Stories & Case Studies
Nestled in the Roanoke Valley of eastern North Carolina, Halifax Community College (HCC) serves the rural counties of Halifax and Northampton. Both counties are considered “Tier 1” by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, meaning they are among the most economically distressed counties in the state. But the college is a major engine for economic mobility and an anchor in the region.
“We are fortunate to be a Tier 1 community with a community college,” says Dr. Patrena Elliott, president of HCC.
For more than 50 years, the college has brought education and certification opportunities to learners in rural North Carolina. As a member of ATD’s Building Resiliency in Rural Communities for the Future of Work cohort, HCC has accelerated its efforts to transform institutional systems that better equip the college to give its students — and its community — tools for success in a rapidly changing workforce.
A new approach to advising
HCC has recently transformed its advising model, an effort that began in 2020 with the college’s quality enhancement plan, which aimed to streamline and enhance the advising process on campus. After a comprehensive data-gathering process, HCC leadership and faculty made the choice to transition from a faculty advising model to a collaborative one that includes dedicated advising staff.
One of the most important factors leading to this transition was continuity for learners. There was a need for advising during the summer, when many faculty on nine-month contracts were not available. Leadership also recognized the value in having staff advisors who can support students throughout their academic journeys.
“From the day they arrive on campus until they graduate, we want to ensure students have the support they need to succeed,” says President Elliott.
Photo courtesy of Halifax Community College
In 2024, HCC received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which provided critical support to the college’s advising redesign process. The funding enabled the college to establish the new Student Academic Success Center (SASC), a single point of access to academic, personal, and professional resources for students. The grant also allowed HCC to hire dedicated staff advisors — called academic advising coaches.
Laquanna Sledge, HCC’s director of institutional research and effectiveness, stressed that the academic advising coaches do much more than help students strictly with academic preparation. Through the SASC, they also connect learners to internship opportunities both on and off campus, facilitate tutoring opportunities between students, and set learners up for career success. Sledge says this approach to advising, where HCC aims to shape and develop “the holistic student,” was a product of conversations with ATD coaches.
“We’re making sure we’re attentive to the student to ensure that they graduate, they’re employable … that we meet them where they are,” Sledge says.
Democratizing data
The transformation of HCC’s advising structure is one of many recent efforts informed by a deep institutional commitment to data-informed leadership and decision-making.
As part of the Rural Resiliency initiative, Sledge has helped lead campus-wide efforts to improve data literacy and data communication. She has held one-on-one conversations with program leaders to review their data and show them how information can be a tool not just to assess progress toward Rural Resiliency goals but also to tell their program’s story and “draw a road map to improvement,” as Sledge says.
College leadership is invested in fostering a culture of evidence on campus, where all staff and faculty are increasingly equipped to use data as a problem-solving tool. President Elliott says one of the most important changes has been helping team members become even more “comfortable” with interdepartmental collaboration for data collection and evaluation purposes. As HCC prepares to submit its fifth-year accreditation report with SACSCOC, this added comfort will be especially empowering as leaders compile, analyze, and make sense of institutional data to present to its accrediting agency.
“Data is important in all of our work,” President Elliott says. “Now it’s not just seen as Ms. Sledge’s job.” Instead, it’s a shared responsibility — and asset — across the institution.
Dr. Levy Brown, vice president of academic and student success, views this shared responsibility through the lens of “data democracy.” The college has recently adopted a digital analytics platform, which Dr. Brown says will give more staff and faculty access to institutional data. This democratization of information helps to foster not just a culture of evidence but also one of support: When data is shared and accessible, faculty engagement is more sustainable.
Advancing Rural Student Success in the Digital Economy
Culture of evidence is one of four essential conditions for success identified in Advancing Rural Success in the Digital Economy, a report from ATD and Education Northwest that shares outcomes and lessons learned from the seven Rural Resiliency cohort colleges.
Download the Report
Continued commitment
While the college’s philanthropically supported work with the Rural Resiliency initiative has concluded, HCC continues to sustain and accelerate its efforts to serve as a catalyst for growth in the community. The college has seen increased student engagement in advising events held through the SASC, and advising staff are leaning into professional learning through “boot camps” and microcredentialing opportunities.
Sledge’s team continually assesses how the new advising model is working for students and staff, updating policies and processes based on the information they gather. The college has also transferred leadership of its retention software to the advising staff, which Sledge says led to a more streamlined, unified approach to key student success metrics.
In March 2026, HCC became an ATD Network Leader College, a designation that reflects the college’s meaningful progress in expanding access and early momentum, advancing student success strategies, and growing institutional capacity through policy and culture. The recognition is just one affirmation of the college’s commitment to its vision: to be a catalyst for educational, cultural, and economic progress in the Roanoke Valley.
Photo courtesy of Halifax Community College
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This blog post is part of a series that celebrates the work of seven rural colleges that participated in ATD’s Building Resiliency in Rural Communities for the Future of Work initiative, first launched in 2020. Through coaching, tools, and peer learning opportunities, the initiative aimed to strengthen institutional capacity, foster a culture of evidence, advance equitable student success, align programs with workforce needs, and prepare students for careers in the digital economy.
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