An interview with UNCG’s associate provost for enrollment management, Dr. Bryan Terry.

By Joseph Abraham, Editor-in-Chief

Published in print on Feb.11, 2015

Over the past couple of weeks, The Carolinian’s news section has reported on the potential of free community colleges across our state and country. To learn more about how the potential of free community colleges could affect four-year institutions like UNCG, I conducted an email interview with UNCG’s associate provost for enrollment management, Dr. Bryan Terry.

When asked about his general thoughts regarding the idea of free community colleges, Dr. Terry had positive words.

“For those of us that are in college, went to college or grew up in households where college was more or less an expectation, it is difficult to understand a mentality where college is seen as a pipe dream…even community college,” Terry said.

“Many of us have friends who struggled in high school but found their “groove” in college,” Terry continued, “Free community college will allow those students who may not have had college set as an expectation for a variety of reasons, including cost, to blossom and find their way to continue the college experience that others may take for granted.”

If free community college is offered, some feel enrollment may be negatively affected at four-year institutions.

Terry acknowledges that UNCG may be affected, but he also believes free community colleges might make it more possible for some students to afford public higher education.

“I believe there could be an impact on UNCG enrollment… although not right away,” Dr. Terry said.

He continued, saying, “For those students who now see the dream of a college degree as a possibility because of free community college, those students could continue their education here at UNCG.”

UNCG is known for programs in business, nursing, music, theatre and dance. While every school has its distinct niches, I was curious if education would become even more specialized, especially for liberal arts majors offered at all institutions, such as English, history or political science.

Terry believes it is too early to tell, but believes the idea of colleges being the right “fit” will still be the deciding factor for students.

“It will still be about fit,” Terry said, “Students will continue to choose to study at an institution where they feel comfortable.”

He continued, saying, “I could certainly see scenarios, as I see now, where students choose community colleges for some courses, four year institutions for other courses, private institutions for some courses and yes even online courses for a completely different learning experience.

“In other words, while students may graduate from one institution, there will be many transcripts associated with that diploma,” Terry concluded.

Regarding how free community colleges would affect the way the enrollment office would try and attract students to UNCG, Terry believes that for now little would change.

“UNCG is a great school,” Terry said, “What the enrollment offices will continue to do is work hard to attract those students who best fit the mission of our institution and graduate those who are already here.”

“My job is to keep an eye on what might happen and make sure we are ready to respond,” Terry explained.

Terry noted that UNCG has already begun working on relationships with local community colleges, but believes that free community colleges might create more partnerships between community colleges and four-year institutions.

“Our new provost, Dr. Dana Dunn, has already started suggesting that we begin working more closely with our community colleges; so, building closer relationships would have occurred regardless of cost,” Terry said.

“However, I suspect that four-year institutions will be communicating more frequently with community colleges to see what partnerships can be developed to ensure smooth transitions for students,” Terry said.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about how free community colleges would affect four-year institutions, but for now, according to Terry, there is no need to panic.