Perkins End of Year Evaluation CATAWBA VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Perkins funding made a difference at our college by: ◦Providing supplemental funds that partially paid for programs that impacted over 4000 students, potential students, and community members. Activities included 15, 646 student assistance sessions for 20, 466 hours while serving 3,286 students and included over 500 career center sessions.

Our college’s best practice using Perkins funds is: ◦The funding that helps support our Career Center programs. It allows us to maintain a presence during the entire process of student contact and gives us the opportunity to focus on problem areas such as recruitment of nontraditional students. Besides its numerous other functions, the Career Center has worked with job placement for 116 employers thus far in 2016.

Our College Perkins Team: NameTitle Phone Tim PeelerDirector, Learning Assistance Program Ext Gary MullerDean, School of Business, Industry, and Technology. Ext Wanda HorvathCounselor/Students with Disabilities Program and Special Programs Ext Teresa RayDirector, Career Counseling Services Ext. 4690

1. We strengthened the academic, career and technical skills of our students by: ◦Offering a coherent sequence of course offerings that lead to degrees and certificates. Career and Technical Students are integrated into core academic courses that require the same rigor as college transfer sequences. ◦In , Student Services and CTE personnel collaborated to assure that financial aid is available to all certificate, diploma, and degree seeking students. ◦Faculty meet regularly with advisory committees that include industry members and are active in professional associations. ◦Sponsored travel for faculty and advisors for our SkillsUSA team, both state and national competitions. Skills team members placed at least first or second in 28 out of 34 competitions entered in Greensboro. CVCC was given the national Silver Award, and team advisor, Tammy Muller was awarded Advisor of the Year for North Carolina.

2. We linked career and technical education at the secondary level with career and technical education at the postsecondary level: Our efforts include: ◦Career & College Promise led by Sarah McBride, CCP/High School Liaison. Sarah works with our local high schools’ CCP and Cohort programs. Enrollment for these programs in was as follows: CCP: 249/250; CTE PW: 138/98; CTE: non-PW: 11/11; Challenger HS: 372/298. ◦Apprenticeship Catawba was directed by Kimberly Propst. ◦Advanced Manufacturing Week ◦Create Your Future plant tours ◦Employer Showcase ◦Advanced Manufacturing Day ◦Education Matters Career Prep Conference attended by 350 high school seniors.

3. We provided students with strong experience in, and understanding of all aspects of an industry by: ◦Some examples include: Education Matters Program and STEM tours as well as plant tours. In five and a half years, 9,000 8 th grade students have toured. This year, 1,937. Other activities included the EXTREME STEM Teacher Tour for Newton-Conover Middle School and the Bunker Hill High School Sophomore Tour for 175 students. ◦EM collaborated with industry and the local Chamber of Commerce to develop a website and series of videos for HOT jobs in the area. ◦Our Furniture and Manufacturing Academy also provides hands-on experience. ◦Additionally we have a strong Work Based Learning Program with 150+ students on schedule to complete their experience this academic year. ◦Fifty-five students successfully completed WBL 110 this year.

4. We developed, improved, or expanded the use of technology in career and technical education by: ◦We implemented Focus 2 Career Planning System which is utilized by local high school groups, high school summer internship groups, the Manufacturing Academy students, and is available to all prospective students, students, and alumni. ◦Purchased a software program update for an EMS training mannequin. ◦Purchased update software for the Read and Write Gold program for learning labs and developmental classroom labs. ◦With remaining funds, we will purchase Camtasia software to edit and create ADA compliant videos for classes.

5. We provided professional development by: ◦The Career Center hosted LEAD training by using LMI Career tools: Career Clusters Guide, Reality Check for CVCC faculty/staff and community. CTE staff from local high schools, NCWorks Career Center staff, and other community agencies attended. ◦Provided workshops for students/faculty/staff about Vocational Rehabilitation to enhance students’ ability to complete training and enter the workforce. ◦Worked closely with high school counselors to assure students in CTE programs received services and accommodations. ◦Provided travel, etc. for EMT director’s professional development trip and certification conference.

6. We developed and implemented evaluations of our career and technical education programs by: ◦All programs are evaluated yearly using institutional goals and assessments instrument. ◦Budget requests are a part of this process as well. ◦This is part of a campus-wide initiative directed by the Office of Accountability, Efficiency, and Effectiveness.

7. We Initiated, improved, expanded, and modernized quality career and technical education programs, including relevant technology by: ◦We continue to develop pathway programs in collaboration with high schools in our service area. Most popular CTE pathway programs are Cosmetology, Criminal Justice, and Welding. ◦Added a completely online entrepreneurship program. ◦Continue to develop collaboration with industry in Furniture Academy Programs; one is in place on East Campus, another to be opened at Alexander Campus this summer. Both programs employ the latest in furniture technology and are taught by employees of “high-end” furniture companies. ◦The Furniture Academy won the Governor’s Award for Workplace Innovation this year.

8. We provided services and activities that are of sufficient size, scope, and quality to be effective as evidenced by: ◦Our Career Center offered a job search preparation event, Destination Employment. The event targeted the students in the School of Business, Industry and Technology (all students were welcome). During the event, students received career coaching by Nicole Greer, Founder and Lead Coach of Vibrant Coach, LLC. Discussion of employers' expectations followed. Local employers: Axjo, Transportation Insight, Target Distribution, Hanes Industries, and Vanguard Furniture participated in presentation and panel discussion. ◦Career Center coordinated the Spring 2016 Job Fair with 98 employers, 8 educational/community resource groups, 116 exhibitors, and 500+ job seekers. ◦CC also conducted more than 500 career assessment, career/educational planning, job search prep sessions, and mock interviews. ◦Learning Assistance Center serves approximately 3,500 students per year, offering professional and peer tutoring in most content areas, a Peer Mentoring Program, and Student Success Workshops that include: Brain-Based Learning, Time Management, Note Taking Skills, School Stress and Anxiety, Study Skills, Test Taking Skills, and Critical Thinking.

9. We provided activities to prepare special populations students who are enrolled in CTE courses by: ◦CVCC provided an extensive service to students offering assistance with transportation, child care, community resource information, FAFSA information, academic advising, a full service career center, disabilities testing, assistive technology, and open computer labs, to name a few. ◦Our counselor is a member of Disability Services Advisory Board to work on ways all colleges in the system can improve services to students with disabilities. ◦Also a member of several community agencies to collaborate with securing services to encourage retention. ◦Trained students to use innovative technology in order to help increase productivity when dealing with a disability. ◦Counselor is on the Transition Team for Catawba County Schools.

Closing Thoughts ◦We continue to look for ways to better serve our student population and community with the money that has been granted to our institution.