VGCC earns high marks in annual N.C. Community Colleges report card


Vance-Granville Community College continued to excel by a variety of measures during the 2009-2010 academic year, according to this year’s Critical Success Factors report, which was recently released by the N.C. Community College System office. VGCC’s scores equaled or surpassed seven out of the eight state standards. Dr. Randy Parker, the president of VGCC, informed the college’s Board of Trustees of the report’s findings at the July 18 Board meeting.

“This year’s report reflects well on our hard-working students, faculty and staff, who continue to demonstrate excellence in education and training,” said President Parker. “The data show that whether we are helping an adult get a high school diploma, preparing a student to transfer to a four-year university, or developing skilled employees for local businesses, VGCC is meeting the needs of our communities.”

For more than 20 years, the N.C. Community College System 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. This annual reporting is part of the strict accountability requirements of the North Carolina General Assembly. Over time, the assessment has evolved into eight core standards, or performances measures, including: the progress of Basic Skills students; passing rates on licensure/certification exams for first-time test takers; performance of College Transfer students; passing rates in developmental courses; success rate of developmental students in subsequent college-level courses; student satisfaction; curriculum student retention, graduation and transfer rate; and client satisfaction with customized training.

Among the highlights of the report were data showing that 96% of VGCC students said they were satisfied with their education. Meanwhile, 94% of businesses served by VGCC reported that they were satisfied with the customized training the college provided. The college had 90% of its students passing developmental courses, which was a higher percentage than in previous years and well above the rate for the state system as a whole (78%). Also, 87% of VGCC College Transfer students had a grade-point average of 2.0 or higher at a UNC institution after two semesters at the university. Among all students who had started at the public universities as freshmen, the percentage with at least that GPA was the same (87%). The College Transfer program provides students with the first two years of a B.A. or B.S. degree program.

The entire Critical Success Factors Report is available on the System Office web site (http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/) under Publications.