Students received a 30% grade report for their gateway math course via the Starfish retention program. Any student who was below a C at this point was required to have a meeting with their advisor to identify possible barriers and resources to help them be successful.
Davidson County Community College
Active in Achieving the Dream:
2010 - present
Leader College:
2012 - 2015
Leader College
Participating Institution
What We Are Doing:
Davidson County Community College strives to treat students equitably, responding to individual students' needs with programs, services, or activities. The college now wants to use data to determine what interventions work.
With Achieving the Dream, the college will:
- Build institutional capacity to support student success
- Increase the percentage of students who complete developmental math in their first year via mandatory registration for, and consecutive enrollments in, developmental math
- Raise the proportion of students who complete gateway math with a grade of C or better by the end of year 2 through mandatory enrollment in gateway math during the first semester eligible (unless prohibited by course/program sequences) and distribution of a grade report at the 30% point of the course combined with a required meeting with the advisor for students with below a C average
- Improve the percentage of students completing a credential by the end of year 3 by employing more comprehensive advisement, student support services, and mandatory registration in a student success course during the first semester of enrollment
- Examine its policies and practices and adjust those that create barriers for particular groups of students; at DCCC, African-American male students’ scores need more assistance than any other group, especially in math
For Breaking Through’s Ready for College initiative, developed to help low-literacy adults, DCCC has developed award-winning contextualized curricula for 12 different programs of study. The curricula combine individual study, computerized instruction, and small group activities for the lowest-performing students.
Who We Are:
Davidson County Community College (DCCC) is the only college in the 817-square mile radius of Davidson and Davie counties. It began in 1958 as an industrial education center and in 1965 became a community college. In Fall 2009, the college had 4,100 students; 20% were students of color. The semi-rural area's Hispanic and Asian populations have grown in recent years, and the college now offers ESL services to native speakers of 12 different languages.
The majority of students served by the college's two campuses and three centers are economically distressed due to the closure of furniture and textile manufacturers. One in 10 residents have lost their jobs since 2002. In 2009, 81% of the students enrolled in degree or certificate programs received financial aid.
Student Success Strategies
Davidson County Community College is using the following strategies to impact student success:
Students will be assigned an advisor in the Student Success Center who will remain with them their entire time at DCCC. In the future a faculty member who has a connection with the program of study will be available as a mentor.
Students who needed to continue or repeat developmental math to meet prerequisites are registered for the appropriate courses. This was intended to maintain momentum related to progression in math.
Students who have a math requirement for their program were registered for that course unless sequencing for the program was prohibitive. This also helps maintain momentum with regard to math progression and completion.
The student success course being piloted is a three credit hour developmental level course. The developmental level was chosen since the impact of the three hours is minimal on the total program hours.
Students in the pilot group who needed developmental math were registered for the appropriate course during their first semester of attendance.
