DCCC Chosen for Competitive National Initiative to Help More Students Earn College Credentials

By Myra Thompson
Davidson County Community College

May 27, 2011

Davidson County Community College was recently selected to collaborate with four other North Carolina colleges and the North Carolina Community College System in a national initiative to develop and share ways to help more people obtain college credentials.

DCCC was selected by the NCCCS office to partner with the four other colleges for the competitive “Completion by Design” initiative that is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Selected for its efforts to help more  community college students complete their degree, diploma and certificate credit programs, DCCC is one of 14 colleges nationwide included in the initiative.

DCCC will share a Gates Foundation planning grant to launch the five-year project. When deciding which colleges to select, the Gates Foundation gave special consideration to community colleges in states serving the largest populations of low-income students.

"We are extremely appreciative of the Gates Foundation for making such an important investment in North Carolina and in the success of our students," said Dr. Mary E. Rittling, DCCC President. "Although this recognition shows that we have been doing many things right, it is more importantly a challenge to us to go even further in our efforts to encourage students to complete their college degrees and better their lives." 

Rittling said the Completion by Design initiative will help community colleges redesign their students’ experiences from the moment they make contact with their college until the time they graduate. “We will work very hard to provide our students with the straightest and most efficient path to the college degree or credential of their choice, one that will provide additional opportunities for employment and further education,” she said.
The Gates Foundation chose a total of 14 colleges in four states due to their innovative practices on how to improve their students’ completion rates. The new initiative was announced during the White House Summit on Community Colleges in October 2010, and in November 2010, the Gates Foundation reviewed grant applications from approximately 130 colleges in nine targeted states that were eligible to apply.
In addition to DCCC, the participating North Carolina colleges are Guilford Technical Community College, which has been designated the lead college in the North Carolina cadre; Wake Technical Community College, Martin Community College, and Central Piedmont Community College.

Completion by Design goals include those that will build on proven, existing practices to create a more efficient pathway to a college degree. Strategies will build on those already under way at community colleges  that focus on improved approaches to financial aid counseling, course scheduling and advising.

Although nearly 11 million students attend community colleges in the U.S., only 22 percent of first-time, full-time students graduate in three years. Graduation rates dropped to 17 percent for first-time, full-time Hispanic college students and to 14 percent for African-American students, according to a recent federal report. Approximately 39 percent of DCCC’s first-time, full-time students graduate within three years of enrolling.

A guiding principle of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the belief that every life has equal value. In the U.S., their foundation works to provide people with the fewest resources with better access to education in order to better their lives. In developing countries, the Gates Foundation helps by offering opportunities for people to improve their health as well as educational levels.

DCCC, a college focused on student success, serves approximately 16,000 students in Davidson and Davie counties each year. With campuses in Thomasville and Mocksville and education sites in Lexington, Thomasville and Advance, the 2011 graduating class included 800 students who earned two-year associate degrees, diplomas and certificates.

DCCC Board of Trustees Chair Beth Parrott congratulates a 2011 graduate during DCCC Commencement on May 14. The goal of the new Completion by Design initiative is to help more community college students complete their college degrees, diplomas and certificates. The announcement that DCCC was selected for the competitive initiative took place May 26 during a press conference at GTCC in Jamestown.