Durham Technical Community College
For three years in a row, retention rates among students at Durham Technical Community College (Durham Tech) who took a College Success course were at least 30% higher than students who did not take the course.
After testing several ways to improve students' "front-door experiences" Durham Tech attributes its most promising results to the synergistic combination of orientation, Early Alert, and a college success course.
In 2010 the college:
- Scaled ConnectSession as a mandatory, face-to-face orientation program for all new students
- Made the college success course (ACA 122) a first-term requirement for entering students who have completed fewer than 12 hours of college-level credits
- Expanded Early Alert interventions (previously available only to students in developmental education courses) to students enrolled in the college success course (ACA 122)
Durham Tech serves the "City of Medicine," as Durham is known, and the Orange County section of the Research Triangle. In addition to research hospitals and universities, the region is home to numerous biotechnology companies and other high technology industries.
In Fall 2010, 43% of Durham Tech's 5,642 students received Pell grants. That semester, 44% of Durham Tech's students were black, 6% were Hispanic, 4% were Asian, and 58% were older than 25.
Even as Durham Tech focuses on transforming students' initial college experiences, it uses data to inform other services. Its C-STEP partnership, for instance, helps low-income students transfer to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
During 2011, Durham Tech will continue its Achieving the Dream work by moving forward with:
- Redesigning Developmental Mathematics for modular delivery
- Instituting Mandatory Placement Test Preparation
- Developing additional Financial Support Services for low-income students and students who tend to face the biggest barriers to success
- Implementing a Placement Test Online Preparation program with Guilford Technical Community College
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.
Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges
Leader Colleges are demonstrating the power of the Achieving the Dream Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. They show us it is possible to raise persistence and graduation rates, close achievement gaps, and change lives. Leader Colleges embody the ultimate goal of Achieving the Dream, and as such, serve as mentors within our community of learners.
To be eligible for Leader College distinction, colleges must show three or more years of improvement on one or more of these five measures:
- Course completion
- Advancement from developmental to credit-bearing courses
- Completion of college-level math and English courses
- Term-to-term and year-to-year retention
- Completion of certificates or degrees
