Randolph Community College was one of 11 community colleges in North Carolina that met "Exceptional Institutional Performance (EIP)" standards in the annual accountability measures for North Carolina's 58 community colleges, according to a report released yesterday. In addition to meeting or exceeding all eight system standards, these 11 schools met additional performance goals. Those goals were achieving the college performance rates of students who began in, rather than transferred into, the UNC System and attaining at least a 70 percent passing rate for students who sit for a licensure or certification exam for the first time. The accountability measures are based on 2008-09 academic year data.
Additionally, RCC was one of only four colleges in the state who achieved EIP two years in a row. "There is not a college president in this state who is more proud of his or her college's faculty and staff," said RCC President Robert S. Shackleford Jr. "These are not easy standards to meet, so that is why 47 schools did not meet them. We knocked it out of the ballpark."
Randolph Community College's performance on the eight standards were as follows:
• Progress of basic skills students: state benchmark-75%; RCC-78%
• License/Certification Pass Rates: state benchmark-80%; RCC-88%
(for exceptional performance, no exam can be lower than a 70%)
• Performance of College Transfer Students: state benchmark-86% with a 2.0+ GPA; RCC-90% with a 2.0+ GPA.
(for exceptional performance, need to meet or exceed the performance of native UNC students)
• Passing rates in Developmental Courses: state benchmark-75%; RCC-93%
• Success Rate of Developmental Students in Subsequent College Level Courses: state benchmark-80%; RCC-90%
• Student Satisfaction of Completers and Non-Completers: state benchmark-90%; RCC-93%
• Curriculum Student Retention, Graduation & Transfer: state benchmark-65%; RCC-72%
• Business/Industry Satisfaction with Services Provided: State Benchmark-90%; RCC-94%.
The 2010 Critical Success Factors report released Thursday by the North Carolina Community College System shows that all 58 community colleges achieved the following:
• Exceeded the System's goal of 65 percent or more of degree students completing their education, transferring to another higher education institution or returning to continue their education.
• Surpassed the standard of developmental course completers passing college-level English and math courses. Increasing this rate is critical to improving overall student success rates at community colleges.
• Posted a 90 percent or higher student satisfaction rating from both student completers and non-completers.
"At a time when N.C.'s community colleges are straining to meet the demands of unprecedented enrollment growth, these measures are an excellent indication that students continue to receive high-quality education and training," said N.C. Community College System President Dr. Scott Ralls. "Student success and retention are extremely important as we focus on what it takes to train the workforce of the future. The successes demonstrated in this report show colleges understand what is expected of them and are going above and beyond to meet and exceed the goals set for them even in times of economic difficulty."
For more than 20 years, the NCCCS has annually compiled an assessment of its 58 colleges based on a variety of indicators related to service, student success and performance during the previous academic year. Over time, the assessment has evolved into eight core accountability standards. Any college not achieving any of the eight standards is required to submit an action plan for improving performance to the State Board of Community Colleges.
A full report and a summary can be found at the following links:
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/Publications/docs/Publications/csf2010.pdf
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/pr/newsreleases/2010/SUMMARY2010.pdf
