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Sharon
Wright-Watson’s long journey to a college education began with a
mile-and-a-half walk to the Caswell Campus of Piedmont Community College. With
each step, the single mother of five came a little closer to breaking out of her
fast-food job and becoming a nurse.
It was hard but she did well in community college. “Before I knew it I was the
poster child for single parents doing their thing, ” says Wright-Watson, who
went on to become the president of the state community college student
government association.
But she soon learned that it would take more than an associate’s degree to
fulfill her dream of earning a commission with the U.S. Navy. For that she would
need a university diploma, a prize she feared would be nearly impossible for a
former french-fry cook with a community college degree. But Wright-Watson
continued putting one foot in front of another and wound up at North Carolina
Central University, where she is on track to receive her bachelor’s degree in
May.
Wright-Watson’s burning desire fueled her ascent from fast-food worker to
university graduate. But the path was made less rocky by a series of agreements
made in the mid-1990s by educators throughout the community college and
university system who recognized that while both systems shared many of the same
goals, they weren’t working very well together. Both students and taxpayers
were paying the price.
A decade ago, a student in North Carolina transferring from a community college
to one of the state’s 16 public universities might lose as many as 30 credit
hours in classes taken at the community college that weren’t recognized by the
four-year institution accepting the student.
The loss of two full semesters of hitting the books was enough to discourage
many students from pursuing higher education. Legislators saw another problem:
The state was subsidizing courses at the community college, then paying again to
have a student take the subject all over again at the state-supported
university.
Each university had its own criteria for deciding what courses it would accept
from each community college. And students wanting to move on to a
four-year-degree had to run the gauntlet between admissions counselors and
academic advisors lobbying to hold on to as many credits as possible.
“A student was subjected to the individual interests of the campus rather than
the college being interested in the greater good of the student,” says Joe
Watts, director of the National College Access Partnership and retired vice
provost of enrollment management at Appalachian State University.
The inefficiencies and confusion led the General Assembly in 1995 to mandate
that the community college and university systems to work out an agreement
toward more regional cooperation. Their task was to make the process of
transferring from one of the state’s 59 community colleges into its 16-member
university system a seamless process.
Within the realm of higher education, the conversion was an epic feat.
A Firmer First Step
First, the community college system had to switch from operating on a quarter
system, which it had done since its inception in 1963, to a semester system, the
same as the universities. The move affected classes for more than 240,000
community college students.
Next, the two systems had to agree on a common course library so that
3,800-degree program courses would be standardized and accepted by all schools
involved. That meant that English 111 at Alamance Community College met the same
requirements as English Composition at UNC Pembroke. Every single course the
community colleges offered toward a degree program had to be reconfigured, and
faculty panels spent hours looking at syllabi, course content and deciding what
the two-year curriculum should include.
The final result of the legislature’s mandate is a document called the
Comprehensive Articulation Agreement, a document so useful in its ability to
improve access to higher education that some 20 private colleges in the state
also signed on, making it easier for their students to pass between systems.
Since the new rules took effect five years ago, the path to a college degree has
broadened for thousands of would-be teachers, nurses, computer scientists,
police officers, artists and others. Attending a community college has become a
more widely accepted first stop off on the way to a four-year degree.
Since 1997, university transfers from the community colleges have grown by
almost 29 percent.
There are many reasons why students first chose a community college, be it
family or work commitments, or even financial constraints. Tuition at a
community college for a full load of classes can be as little as fees paid by
university students after the tuition bill comes due.
“Increasing numbers of students are coming to the community college for their
first two years, in part because it’s less expensive but also because of the
increasing recognition of the quality of education they can get in those two
years,” says Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community
College system.
And those students who move on are proving they are up to the task. A report the
community college system makes each year to the General Assembly measuring 12
critical success factors shows that 82.9 percent of community college
transfers’ performance is equivalent to that of students who’ve been in the
university system since their freshman year.
“Our students do very well as transfers,” says Lancaster. “Often there is
a dip in the first semester as they adjust to a larger and less personal
campus.”
The numbers are even more impressive, Lancaster says, when you consider that
while universities get to select the students they admit, the community colleges
have an open door policy. Those native UNC System students started out
with better high school GPAs and SAT scores than their community college
transfer peers, but they perform on par with one another in their final years at
the university.
Some critics have said the agreement and subsequent increase in the number of
students adding the community college to their resume on their way to a college
degree has turned the state’s community college system — a role model
nationwide for its technical workforce training — into a mammoth junior
college system.
But Lancaster quickly rebuffs that criticism. “Still less than a fourth of our
enrollment is in the college transfer program,” says Lancaster. “We are
still heavily committed to technical and vocational training, much of it
non-credit.”
Some Roadblocks Remain
A great percentage of students come to the community college with the intent of
transferring, but find they can take a few courses to become certified in
computer software or find other workforce skills and leave shortly thereafter to
go to work.
But there are advantages to the community colleges serving a junior college
role, says Dr. Gretchen Bataille, senior vice president of academic affairs for
the UNC System.
“The community colleges have long been viewed as workforce development
training institutions,” says Bataille. “Now they are being looked at as what
happens as more students benefit from the community college experience and need
a bachelor’s degree to find a job.”
The transfer agreement from the community colleges to the university system is
only a guarantee that courses will be viewed as equal to university courses,
says George Dixon, a senior consultant for National College Access Partnership
and retired vice provost for enrollment management at N.C. State University. It
does not guarantee admission to the UNC System. Students still must go through
the normal admissions process and compete with other students to get into
coveted programs such as N.C. State’s engineering school or UNC Chapel
Hill’s pharmacy program.
“But absolutely, there is a place in one of the 16 universities for someone
coming out of the community colleges,” says Dixon.
And there are still barriers that students in some programs encounter.
While students with enough general education courses are accepted into the
university as juniors, certain majors such as colleges of education or nursing
won’t accept some major courses taught at the community college level.
Given the state’s desperate need for teachers and some other professions,
that’s an area the two sides are working on, says Bataille.
Lancaster believe these so-called “roadblock courses” are the next step in
smoothing the agreements between the systems. “It makes no sense at all to put
roadblocks in the path of progress toward teachers certification,” he says.
“Frankly, it’s insulting that the university doesn’t feel the community
colleges are able to teach basic pedagogy.”
But for every area that still needs smoothing, examples of further cooperation
between the two systems are evident.
Appalachian State University has had a long relationship with some 10 community
colleges in the western region of the state, and in part because of the
Comprehensive Agreement, the university has been able to grow those partnerships
to reach even more students.
Together, the community colleges and ASU offer what’s called a 2-Plus-2
degree, whereby students attend their first two years of college taking classes
at the community college. During the second two years they continue to take
classes at their community college but they become ASU students and are taught
by ASU faculty.
“A lot of folks found themselves at an educational dead end because they were
not in proximity to a public university,” says Tom Fisher, ASU’s director of
extension and distance education.
The common articulation of courses has made the process much easier and allowed
those students to easily plug into ASU’s degree programs without a loss of
course credits. Since the 1999-2000 school year, the number of credit hours
earned by students studying away from the ASU campus has increased 142 percent.
Though not on the Boone campus, the community college-based students are made to
feel equally part of the university with ASU student ID cards, 1-800 phone
numbers to access faculty and the ability to check out books from the ASU
library and receive with it a prepaid self-mailer to return the book.
While students pay ASU tuition, they aren’t charged fees for the services they
won’t use, such as health services and football tickets. The result is a cost
of about $180 per three-hour course, which isn’t far off community college
tuition. “It’s a win-win situation for us,” says Fisher “It has allowed
us to enroll folks who due to jobs and families wouldn’t have come to the
university.”
Making the Web Work
Appalachian State’s program, and similar ones at East Carolina University and
UNC Wilmington, focus on offering courses in disciplines where jobs are ready to
be had in the area. That includes supplying the state’s crucial need for new
school teachers and education administrators.
And improving citizens’ access to higher education should be a priority,
administrators say. Through such efforts as the Comprehensive Articulation
Agreement, North Carolina is seen as a pioneer in promoting cooperation among
institutions. “North Carolina has become a role model for other states on how
to improve access to higher education through technology,” says Watts.
Watts now directs the National College Access Partnership, an organization that
grew out of North Carolina’s successful College Foundation of North Carolina,
or CFNC.org, that works to disseminate information nationally about the
importance of improving access to education.
The premise of CFNC.org is that it’s never too early for students to start
thinking about what courses they should take to gain admission to the schools
that offer programs they are interested in.
Via the web, students can learn about what programs are offered at different
state universities, what courses are required to gain admission there and where
financial aid and scholarships are available. The site also allows students to
complete multiple applications to colleges.
To date, some 300,000 students have accounts on CFNC.org and some 90,000
applications to universities have come through the site. Because it provides
comprehensive information in one spot, some 2,000 high school guidance
counselors have been trained to use the web site to help students match their
interests with the colleges that offer courses of study in those areas.
And now the path to a college education has been cleared — from high school to
community college to a university.
“It’s pretty phenomenal,” says Dixon. “It speaks to the tradition of our
state to support higher education that we’ve found a way for more citizens to
earn an education. If we smooth the way for more people they are likely to do
it.”
Bond Package Fueling
Campus Construction Boom
 The
$3.1 billion higher education bond package led by NCCBI and approved by voters
in November 2000 has created the expected buzz of construction activity across
community college and university campuses. Several key building projects already
are complete while others are in the pipeline. The bonds also are funding dozens
of much-needed renovations to existing campus buildings.
At the state’s public universities, 17 major building projects funded by $65.6
million in bond proceeds have been completed as of June. The projects, whose
total cost exceeded $149.6 million, also leveraged private capital,
appropriations from the General Assembly and other funds.
The project list includes UNC-Chapel Hill’s Robert B. House Undergraduate
Library. Nearly $10 million in bonds drove the completion of major upgrades and
renovations to the building, which re-opened last fall. The tech-rich learning
center now includes a reserve reading room, nine group study rooms, a Media
Resources Center, film and video screening rooms and a computer lab. Students
and staff now have access to Internet-based resources via both wired and
wireless connections found throughout the library, which is also the new home
for UNC’s I/T support center. Originally opened in 1968, the House Library had
become a relic of the age of print-based information. Today, campus officials
view it as a model of what academic libraries should be in the 21st Century.
Leaders at Western Carolina University are excited about the progress on their
$30 million Fine and Performing Arts Center, which should be completed later
this year. The 121,000-square-foot center, which will contain classroom and
studio space, will be an educational resource for students and faculty in a
number of arts disciplines. But the center also will contain a 1,000-seat
theatre equipped with production gear equal to any found on Broadway. Officials
expect the center will have significant economic, cultural and community
development impact across Western North Carolina.
“We have the capacity in our arts program and in the kinds of activities the
Fine and Performing Arts Center will spawn to create a true destination for
Western,” explains Chancellor John Bardo. “When you look at what businesses
expect and tourists want, it’s the same thing that we need for our students.
It’s events, it’s activities, it’s enlightenment, it’s enrichment.”
Western’s Fine and Performing Arts Center will consume $26 million of the
$98.4 million the university is getting under the state bond plan. Also nearing
completion is Western’s new Workforce Leadership Development Center, a
facility that will include advanced music and video production studios along
with lab and classroom space for engineering and technology programs.
North Carolina’s 59 community colleges expect to receive $600 million from the
2000 bond package. As of June, the system had raised nearly $152 million for
renovation, repairs and new construction projects. The state’s two-year
campuses must match state funds with local dollars, either through county
appropriations, local bond issues or private donors. A sliding scale determines
the extent to which local funds are required; colleges in more affluent
communities are expected to match the state dollar-for-dollar, while those in
less prosperous areas get more in return for their local funds.
Historically, community colleges do not rely on the state for building funds.
Thus, when the bond package was approved most had to start from scratch in their
planning for new and renovated space. That has meant most community college
building projects are off to a slower start than those on university campuses,
explains Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College
System. “We’d always like to have the buildings completed more quickly,”
says Lancaster, who is nonetheless pleased with the progress so far.
State bonds, for example, are enabling Johnston Community College to move ahead
aggressively with its campus building plans. The upfront costs associated with
renovation and expansion of JCC’s Wilson Building, one of its more urgent
projects, are being paid for with proceeds from a $2 million local bond issue,
which the campus will repay with funds received from the state. A total of $10
million in state bond money is earmarked for JCC, though the bulk of that
won’t start flowing to the campus until 2004.
One factor few anticipated in 2000 was the extent to which the economic downturn
would impact planning. Community colleges have felt the brunt of job losses over
the past two years, which have swelled demands for both credit and noncredit
programs. Campuses facing dire space needs three years ago find the situation
far worse today. Enrollment at JCC in the last year has spiked by 14 percent,
more then double its average in recent years. “Our 2000 master plan assumed we
would need an additional 300,000 square feet of space by 2010,” says JCC
President Don Reichard. “But we’ve now had to revise that estimate to
500,000 square feet.”
While the economy accounts for much of the increased demand, a population boom
in fast-growing Johnston County has made matters worse for the campus.
“Organic population growth spills over into our hallways,” says Reichard. So
too has the fact that the percentage of the state’s high school graduates
pursuing higher education is also on the rise. The “college-going” rate in
North Carolina, now equal to the national average, along with rising admission
standards and tuition at four-year institutions, has driven demand for space,
Reichard says.
In other ways, the dragging economy has been a positive for the bond package.
For one, rock-bottom interest rates have kept the cost of borrowing down. Scant
construction activity has also given campuses more bargaining power with
architects and contractors. “Right now pricing is generally very good,” says
John Atkins, president and CEO of OBrienAtkins, an RTP-based architecture and
engineering firm. The firm recently completed work on a new 173,000-square-foot
science building at UNC-Greensboro and is renovating the law school and library
buildings at N.C. Central University. It is also working with UNC-Asheville on
the design phase of a $20 million science complex there. Atkins says
bond-related building projects have provided the firm some insulation from weak
overall market conditions, which he appreciates. “It has allowed us, in a
difficult economic environment, to retain our staff and keep things moving along
at a steady pace.” — Lawrence Bivins
Private Colleges Press
Successful Fundraising Campaigns
Times
have been tight everywhere from the boardroom to the assembly hall. But the
fruits of fund-raising efforts by North Carolina’s private universities have
made it appear that happy times are here again. That’s not to say that
there’s more cash to go around than university officials know what to do with.
Their needs are great. But loyal alumni have shown their college spirit in
unprecedented ways.
Duke University has become only the fifth university in the country to crack the
$2 billion mark in its Campaign for Duke. And that’s after university
officials, impressed with early results of the campaign and a closer look at
their needs, raised the initial goal of $1.5 billion. And at Davidson College,
loyal alumni were outdone only by Amherst College in the percentage of former
students contributing to the annual fund.
Davidson set a goal to get 59 percent of its alumni to contribute to a $40
million component of the Let Learning Be Cherished $250 million campaign. But an
anonymous donor’s pledge to kick in an extra $100,000 if 60 percent of alumni
participated helped stoke the fires of school pride. In the end, an impressive
62 percent contributed.
“Not very many colleges in the country get to that number,” says Kristin
Hills Bradberry, vice president for college relations at Davidson College. “We
used that challenge to motivate our alumni. Truly, this was a situation where a
$5 gift was just as important as a $5,000 gift.”
Across the state, private universities are launching significant campaigns to
pay for scholarships, faculty support and buildings.
The Campaign for Wake Forest: Honoring the Promise aims to raise $600 million
and is well on its way with $403 million raised so far. Like Duke, Wake
increased its goal early this summer from $450 million after it received large
early commitments.
Nearby, Guilford College’s Our Time in History campaign surpassed its goal of
$50 million by raising $56.37 million when the campaign closed last year.
And Bennett College in Greensboro, one of only two historically black colleges
for women in the nation, is looking to ensure success by tapping former U.S.
Sen. Bob Dole to lead the school’s $50 million Revitalizing Bennett Campaign.
As of May, more than $9.1 million had been raised.
That North Carolina’s private universities are having success during tight
economic times isn’t a surprise, says Carol O’Brien, a development
consultant and president of Carol O’Brien Associates in Durham.
Most significant university campaigns last for five to seven years, usually long
enough to weather most economic cycles. “Overall philanthropy has been
resilient during down economic times,” says O’Brien, adding that the only
time in recent history that giving dropped in real dollars was in 1988 after the
stock market collapse of October 1987.
The Campaign for Duke was launched in 1996 during booming economic times, but
the rate of giving has remained strong, with donors giving $30 million more this
year than in the previous two years. “We never saw a big dip in giving,”
says Peter Vaughn, director of communications and donor relations for the
university’s development office “We saw a difference in the long term
commitments people were willing to take on, but they continued to give cash
gifts at the same rate and to convert their pledges.”
As of June 30, $1.83 billion of the just under $2.1 billion campaign had been
paid, or about 88 percent, proving that donors were willing to give and give
now, Vaughn says. The $2.1 billion has come from more than 225,000 donors. The
campaign ends in December.
Davidson’s Bradberry says giving has slowed down in recent years from a peak
of $31 million three years ago to $24 million this past year. But she expects
the campaign to meet its goal. The college has raised $187 million of a $250
million goal. The campaign began in July 1998 and still has two years to go.
“We’re certainly seeing that people don’t have the appreciating stock they
once did or the tax reasons to give,” she says.
Schools typically set their campaign goals after researching campaigns at
similar universities, says O’Brien. Such peer data provides a set of ratios
that consultants can use to look at the percentage of giving that comes from
board members and from alumni in different age groups. Some campuses conduct
feasibility studies that includes a series of confidential interviews, focus
groups or questionnaires to see how much certain alums groups would be willing
to give.
For most of the universities engaged in campaigns the money is needed for
scholarships, faculty support, research, new academic programs and new buildings
as well as to boost the annual fund, which is unrestricted money for often
unexpected costs.
“Duke is competing for students and faculty, scientists and doctors with the
best in the country, as is North Carolina,” says Vaughn, referring to UNC-Chapel
Hill’s Carolina First campaign. So far the campaign has raised $1.02 billion
of its $1.8 billion goal, making UNC’s goal the second-largest ever announced
by a public university, second only to UCLA’s $2.4 billion goal. UNC’s
campaign ends in 2007.
O’Brien says that among Duke, Davidson, Bennett, Wake Forest, Guilford College
and others, the schools have several characteristics that have helped them to be
successful in difficult times. Those key factors include a strong sense of
identity and the ability to produce graduates in multiple fields to deliver a
diverse alumni base. The universities are able to target alumni who have been
successful.
But the most important element of a successful campaign, O’Brien feels, is a
leader who can keep the minions motivated and the focus of the campaign on the
university’s mission. “In real estate it’s location, location,
location,” she says. “In fund-raising, it’s leadership, leadership,
leadership.” -- Laura Williams-Tracy
Students
Ace NAEP Test
North Carolina students scored above the national average and at the top of the
Southeast in writing skills in the 2002 National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) test. Officials said that North Carolina fourth-graders scored
better than all but three other states and posted the best scores of any state
in the Southeast. NAEP, called the Nation’s Report Card, is regarded as the
only accurate comparison of state-by-state test scores.
Only Connecticut, Delaware and Massachusetts scored significantly higher than
North Carolina fourth graders on the 2002 writing assessment. The scores of
North Carolina’s fourth graders were similar to the scores of students from 12
states, and there were 27 states and the District of Columbia that had scores
significantly below North Carolina.
At the eighth grade level, three states (Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont)
were significantly above North Carolina, while 11 states had similar scores and
26 states and the District of Columbia had scores significantly below N.C.
students.
North Carolina eighth-graders improved their average score by seven points since
last measured in 1998, and our average scale score was now is points higher than
the national average. At grade four, North Carolina’s students had an average
scale score six points higher than the national average. Fourth graders
participated in NAEP writing for the first time in 2002, while eighth graders
were assessed in 1998 and 2002.
State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee said the scores show that schools
are focusing attention on some of the most critical skills that students need to
succeed in school. “Our ABCs accountability program is paying off in improved
student performance at every level. We’re pleased to see this validation of
the work that is being done in our schools.”
Fourth graders in North Carolina had the highest average scale score for the
Southeast. For eighth grade, North Carolina students’ score of 157 was tied
with Virginia for the top score in the Southeast.
State officials attribute the gains to the state’s writing assessments,
training for school staff members, and the hard work by teachers in delivering
the curriculum.
Because 2002 was the first year for fourth grade NAEP writing assessment,
comparisons can only be made to the nation. In grade four, North Carolina
students had an average scale score of 159, which was significantly higher than
that of the nation at 153.
Grade eight writing was assessed in 1998 and 2002. Eighth graders in our state
improved their average score from 150 in 1998 to 157 in 2002. Eighth graders
nationally improved from 148 in 1998 to 152 in 2002. Only five states made
greater gains than North Carolina from 1998-2002. Delaware, Florida, Maryland,
Missouri, and Massachusetts were the only states that gained more than North
Carolina’s seven points.
The latest scores reflect that more North Carolina students are meeting NAEP’s
high proficiency standards. In grade four, the percentage of North Carolina’s
students’ performing at or above proficient was 32 percent in 2002.
Nationally, 27 percent of fourth graders performed at or above proficient.
Thirty-four percent of our state’s eighth graders performed at or above
proficient, up from 27 percent in 1998. Nationally, 30 percent of eighth graders
were at or above proficient.
State officials were disappointed that gaps in student performance did not close
at an appreciable level on the NAEP writing assessment. In both grades four and
eight, white students scored higher than black and Hispanic students. In grade
eight, the gap between white and black performance decreased by one point from
1998 to 2002.
NAEP is becoming more important since No Child Left Behind, the federal
education improvement act, requires that states participate in the formerly
optional NAEP testing. North Carolina has always participated in NAEP.
N.C. Higher Education Costs Among
Lowest in Nation
North Carolina’s higher education costs are among the lowest in the nation,
while other states are increasing college costs by as much as 40 percent,
according to a survey conducted by the National Association of State
Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
The survey found tuition rising at public institutions in all 37 of the states
where data had been reported. Almost all of the rising costs are the result of
state budget cuts.
“This just goes to show how North Carolina’s investment in higher education
is paying off for our students,” says Gov. Mike Easley. “While other states
are dramatically hiking tuition, North Carolina is keeping college
affordable.”
Tuition increases for in-state students since fall 2002 are as much as 21
percent in Maryland, 30 percent in Virginia, 39 percent in Arizona and 40
percent in California. In contrast, tuition in North Carolina increased by only
5.5 percent.
“While this is good compared to other states, we can and must do better,”
Easley says. “We must continue to work to find sufficient revenue for
education so that we can remain one of the most affordable places to earn a
college degree.”
State
Receives Federal Grant to Teach Reading
North Carolina has received a $153 million federal grant that will be used over
the next six years to boost reading performance of students in grades K-3.
the Department of Public Instruction said it will target the Reading First grant
on about 100 schools across the state with large numbers of at-risk students.
“If we are to eliminate the achievement gap in North Carolina, we have to
remain focused on the reading ability of our students,” Gov. Mike Easley says.
“While we have made impressive gains on national reading tests, more remains
to be done. This grant will allow us to target our efforts on the schools
needing the most help and ensure that all students are receiving high quality
reading instruction.”
“Reading is a fundamental skill,” says State Board of Education Chairman
Howard N. Lee. “The reading scores of our students are improving, as evidenced
by the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress release. These funds
will supplement the work that is already underway under our ABCs accountability
program. We welcome the help.”
State Superintendent Mike Ward says some of the state’s most vulnerable
students would be served through this program. “These funds will be put to
extremely good use to provide teachers and principals with the training and
resources they need to ensure that students are reading by the end of the third
grade. Our Department is anxious to begin working with local schools to
implement this program.”
The funds will be used to train teachers in the eligible schools in the
principles and methodology of scientifically based reading research. This
includes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The
program also will focus on improving the preparation that students in schools of
education in North Carolina receive for teaching reading. Grants may be made to
schools next spring to be used for the 2004-05 school year.
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