Media Contact Tara Humphries
WCC Public Information Officer
phone 919-735-5151
e-mail tarah@waynecc.edu

For the seventh consecutive year, Wayne Community College has been ranked “exceptional” among the 58 North Carolina community colleges.

WCC is one of eight community colleges to earn the designation of “exceptional institutional performance” by meeting the challenge of new, improved, and much tougher “performance measures” in the annual reporting process required by the General Assembly.

The other community colleges were Bladen, Coastal Carolina, Sandhills, Southwestern, Western Piedmont and Wilkes. The reward for reaching this level is to split all college budget funds that are returned to the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS) office after all budget obligations are met.

“Once again, Wayne Community College is shining bright among all the stars in this state's community college system,” said WCC President Kay Albertson. “We consistently prove that Wayne Community College is a top performing school, regardless of the standards by which we are measured.”

“Earning ‘exceptional’ status is a tribute to the faculty and staff who work so hard to guarantee that this college provides the best educational opportunities for our community. The bottom line is that facilities and technology are nothing without the caring people who are Wayne Community College's ‘critical success factors,’” Dr. Albertson said.

All 58 North Carolina community colleges’ scores are included in the “2008 Critical Success Factors” report, which is a compilation of assessments of the community colleges on indicators of service provided during the 2006-07 academic year. The complete report is available at www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/Publications/docs/Publications/csf2008.pdf.

This reporting is part of the strict accountability requirements of the General Assembly. They are indicators that enable the General Assembly to assess how well the NCCCS is doing its job. Five areas are covered:  student success, workforce development, diverse populations learning needs, resources, and technology.

Performance measures assessing core indicators of student success make up the largest part of the Critical Success Factors. This year, indicators show that the customized training provided to students by every one of the 58 colleges met or exceeded the expectations of the businesses that employ those trained. Also, the students at 56 colleges were more than satisfied with the academic programs offered there.

This is the eighth year that the Critical Success Factors report has included designation of top-performing institutions. From 2001 through 2007, colleges had the opportunity to earn “superior rankings” and, in some years, financial benefits. The first year, only five ranked “superior,” but performance improved steadily, with 38 earning the title in 2007.

Recognizing the need to “raise the bar” to spur continued improvement, the State Board of Community Colleges received from the General Assembly permission to modify the requirements. Previously, colleges had to meet six core indicators of the 12 performance standards to be deemed “superior.”

Working with representatives from the colleges, the State Board changed the “superior” designation to “exceptional institutional performance,” refined the standards to reduce the number to eight, established the requirement that colleges meet or exceed all eight and imposed two additional criteria for “exceptional” status: 87 percent of their students who transferred to University of North Carolina institutions had to perform as well as “native” UNC sophomores and juniors within a designated time and, for each licensure or certification exam for which the college had the responsibility of verifying a student as being prepared for the exam, 70 percent or more of their students who took those exams had to pass the first time they took them.

Other areas measured include the progress of Basic Skills students, the passing rates of students taking developmental courses, the success rates of developmental students taking college level courses, and the retention, graduation and transfer rates of curriculum students.

WCC was one of 15 colleges that met or exceeded all eight performance standards this year, even with the changes.

The NC Community College System enrolls more than 800,000 students in 58 comprehensive community colleges. Internationally recognized for the scope and quality of its programs, the system is North Carolina's primary provider of workforce preparation and adult education.