Judgment of Compliance: The College certifies COMPLIANCE.
Narrative:
According to its mission statement, Wayne Community College, among others things, strives to "develop marketable skills in all students . . . . enable students to continue their education at other institutions. . . . [and] provide for the training needs of local business and industry." As a measure of its effectiveness in accomplishing this mission, the college regularly evaluates student achievement through its participation in the North Carolina Community College System's accountability process, Performance Measures and Standards. Each year, the college assesses and reports on the twelve Core Indicators of Student Success, which include course and program completion rates, passing rates on licensure and certificate exams, and employment status of graduates. The annual report on the college's achievement of these core indicators is published in print and online in both the WCC General Catalog 2004-2005 and the 2002-2003 WCC Performance Measures and Standards Report as published in the college's 2005-2010 Strategic Plan Guide: Manual for Institutional Effectiveness. Hard copies of the annual report are also provided to the WCC Board of Trustees and to all faculty and staff members. Any constituent interested in the relationship between the performance measures and the planning cycle can access the 2003-2004 End-of-Year Strategic Plan online to see annual objectives that address the performance measures. Finally, the North Carolina Community System's annual report on critical success factors publishes the achievement of the performance measures for all NC community colleges so that they can benchmark against similar institutions.
Course Completion for Developmental English, Mathematics, and Reading
One of the twelve Core Indicators of Success is the percentage of students who complete developmental English, mathematics, or reading with a grade of "C" or better. The performance standard for this measure is 70%. According to the 2003 Critical Success Factors for the North Carolina Community College System, 92% of developmental English students completed with a "C" or better versus the state average of 86%. 2003 Critical Success Factors, Passing Rates of Students in Developmental Courses (The 2003 report was used since the 2004 figures for this measure were not available because of data retrieval issues at the NCCCS central office). In developmental math, 88% of WCC's students passed with a "C" or better versus the state average of 80%. Finally, 95% of developmental reading students passed with a "C" or better while the state average was only 85%. That same year, the college had a total aggregate rate of 90% versus the state average of 82%. In each case, the college's rate was 6-10% higher than the state average.
Curriculum Student Retention and Graduation Measures
The North Carolina Community College System uses the following criteria to define student retention and graduation: "(1) Number of individuals completing a curriculum program with a certificate, diploma, or degree; and (2) Number of individuals who have not completed a program but who are continuing enrollment in either curriculum or occupational extension programs." 2004 Critical Success Factors, Curriculum Student Retention and Graduation Measure
The standard for this measure is that 60% of the fall cohort will either have completed their program or still be enrolled the following fall. According to the 2004 Critical Success Factors for the NCCCS, 61% of the WCC's fall cohort either graduated or continued enrollment.
As a second evaluation of student achievement, the college compares the performance of community college associate degree students who transfer to public North Carolina universities with the performance of students native to the four-year institution. The performance measure as stated in the 2004 Critical Success Factors for the NCCCS report is that 85.9% of transfer students have a GPA of 2.0 or higher after two semesters at the UNC institutions. According to the report, 90.7% of Wayne Community College's transfer students had a 2.0 GPA or higher after two semesters at a public four-year institution.
State Licensing Examinations
To evaluate the success of students who are planning to work in professions that require North Carolina licensure or certification prior to practicing, the North Carolina Community College System has mandated that institutions have an aggregate passing rate of 80%. Also, minimum acceptable performance on any single reported examination cannot drop below 70%. As identified in the 2004 Critical Success Factors for the NCCCS, Wayne Community College's aggregate passing rate was 82%.
Some of the individual passing rates are 91% for Dental Hygiene, 74% for Emergency Medical Technician, and 92% for Nursing. The passing rate for Basic Law Enforcement Training is 64%; however, this percentage is something of an anomaly since the BLET passing rate is generally 15-20% higher. The BLET passing rate in the 2005 report will be 81%. For some areas, such as Aviation, the data was unavailable in the 2004 Critical Success Factors report.
Job Placement Rates
One of the Core Indicators of Success developed by the North Carolina Community College System is the proportion of community college graduates who are employed within one year of last attendance. The standard is that 95% (with adjustments based on local employment rates) of the students who complete their programs are employed within one year of completion. According to the 2004 North Carolina Critical Success Factors report, 99.62% of Wayne Community College students were employed within one year of graduation. The state average was 99.47%.
The Wayne Community College Job Placement Office offers students assistance in finding employment upon graduation as well as part-time employment while they are enrolled at the college.
Documentation:
2003 Critical Success Factors
2004 Critical Success Factors
2005-2010 Strategic Plan Guide: Manual for Institutional Effectiveness
