Building a Collaborative Bridge: Community College and University Interaction and Sharing

This report discusses the establishment of the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST), a collaborative effort between Carteret Community College (CCC) (North Carolina) and North Carolina State University (NCSU). The CMAST project began as a concept in 1992, when NCSU officials and science faculty saw the need for a coastal facility to enable more extensive marine and environmental research. Construction began in 1998, and the facility was completed in the summer of 2000. NCSU faculty and staff are housed on the first two floors and a portion of the third, and CCC occupies the fourth floor, which includes a video-conference classroom, labs for biology, physics, and Internet technologies, and faculty offices. Goals of the NCSU-CCC partnership include: (1) to improve the success of community college students in science and math courses; (2) to increase the articulation of students into core science, mathematics, engineering, and mathematics/science teacher education programs at NCSU; (3) to ensure that graduates will be well prepared for the workforce; and (4) to provide comprehensive professional development activities for community college and NCSU science and math faculty. State and local officials expect that CMAST will provide outstanding opportunities for economic, educational, scientific advancements in eastern North Carolina. (JA)