Technical College of the Lowcountry
With over half of the Technical College of the Lowcountry’s (TCL) student population being students of color, most of whom live below the poverty line, addressing achievement gaps among this segment is atop the college’s priorities for student success. The college created its BAAM (Basic Advanced and Applied Mathematics) Program for African American students to directly address the success and retention disparities facing its minority majority population. Campus-wide discussions about orientation, new student advising, placement testing, tutoring and other student success initiatives have been fully supported.
Despite financial constraints, and the limitations those constraints put on the ability of faculty and staff to allocate their time, the college is pursuing the following student-success initiatives:
- Conduct Intake Services and Climate Analysis
- Conduct student focus groups
- Mandatory New Student Orientation (NSO) for all first-year students
- Preparing students for placement testing
- BAAM (Basic Advanced and Applied Mathematics) Program for African American Students
- Establishing a Student Success Center, which includes access to PLATO learning software
The Technical College of the Lowcountry is located in rural Beaufort, South Carolina, and serves the counties of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper.
Over half of TCL’s student population are students of color who live below the poverty line. Additionally, as of 2009, greater than half of TCL’s students were required to take at least one developmental course.
TCL is committed to helping all of its students succeed. The college offers a diverse curriculum, including programs in the liberal arts, sciences, math and vocational education. TCL students are able to work toward an associates degree or certificate in order to transfer to a four-year college, enter the work force, or upgrade their current skills.
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.
