As the N.C. State Board of Community Colleges convenes its monthly meeting Thursday in Raleigh, it will likely consider the selection of James Morton to be president of Cape Fear Community College.

Morton, former executive vice president of CFCC, has served as interim president of the college after the resignation of former President Amanda Lee, which became effective Dec. 31, 2017. In closed session March 22, the college’s 13-member board of trustees voted to name Morton president, with three board members dissenting.

There has been criticism, including comments from board of trustees members Jonathan Barfield and John Melia, of the lack of a formal search for Lee’s replacement and Morton’s lack of an advanced degree. Morton holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, according to his profile on the CFCC website.

State Board committees meet Thursday, prior to the meeting of the full board Friday, according to Brian Long, spokesman for the N.C. Community College system.  He said the board’s personnel committee will take up the Cape Fear Community College board of trustees’ request to approve Morton’s appointment, and will pass its recommendation to the full board Friday.

When the state board receives the personnel committee’s recommendation, it has three options, Long said Thursday.

“The options are approval, no action or sending [Morton’s selection] back to the local board for further work or consideration,” Long said, explaining that a “no action” decision might reflect the state board’s need for more information from Cape Fear Community College trustees or more time to consider the request.

He said, “There have been a couple of [community college] presidential candidates that have come to the state board in my time here. In those cases the state board ultimately approved them, but that’s not to say that something different couldn’t happen.”

Long said the state of North Carolina has not set minimum qualifications for community college presidents, nor has the State Board of Community Colleges.

“Each board of trustees of a community college has the discretion to set the qualifications, although the majority of college presidents in the system do have doctorates. But that’s not always the case,” he said.

Nor is a community college board required to conduct a search for a new president, according to Long.

The state board is usually involved in consideration of candidates, however.

“There is typically some discussion between [a college’s] board of trustees and the state board before a decision is made,” Long said. “As an example, Cleveland Community College was undergoing a presidential search and narrowed it down to two candidates. They submitted the two finalists to the state board at its February [2018] meeting. Then the local board decided and submitted its choice to the state board for approval at the March meeting.”

This process allowed the state board to review the information on the two finalists and give the board of trustees feedback.

“That’s what you want to see. It’s the ideal situation,” Long said.

Despite some opposition from the public, as expressed in letters and messages to local media outlets, Morton’s appointment as CFCC president has the backing of the CFCC Faculty Association. In an emailed statement, Faculty Association officers wrote, in part, “The Faculty Association fully endorses the appointment of Mr. Jim Morton to the presidency at Cape Fear Community College. President Morton brings to CFCC extensive leadership experience and community connections essential to his role and directly connected to the mission of the College.”