Judgment of Compliance: The College certifies COMPLIANCE.
Narrative:
Wayne Community College's student support programs, services, and activities are created to support the college's mission "to develop personal and marketable skills, to increase awareness of global and cultural differences, to support local business and industry, and to enhance the quality of life in the community. Effective teaching and learning are optimized when there is collaboration among students and the services that support them and instruction. These services include recruitment, admissions and records, career and individual counseling, disability services, academic advising, financial aid, and student centered activities.
Recruitment Services
Recruitment of students begins with a process of inviting potential students to the college and informing them about the programs and services available at WCC. The college's web site (Link requires internet connection.) provides attractive and inviting descriptions of the programs and services at the college. A great deal of recruiting effort is directed toward the six public and three private high schools in Wayne County. Based on a college telephone survey, WCC's success in attracting recent high school graduates is documented by the fact that it attracts about 31% of the previous year's graduates as compared to 18-22% for other regional community colleges. In addition to high school recruitment activities, WCC participates in the Carolinas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers ( CACRAO) regional recruitment tour. This regional recruitment tour allows WCC to recruit regionally for the more unique programs in agriculture, automotive mechanics, and allied health. Other activities include recruiting at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (SJAFB), area churches, and annual community events.
Admissions and Records
The Office of Admissions and Records is the initial entry point for students seeking degrees, diplomas, certificates, or individual courses. A four-step process (Link requires internet connection.) is used to ensure that students are properly admitted. The diversity of the students requires that the college have multiple registration methods, including in-person and on-line. In addition to providing admission and registration services, this office is responsible for maintaining web-based services for transcripts, grades, academic program completion, class schedules, and student profiles. Students can also request transcripts and enrollment verifications on-line through Webadvisor.
Counseling Services
The Career Assessment and Training Center (Link requires internet connection.) provides for assessment and assistance in exploring various career choices. Counseling Services (Link requires internet connection.) provides program information, placement testing (Link requires internet connection.), focus workshops, and classroom presentations.
Student Disability Services
Disability Services (Link requires internet connection.) plays a pivotal role in ensuring that students with disabilities have equal access to and participation in all programs of study. To ensure that students have access to the legal, procedural, and educational information regarding disability services, this information is available in the catalog, student handbook, and the college's website.
Academic Advising
Academic advising is a multi-faceted process, which includes counselors, faculty, and the advising center. Counselors advise special credit students (students who have not declared a major). Faculty in non-transfer program areas advise their students, and developmental faculty advise high-risk developmental students (students who are taking two or more of the lowest level developmental courses). The new Advising Center is designed for transfer students to receive appropriate academic advising at any time during the semester. A more thorough description of the College Transfer Advising Center can be found in Comprehensive Standard 3.4.9.
Financial Aid
The Financial Aid Office (Link requires internet connection.) offers a comprehensive program of student assistance, which includes federal, state, institutional, private, and local fund sources. Financial aid processes are completed electronically with the Department of Education and the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC). The majority of Stafford Loans are processed electronically. All veteran certifications are processed electronically. These electronic procedures have resulted in the reduction of approval time for financial assistance from six weeks to less than two weeks.
Student Centered Activities
Student activities offer leadership, recreational, social, and cultural opportunities that enhance the student's educational experience. Students are encouraged to create major-specific and interest-specific clubs (Link requires internet connection.) through the Student Government Association (Link requires internet connection.) (SGA). There are twenty sponsored clubs on campus. Students who want to form a club must follow the procedure specified in the WCC Student Handbook. One of the newer clubs is the International Students' Club, formed in 2000 in response to the growing number of international students on campus and their desire for a forum. WCC believes these organizations are critical to student engagement and retention.
