Source: PRESS RELEASE, 12/15/20

North Carolina’s State Board of Community Colleges today named Thomas Stith III, the chief of staff to former Gov. Pat McCrory, as the next President of the NC Community College System.

“Thomas Stith is a proven leader with a broad network of relationships in business, education and government in North Carolina,” said Breeden Blackwell, chair of the State Board. 

“He has the skills and talents to lead our great community college system at a critical time. The colleges will play an essential role in North Carolina’s economic recovery from the pandemic.”

Stith succeeds Interim President Dr. William S. Carver, II and before him, Peter Hans, who is now President of the University of North Carolina System.

North Carolina’s system of 58 community colleges – the nation’s third-largest – serves 700,000 students a year with associate degree programs, university transfer programs, short-term workforce training, high-school dual enrollment, career and technical education and adult basic education.

Stith noted that his father started a two-year business school in Durham in 1956. “That’s the environment I grew up in,” he said. “An appropriate education is a key to opportunity.”

Because many workers will need retraining after the pandemic recession, he said, “The North Carolina Community College System will be there to provide that essential education.”

Stith will formally begin his new job Jan. 11, two days before the NC General Assembly convenes amidst an uncertain revenue picture and declining enrollment at community colleges nationwide. But he said he has already had discussions with Gov. Roy Cooper, NC Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and NC House Speaker Tim Moore.

“Relationships are important,” he said. “We’re still in the midst of a global pandemic, and there will be though choices that our legislature and the executive branch have to make.”

Stith said he wants to ensure that the 58 community colleges are financially stable, build relationships with the business community and reach a diverse student population.

Stith served three terms on Durham’s City Council from 1999-2007. From 2008-13, he was the director of the economic development program at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise, where he focused in part on the economy of Eastern North Carolina.

He noted today that his father is from Rocky Mount and his mother from Ahoskie. “There is a part of North Carolina east of Raleigh,” he said.

Stith was McCrory’s chief of staff from 2013-2017. Since September 2019, he has served as district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, overseeing $16 billion in support for small businesses in North Carolina.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in management and a Master of Business Administration from NC Central University, as well as a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University.

UNC President Hans congratulated Stith on his appointment and added, “The University of North Carolina is a dedicated partner to the 'Great 58’ and I personally believe we are better together working towards opportunity for all.”