CHAPEL HILL – As North Carolina pursues a goal to have 2 million people with post-secondary educations by 2030, the Chair of the UNC Board of Governors thinks the University System can do a better job communicating with other levels of education.

“One thing I’d like to see us do a better job of … is communicate better with our K-12 system and our Community College System,” Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey says in the accompanying video. Ramsey notes that the UNC System trains many of the teachers in the state’s public schools.

“So we need to have conversation about how we prepare those students for the university, or for whatever their end goal may be,” he says.

The UNC System also needs to better understand how the state’s community colleges can help universities meet workforce needs and how students can make smooth transitions from community college to a four-year university, Ramsey says.

With 700,000 students at the state’s community colleges, “They are making real differences in people’s lives every day,” he says. 

Ramsey, a Kinston native, graduated from Carteret Community College himself after studying Marine Diesel Mechanics. He is the founder and president of Jarrett Bay Boatworks, a company that builds million-dollar sport fishing boats up to 90 feet long – the kind used in the Big Rock Marlin Tournament. 

Ramsey shares that when he graduated from high school, he was “perfectly prepared” to attend a four-year university.

“But I chose to go to a community college,” he says. “Community college had the programs already in place that I needed for the career path I had already chosen. And it was a great choice for me.”

He acknowledges that he probably missed out on relationships, personal growth and opportunities that are part of the university experience.

“You can’t replace that with what I did. For me, I made the right choice. But for others, it might not be,” he says.