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Savoring The Sweet Taste of Success: Part II

(McDowell Scores Big in Community College Report)

Story by Michael Lavender

Community colleges, like businesses, non-profits, and similar institutions, are periodically evaluated and compared to their peers against criteria which are believed to highlight differences in performance and quality of education. After a recent evaluation of each of the state’s 58 community colleges, as outlined in “2009 Critical Success Factors Report,” McDowell Technical Community College was judged to be an institution of “exceptional performance,” one of only eleven in the state receiving such honor. To be deemed “exceptional,” community colleges had to meet or exceed standards set by the NC Community College System Office in eight critical areas, and their graduates who transferred to the university system had to meet or exceed the grade averages of “native” UNC system students, those who had entered UNC as freshman.

“Some of the most interesting data contained in the report,” said Dr. Bryan W. Wilson, President at McDowell Tech, “is the passing rate of McDowell Tech graduates who subsequently take state licensing or certification exams in their respective area of study.” This is critical information, he said, because no matter how well a student performed on class work while he or she was in college, if that person cannot pass an exam designated for his or her profession, he or she cannot be licensed or certified to practice in that area. A graduate of a licensed practical nursing program cannot become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), for example, if he or she fails the Practical Nursing Education Exam.

Overall, 10,490 graduates throughout the state tested in one of 11 primary fields, such as Basic Law Enforcement Training and Dental Hygiene. Some areas, such as Cosmetic Arts are further subdivided into specialty areas like Cosmetology, Esthetics and Manicuring Technology. Not all colleges have programs or graduates in each of the fields, but most have programs and test-takers in several areas.

Of the 90 MTCC graduates who took exams during the academic year ending June, 2008, 84 passed and were eligible to be licensed or certified in their respective fields, yielding an aggregate pass rate of 93% for McDowell Tech graduates. Statewide, only three of the 58 colleges had higher pass rates than McDowell Tech, and only one of those was west of the I-77 corridor extending north and south through Statesville and Charlotte.

“We are quite proud of our graduates,” said Shirley Brown, Vice-President for Learning and Student Services. MTCC students sat for exams in Nursing (PNE/LPN and RN), Emergency Medical Technician (Basic and Intermediate), Cosmetic Arts (Cosmetology, Cosmetology Instructor, Esthetics and Apprentice) and Basic Law Enforcement Training. “All of our program areas exceeded standards set by the state,” Brown stated. In Cosmetology, seven students completed an exam, with a passing rate of 100%; One took the Cosmetology Instructor exam, with a passing rate of 100%; Five sat for the Esthetics exam, with 100% passing; Five also took the Cosmetology Apprentice exam, with 100% passing; Twenty students took the EMT Basic exam, with 90% passing; Six took EMT Intermediate, with 100% passing; Twelve graduates completed the Basic Law Enforcement exam, with 100% passing; and thirty-four students sat for the Practical Nursing Education exam, with a passing rate of 88%. McDowell Tech students who graduated from Foothills Nursing Consortium, along with graduates of Isothermal and Cleveland Community Colleges, took the Registered Nursing exam, with an 83% passing rate for the sixty-nine graduates who took the exam. (The state does not break down the passing rate of test-takers from each of the schools within that consortium.)

McDowell Tech is one of the smaller schools within the NC Community College System, with 1176 FTE generated last year. FTE is an acronym for full-time equivalent. One FTE is defined as one student taking 16 semester hours of credit for two semesters per academic year, or a combination of part-time students earning 16 credit hours during the same time period. College funding is primarily based on the number of FTE a college generates during the preceding academic year.

“Ironically,” said Dr. Wilson, “we are one of only two schools with under 1500 FTE who were deemed to be ‘exceptional,’ over the last two years, and the only one this year. Were it not for the hard work of our instructors in each of these curriculum areas, we would not have fared so well. It is very difficult for small schools to achieve numbers like these. One or two students performing poorly can seriously affect passing rates at small schools, where those same numbers at a larger school would hardly cause a ‘blip’ in the statistics.”

This is the second of a three-part series on community college performance. Part three of the series will look at the success of college transfer graduates in subsequent college-level work.