • The college has expanded its offerings. When Smith be– came the president in 1985, the school had ro health-related "!"odav offerings in- ea.--s :-~ .. e structures to the campus as a female dorm and student union building. • "We have cne of the most respected athletic programs in the state, even compared to dis– tricts with many more students than we have," Smith said. At the close of the July 1985

=.o5t important ecce probably has -.u...,cement of the -.age m the district z.nC much of that has greater emphasis m

'='.rum busy, .strategic planning is recognized fe are plan· s exemplary to the extent that ~ have n it has been recommended as a f - emplo) See SMJlli on pag..: 'H _____ · th to retire r 15 year tenure CCC president l =..e ~1 Smith Ez.s: Central

-ela~:ons.

I came here, we had a:; responsible for PR,"

- ;:;atd. "As soon as we .... we employed a PR direc– Bubby Johnston, and since '-"e added an assistant and a ·:-etary in that department." A PR task force was set up to ~.:dy everything that could be ·one to enhance the image of he college. " It took several ·ears, but now we are viewed as fXle oi the outstanding junior ~alleges. not just in the state, ut ;.."'1 the region," Smith said. No .1st of changes, improve–

-:· 1, 1985, returned to !rr'..truty Col– presidency of cl) 1, 2000,

and accomplishments ~ co:np.e:ely comprehen– e"\\ oi -.\e n .gh

r...,..,_,_ to see hol\ the stu– .t can be helped. • Starting from scratch, the -~hool developed a very func– ·onal manual to add ress the allege's policies and proce-

Dr. Eddie M. Smith tion of the college in the dis·

• A summer orientation pro– .am was developed so students