Cumberland County College
Cumberland County College’s most important objective is to increase student success rates reinforced by available data. The college recognizes that the process of ensuring equity and achievement begins before students leave high school. The college’s high school alignment program assesses the college readiness of students before their senior year, thus allowing students time for remediation and the chance to begin post-secondary education studying college-level material instead of basic skills concepts. New Jersey’s average community college student success rate is only 47%. There are several ways in which the college’s participation in Achieving the Dream will assist in overcoming obstacles to student success. They include:
- Availability of strategies utilized at similar colleges with similar types of students in order to improve student success
- Participation in training programs for key staff members to bring these strategies to the campus
- The availability of an experienced coach and data facilitator to work with the college’s core team
- The use of Achieving the Dream benchmarking data in order to assess improvements in measures of student success
- Possible access to related initiatives such as the Center for Working Families to serve the population of low-income students
Cumberland County College was the first community college in New Jersey to open its own campus in October 1966. Today, the college is still dedicated to preparing students and community members for success in the ever-changing global environment. This institution prides itself on being a comprehensive community college that is accessible and dedicated to serving a diverse community of learners. The college offers 90 career and transfer programs of study and enrolls more than 4,000 students during the academic year.
Based on the New Jersey Council of County Colleges’ newly developed Student Success Model and six-year data set, Cumberland County College’s student success rate measured 52%, but only 25% of the sampling achieved a degree or certificate. Recent data show that 77% of new students entering in Fall 2009 needed at least one remedial course, about 26% of the class entering in 2006 graduated by spring 2009, and another 10% transferred to another college. The African American student population comprises 21% of the total enrollment and another 20% is comprised of Hispanic students.
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
