The three-year program culminates with the mandated state licensing exam and conferral of the master s degree in school administration. This distance education program was developed in response to a request made to NC State by the University of North Carolina General Administration. An assessment by the NC State Department of ACCE and the AGC demonstrated a considerable interest in and need for a doctoral study program in adult and community college education accessible to professional educators, especially those responsible for providing leadership for community colleges, four-year institutions, the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service and others engaged in the education of adults. NC State responded to a felt need by bringing this program to western North Carolina in 1993. The current 21 Asheville students began the program in 1998 s spring semester.
All students come from western North Carolina.
A majority work in community colleges. They are scheduled to finish the four-year program this fall, wrapping up work on research and production of dissertations. Classes meet each Wednesday beginning at 1 p.m. with an on-site class and then an interactive TV class with faculty in Raleigh beginning at 4 p.m. The interactive TV class, via the NC-REN network operated by the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, allows continuous audio and video contact between the class instructor and students in Raleigh and the students in Asheville. The Raleigh-based instructor travels to Asheville three times per semester to originate the class from the mountains.