South Piedmont Community College is set to launch its first College and Career Transitions class when the fall semester begins.
The class, which starts Aug. 16, is an Adult Basic Education/General Education Development class for students interested in curriculum programs in Early Childhood Education, Medical Office Administration or Computer Information Technology. Mechanical Engineering will be added as an option next spring.
“The goal is to prepare students to be lifelong learners, to do well on the tests necessary to get into college, and when they get into college to compete and be successful,” said Kelly Stegall, SPCC’s Accelerating Opportunity coordinator.
The class is being funded by an Accelerating Opportunity grant that was announced in December. SPCC will receive $75,000 a year for three years to fund the program. The grant is funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Jobs for the Future. SPCC is one of nine community colleges in North Carolina to receive grant funding for the project.
While enrolled in the class, students will receive direct, contextualized instruction in their chosen pathways; intensive math tutoring; CPR training and College Placement Test preparation. The class will include components from the Human Resources Development Department and students will learn strategies for success in college.
By the time the class ends, students should be prepared to pass the GED, place into college level courses on the College Placement Test, be fully informed regarding college expectations and prepared to succeed in their entry-level college courses.
“The whole point of this is to kind of revamp or shake up the way that Basic Skills is taught,” Stegall said. “Oftentimes, Basic Skills is taught in a lab type situation where students come in and work individually on whatever they need to work on. This is based more on a direct teaching model. Everyone’s going to be learning the same thing at the same time, which is very different from the way we do Basic Skills now. It’s not only holding us to a higher standard, but it’s requiring more from the students as well.”
Stegall predicts that this is how basic skills classes will be taught nationwide within five years. “While there are other states that have been doing this for a bit, this is something new for North Carolina,” she said. “By piloting it in North Carolina, we can act as models for other community colleges in North Carolina.”
Students will be tracked over a three-year period to determine their successful completion of a college-level certificate, diploma or degree.
Because of limitations in space the number of faculty available, the class size will be capped at 20, but a new class will begin every semester.
“This is a great opportunity for the students who get in this first class,” Stegall said.
For more information, or to apply, contact Kelly Stegall at 704-290-5263 or kstegall@spcc.edu.
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Media inquiries: Jim Muldrow, 704-272-5441, jmuldrow@spcc.edu
