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that Committee presented the report of his Committee as follows:

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Introduction

The pace of change in human relationships has enormously accelerated in recent years. Prior to the first World War the attention of the citizens of this country was focused upon the major problems of developing a continent and meeting the complex economic and social problems arising from a vigorous and expanding population. The first World War forced Americans to consider the relationship of this Continent to the older civilizations in other parts of the world. The second World War brought many new problems, not the least of which was the enormous expansion of the influence of science and technology upon human affairs. This in turn placed many new and difficult problems upon our system of public education. The patterns of the past no longer met the demands of the present. The need for an educated citizenry became compelling, for a state and a nation that failed to understand the forces that were shaping the future could not maintain itself in the fiercely competitive struggle for the minds of men.

Coupled with the impact of science and technology and the vast new power that new knowledge had placed in the hands of mankind was the rapid expansion of our population. This imposed additional problems upon our system of education. Not only must education differ in kind from that of the past, but it must be extended to reach a much larger proportion of our total population.

Governor's Commission on Education Beyond the High School

North Carolina was not isolated from these great changes. It became clear that the state must carefully re-examine the opportunities it was providing for the education of its citizens, particularly at the highest levels, if it was to keep pace with progress. To accomplish this end, the Governor, on September 15, 1961, appointed a committee of 26 distinguished citizens, including representatives of the colleges and universities and those responsible for the elementary and secondary schools, to make recommendations that would improve the effectiveness of our system of higher education. This commission made an exhaustive study of the state's system of higher education and published a report which includes many recommendations that profoundly affect the responsibilities of the University of North Carolina.

In the course of its work the Commission studied critically all the state-supported institutions of college and university rank and the relationships that exist between them. It made a comprehensive analysis of the growth and distribution of the population of the state to determine the areas where demands for post high school education might be anticipated. It was their purpose to prepare a plan for a well-coordinated system of higher education that would be efficient, flexible, and soundly related to the needs of the state.

Their analysis of the distribution of the population of the state led the Commission to recommend the establishment of a system of comprehensive community colleges. These institutions would provide education paralleling the first two years of college and university work, together with vocational and adult education responsive to the needs of the communities in which they are established. Initiative for the development of community colleges would be a responsibility of the communities, and the land, buildings, and 15 percent of operating costs were to be provided by the communities. The state and federal government would bear the remaining costs of maintenance and operation. This system of community colleges would supply educational opportunities for young men and women in the regions adjacent to their location. They are not to be resident colleges and consequently education will be provided at substantially less expense to the students than that of colleges and universities maintaining dormitory facilities. The community college program proposed by the Commission has, in our judgment, such importance for the future of higher education in North Carolina that we pledge our support of the legislation that will authorize the establishment of these colleges.