Westmoreland County Community College Profile

Background

Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, Pa. is a publicly supported institution offering a broad range of programs and services to meet the educational needs of the community. The college offers academic programs which parallel the first two years of a baccalaureate degree program, comprehensive occupational programs which prepare students for employment in a broad array of technical fields, a strong core of general education which prepares students to live and work in an increasingly complex and diverse society, and developmental education, which enables students to overcome academic deficiencies in order to be successful in college-level courses.  The college invites business, industry, and community leaders to participate in the development and review of programs and courses to ensure that WCCC provides an up-to-date curriculum addressing the county’s needs for well-educated workers.

Achieving the Dream Goals

WCCC is reviewing its placement tests and scores to ensure students are placed in appropriate courses and creating a developmental studies program to enable them to be successful. WCCC is also developing course competencies and ensuring they are followed consistently, thereby enabling students to develop the knowledge and skills to be successful in gatekeeper and subsequent courses. The college has identified the following priorities:

• Design and implement a comprehensive, integrated developmental education program
• Design and implement a comprehensive orientation and transition to college intake process for all first-time students that encompasses a series of mandatory activities beginning with placement testing and concluding with the end of the first semester
• Design and implement processes and interventions to enhance achievement of student learning outcomes in the eight gatekeeper courses that are the most highly enrolled and/or have the highest failure rates