MTCC earns award of distinction

As legislators and representatives from the governor's office grapple in conference committee meetings with how to best allocate the state's limited resources for the fiscal year that began July 1, Bryan W. Wilson, president of McDowell Technical Community College, has a reason to smile, despite projections of one of the worst budget years in recent memory.

In the recently released document, "2009 Critical Success Factors Report," completed by the research division of the N.C. Community College System Office in Raleigh, McDowell Tech was one of only 11 community colleges among the 58 in North Carolina that met all eight performance standards during the academic year ending in June 2008 and received recognition for "exceptional institutional performance." Of the 14 community colleges west of the I-77 corridor, only two other schools, A-B Tech and Blue Ridge Community College, received this honor.

"We are elated," said Wilson. "We have an exceptional group of trustees, faculty and staff who work extra hard every year to meet the needs of students, businesses and industry throughout the county. But it is especially nice when we are recognized for exceeding the state's performance expectations in every category."

Many schools miss the mark in only one or two areas every year, he added, even though they are fine schools.

Although the legislature has appropriated extra funding for exceptional performance in many previous budget years, it does not appear that there will be a monetary award for any of the 11 schools that were honored in this year's cycle.

That does not dampen Wilson's enthusiasm, however.

"We understand that this is probably the worst fiscal crisis our state and nation have faced in decades, and we are proud to have achieved such distinction, regardless of the lack of financial incentives available to us," he stated. "For anyone considering a return to school or thinking of sending their children here, they can rest easy knowing that we are among the highest performing community colleges in the state."

Financially, however, the school's enrollment growth and budget reversions to the state have taken a major toll on fiscal resources. During the same academic year for which these statistics were reviewed, McDowell Tech also had the second highest rate of growth in the community college system, 21.9 percent. But at the same time the college strained to accommodate the needs of a student body that was 21.9 percent larger, administrators were also asked to revert well over 10 percent of the college's budget allocation in operational and grant dollars back to the state's general coffers.

"It has been a struggle, for sure, but our folks have risen to the challenge," Wilson stated. "We have done without everywhere we can, tightened teaching loads and left position vacancies unfilled across the board. And yet we have managed to provide a high-quality educational product for our students and our community."

"The Critical Success Factors Report 2009" examined institutional performance in eight areas:

-- Progress of basic skills students (standard, 75 percent making progress; MTCC, 82 percent making progress)

-- Passing rates of students in developmental courses (standard, 75 percent completing English, math and reading; MTCC, 95 percent)

-- Performance of developmental students in subsequent college-level courses (standard, 80 percent will pass subsequent English and math courses; MTCC, 100 percent)

-- College transfer performance (standard, 83 percent of transfer students will achieve a 2.0 grade point average after two semesters at a four-year college; MTCC, 95 percent)

-- Curriculum student retention, graduation and transfer (standard, 65 percent of students will either graduate, return or transfer to further higher education; MTCC, 66 percent)

-- Satisfaction of program completers and non-completers (standard, 90 percent satisfaction rate; MTCC, 94 percent)

-- Client satisfaction with customized industrial training (standard, 90 percent satisfaction rate; MTCC, 100 percent)

-- Passing rates on certification and licensing exams (standard, 80 percent pass rate; MTCC, 88 to 100 percent pass rates in various programs)

"I think we are justifiably proud of our performance and I am thankful to our team for their hard work and sacrifices," concluded Wilson.

In the second part of this series, we will look more in-depth at college transfer performance. Part three of the series will look at certification and licensing exams.