The Belk Center is committed to providing ongoing executive leadership development for community college presidents and trustees to better equip these executives to lead institutional changes related to improving student access, completion, post-graduation success and equity.

The Belk Center offers a Presidents’ Academy and a Trustees’ Institute to provide crucial support to North Carolina community college leaders by refocusing leadership and governance on community college excellence and student outcomes. These programs provide an organizing framework and serve as the centerpiece of community college presidential leadership development.

Additionally, the Belk Center is proud to be the home of the Dallas Herring Lecture. W. Dallas Herring was instrumental in the creation of the North Carolina Community College System. His work widened access to and democratized higher education for thousands of North Carolinians. NC State honors Herring’s legacy by hosting the annual Dallas Herring Lecture. It invites top community college leaders from across the nation to speak on urgent and emerging topics, framing how to address the issues and proposing a path forward.