Tuesday, March 27, 2001

By: Holly Barham, PR Intern

Just after breaking their 1million-minute mark, members of the Cape Fear Regional Partnership Network (CFRPN) are in danger of losing access to the statewide network due to lack of funding. According to a letter from Ronald P. Hawley, state chief information officer in the State of North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, " the state will not be able to provide alternative funding for NCIH sites for the coming fiscal year." Each local NCIH site has received partial funding support from the the General Assembly and ITS since 1994.

As the first and largest regional partnership network, the CFRPN is unique because of its longevity and diversity of its membership, which includes 12 public high schools, nine community colleges, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Coastal AHEC, and Pender Correctional Institute.

For the last seven years, the CFRPN enabled these organizations and others to share courses and instructors, exchange information, review issues, and develop applications through interactive video conferencing.

H. E. 'Hunter' Thompson, Jr., chair of the CFRPN explained, "No re-occurring funds have been appropriated for the video services of the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH). Funding for the highway has always been in the form of special appropriations and in this difficult budget year we have been advised that no money will be requested to support the information highway. The General Assembly needs to hear how critical this network is to the students and citizens of our state."

According to Thompson, "sites are prepared to enter into a cost sharing model with the state whereby both sites and the state share expenses (approx. 51%- 49%). The NC Connectivity Council has endorsed this model as a strategy for long term viability of the state network. The state would be responsible for the statewide fiber backbone (IXC, Interlata Exchange Carrier )and sites would pay for local costs (LEC, Local Exchange Carrier) + costs associated with daily operations.

If the state decides not to enter the cost sharing model supported by the Council, and does not appropriate funds for the statewide information network, what would happen to member organizations of CFRPN and the community as a whole?

Tom Fife, dean of James Sprunt Community College, explains the implications for students in Kenansville. "James Sprunt has been receiving courses from UNCW in the undergraduate nursing curriculum as well as graduate level education courses. James Sprunt is located in a rural area and students would have to travel at least one hour to the closest university. By offering these courses on our campus, many people that otherwise would not be able to return to school are now able to do so."

The loss of video services will severely affect educational opportunities for students in all phases of their schooling in North Carolina. In Robeson County, high school students will no longer be able to take Latin classes. The six high schools in Robeson County share one Latin teacher, which would be physically impossible without the CFRPN's Information Highway.

Todd E. Russ, director of Technology for Robeson County Schools said, "This means that our students, who already have limited access to various classes, resources, and technology, would be limited even more in their options."

By affecting the educational opportunities of North Carolina, the local economy will suffer as well. Michael R. Dodge, dean of Information Resources at Coastal Carolina Community College, is concerned, "Indeed, our local economic development contacts report that the availability of affordable collegiate educational programs is an important criterion to encourage employer-friendly/family-friendly businesses to relocate to this area. It also encourages older, established businesses to expand their local operations, knowing that they can attract and retain the best caliber employees who place a priority on the availability of high-quality, affordable educational opportunities for themselves and their families."

Currently the NCIH video services are directly impacting the lives of citizens in southeastern North Carolina. "By losing the funding citizens across North Carolina will lose a valuable resource, " said Thompson. "Without the Information Highway educational opportunities will become even more limited: public schools, community colleges, and universities will essentially lose teachers, classes, meeting facilities for government and non-profit agencies, and the ability to deliver essential certification programs and seminar series. Without their contribution, education will be affected in southeastern North Carolina and the community as a whole will suffer," he said.