John C. Brooks: Merged colleges would benefit northeastern N.C.

The March 14 letter “Merge ECSU with community college” suggesting that Elizabeth City State be merged with College of the Albemarle was right on target.

North Carolina desperately needs a four-year residential, high-skill technical training institution that is under the administrative and budgetary jurisdiction of the university system rather than the community college system. It needs the oversight that only the university system can provide.

Then North Carolina can begin to train auto mechanics and tool and die makers and some of the additional 650 craft skills not currently available in this state.

Dorothea Dix could have been assigned this function very economically, but ECSU is a good second choice. This could prove very beneficial to northeastern North Carolina as well.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "John C. Brooks: Merged colleges would benefit northeastern N.C.."