A note from us
Welcome to Awake58 — a weekly newsletter where you’ll find the latest updates on community college related news and events around the state. Plus, a look at what’s trending nationally in higher education.
If you’re new to Awake58, welcome! Emily Thomas here. If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up for the Awake 58 newsletter here. You can also find last week’s edition on our website.
Meet some of this year’s community college students… State Health Plan partnering with Aetna to launch a road tour… Injunctions will stand in Title IX cases for now… A new Transfer Guides tool is available… Registrations for multiple fall events are open… In July, NCICU received a $1.3 million grant to streamline transfer… The link between community colleges and child care support…
Here’s what you need to know this week if you only have a few moments.
The State Health Plan and Aetna are partnering to launch a road tour. They’ll be visiting locations across the state, including 19 of the 58 community colleges. You can view the list of community colleges and other locations in this updated article. The article also includes information about open enrollment, benefits, and more.
A new Transfer Guides tool recently launched. Transfer Guides help advisors and community college students match their credits to four-year degree requirements in specific majors at 16 UNC System institutions. You can find the Transfer Guides on CFNC’s website and university websites. The tool is a collaborative effort between the North Carolina Community College System and the UNC System.
A key civil rights protection is being litigated in courts across the country. A U.S. Supreme Court decision on Aug. 16 will allow injunctions against the Biden Administration’s updated Title IX regulations to stand without limitation. The regulations aim to prevent sex and gender discrimination in federally funded schools, including protections for LGBTQ+ students, personnel, and applicants. You can read more in Mebane and Laura’s Ask & Answer article where they cover the updated Title IX regulations, the lawsuits filed contesting three provisions of the updated regulations, the Supreme Court decision, and what this means for North Carolina schools, colleges, and universities.
ICYMI: As community colleges begin their fall semesters, funding for enrollment growth adjustment is on the minds of many college leaders. You can find more details of the enrollment growth adjustment and budget discussion in Hannah’s write-up of the recent State Board of Community College’s meeting.
What are the implications if colleges do not receive the enrollment growth adjustment? How does the timing of the budget adjustment discussion (Nov. 19 -22) impact your college? We want to hear from you. You can reply to this message or email [email protected] or [email protected] directly.
EdNC is on the road, visiting school districts and community colleges as the new school year kicks off. Last week, I was on the campuses of McDowell Technical Community College and Cleveland Community College visiting with students, faculty, and leaders. The students had a lot to say about their decisions to enroll at a community college, why they chose their career path, and what prospective students should consider before making college decisions.
Here’s a quote from one Cleveland Community College student:
“Explore your options. It’s not all about going to a four-year university when you can get the same education here, and it’s not as expensive.”
You can see more from the visits here.
Be sure to check out more EdNC reads below. You can find a list of higher ed related events and links to register in the Around NC section, and make sure to drop us a note with a press release or story idea. You can reply to this email or send a message directly to [email protected].
We will be pausing Awake58 next week in observation of Labor Day.
See you in two weeks,
Emily Thomas
Director of Postsecondary Attainment – EdNC.org
EdNC reads
North Carolina community colleges celebrate start of new school year
Full parking lots and buzzing campuses, it’s that time of year. Students across North Carolina’s colleges and universities are heading back to school.
As North Carolina community colleges are busy welcoming students back to their campuses, we visited two colleges to see what’s unfolding this fall semester. We met students from all walks of life, all with different plans, and all getting their start at one of the state’s 58 community colleges.
You can read more about the visits and meet some of this year’s students here.
Ask & Answer | U.S. Supreme Court allows injunctions to stand in Title IX cases for now
A U.S. Supreme Court decision on Aug. 16 will allow injunctions against the Biden Administration’s updated Title IX regulations to stand without limitation. North Carolina did not seek an injunction, but some schools are exempt from the regulations:
A total of 205 North Carolina public, private, and charter K-12 schools are exempt from using the new Title IX protections. You can see the full list here.
A total of 19 North Carolina colleges and universities are also exempt from the new rules. The full list can be found here.
A note about the updated regulation:
The updated regulation – which was issued in April and took effect on Aug. 1 – aims to extend protections against discrimination, harassment, and violence related to pregnancy or related conditions, sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
It also requires schools to take “prompt and effective action” against all sex-based discrimination while protecting those exercising their Title IX rights from retaliation.
You can view the full article on our website.
New Transfer Guides tool helps North Carolina community college students transfer to UNC System institutions
North Carolina community college students interested in transferring to a University of North Carolina system school can now use a new online data tool called Transfer Guides to help them with the process.
The Transfer Guides tool helps advisors and community college students match their credits to four-year degree requirements in specific majors at 16 UNC System institutions, according to a recent press release.
This tool has been in the works for more than two years and includes almost 1,400 Transfer Guides. The new tool is said to provide community college advisors and students with “vital information regarding admissions, course equivalencies, and academic programs.”
Read the full article here.
How community colleges provide child care support
EdNC’s early childhood reporter Liz Bell provides a comprehensive understanding of the role community colleges play in providing child care support.
In the midst of a child care crisis, community colleges continue to serve as an important link between families and child care access, and between communities and the early childhood teachers they need.
Any long-term child care solution also will inherently involve community colleges, said Robin Warfield, who wrote her doctoral dissertation on the intersection of early childhood education and community colleges. …
Community colleges provide support on both ends of the struggle: helping families afford and access care, and also strengthening the early childhood teacher pipeline. …
Colleges also use grant funding through state and federal sources, as well as private funds, to help student parents afford care. A handful of North Carolina’s community colleges also operate on-site child care programs. According to EdNC’s research, as well as the research of NC State University’s Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, 13 colleges have active on-site programs. Four more have closed an on-site program in the last four years.
Read more from Bell here.
NCICU awarded $1.3 million grant to partner with NCCCS to streamline transfer
In July, North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) received $1.3 million to partner with the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) to streamline the transfer process and reduce credit loss. The grant-funded partnership includes a statewide transfer portal that will leverage technology from Acadeum to make the process easier for students transferring from a North Carolina community college to a four-year private college or university in the state.
The $1.3 million is a “collective grant from the Teagle Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, ECMC Foundation, the John M. Belk Endowment, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” according to a press release. Lumina Foundation also provided funding to “ensure the involvement of NCICU and NCCCS faculty and staff in the development and implementation of this project.”
Around NC
NC apprenticeship expansion | Gov. Cooper announced a $4 million grant for North Carolina apprenticeship expansion. The North Carolina Business Committee of Education (NCBCE) was awarded the grant from the U.S Department of Labor to expand registered apprenticeship programs in high-demand fields.
Wake Tech to launch cybersecurity bootcamp | Wake Tech received nearly $900,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch a cybersecurity bootcamp. “The 30-week bootcamp, currently under development in collaboration with industry and community partners, seeks to bring STEM opportunities to students typically underrepresented in those fields,” according to a recent press release.
NC Chamber and NCCCS launch TPM Academy | The U.S. Chamber of Commerce selected the NC Chamber Foundation and the NC Community College System to launch a Career Readiness Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) Academy in North Carolina. The academy will train 40 individuals from the NCCCS and the state’s business and health care communities on the TPM framework. The academy will run from August to December, providing participants with the skills to create and sustain talent supply chain solutions and grow workforce development programs.
Belk Center Teaching and Learning Hubs report | A new study evaluating the first two years of the Teaching and Learning Hubs found a strong connection between faculty professional learning and student success. The Hubs provide community college faculty professional learning, “offering a scaled approach for faculty around the state to share evidence-based and easily adoptable classroom management techniques and teaching practices,” according to a recent press release.
Enrollment growth at community colleges | Community colleges across North Carolina continue to see increased enrollment. Davidson-Davie Community College’s curriculum enrollment is up 12% from last year and 24% from fall 2021. A recent press release from McDowell Technical Community College stated the college’s FTE increased 14.5% in the 2023-24 academic year.
Samuel M. Taylor Scholarship recipients | Five community college students were awarded the Samuel M. Taylor Memorial Life Sciences Scholarship, which guarantees them up to $3,000 per student to offset the cost of tuition, fees, and books as they pursue careers in the life sciences field.
Project SEARCH at Robeson Community College | Twelve students committed to training at Robeson Community College. Project SEARCH is a program at the college that helps individuals with disabilities secure employment. “Project SEARCH is offered in partnership with UNC Health Southeastern and NC Department of Health and Human Services, as well as Acceleration Educational Services, which provides on site job coaching throughout the program year. As students’ progress through the program, they are given internship opportunities at UNC Southeastern to determine what the best fit is for their skillset,” according to a college press release.
Forsyth Technical Transportation Center expansion | Forsyth Tech is expanding their Transportation Technology Center. The center will include two-bay diesel repair area, advanced wash bay, custom crane/hoist system, and 10-bay automotive repair area.
Higher ed related events:
- NCWorks Partnership Conference | Registration is open for the 37th annual conference which is scheduled for Oct. 9-11 in Greensboro. The conference brings together workforce development professionals from across North Carolina representing various sectors. Register online at www.train.ncworks.gov. If you do not have a TRAIN account, click on “Create an Account” or contact the NCWorks Training Center at [email protected] for assistance.
- NCCCS Conference | Early bird registration for the North Carolina Community College System Conference is open. The conference is scheduled for Oct. 13-15 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Participant registration can be found here. Click here for sponsor and exhibitor registration.
- Dallas Herring | Register for this year’s Dallas Herring Lecture. The lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 19, and features Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of the Austin Community College District, as the keynote speaker. Check out EdNC’s article with more details and registration instructions.
- Adult Learning Conference | The inaugural Adult Learning Conference hosted by the North Carolina Community College System will take place Nov. 21-22 in Raleigh. Click here to register, see the agenda, and submit proposals. Conference proposals are due Aug. 30.
Other higher education reads
A new educational program for inmates at the Ingham County Jail; Setting inmates up for success when released
Local leaders and Lansing Community College are helping create jobs in an emerging electric field. The college partnered with the Ingham County Jail to add the program for their inmates. The program is a self-paced course and something inmates can choose to complete when they’re released.
Read more here.
And here’s a look at a few more academic institutions teaming up to deliver academic programs in prisons:
Massachusetts has made community college tuition-free. What will that mean for enrollment, quality, and workforce development?
“Harvard Kennedy School education expert David Deming says more people could be attracted to a community college education but cautions about diluting the quality of programs.”
The article is a Q&A with Deming about the growing national movement to eliminate community college tuition and how it may be reshaping the country’s workforce development policies.
