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Student Achievement & Success

Student Achievement & Success

The mission of Northeastern Technical College (NETC) is to "prepare the workforce of Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Dillon counties through education and training." In order to evaluate success with respect to student achievement of the mission, a variety of data and information are collected and analyzed that are appropriate to the College. Included in these analyses are retention, state licensure exams, graduate production, and graduate placement (program evaluation). These student achievement indicators were chosen from performance funding indicators set by the South Carolina Technical College System (SCTCS). These criteria are appropriate to open admission two year institutions, provide data to evaluate the College's progress toward achieving its mission, and serve as system level performance measures that determine appropriation of new state dollars. A summary of each of the student achievement indicators is provided below.

Retention Rates

Retention is one of NETC's strategic goals incorporated in the College's planning process. To gauge the degree to which the College succeeds in fostering retention, the College compares its fall to spring persistence (retention) rate to the performance funding indicators target of 71%. This target is appropriate for the College as it is set by the SCTCS. Persistence is defined as the percentage of credit students enrolled in the fall term that enrolled for the following spring term, minus those students who graduated before spring term. Persistence rates for the past five academic years compares NETC's rate with the SCTCS target and the other technical colleges in South Carolina. In 2015-16, NETC's persistence rate was 75.1%, above the target of 71% set by the performance funding indicators and above the overall SCTCS rate of 72.5%. The College has formed a Recruitment and Retention Committee to address student retention concerns.

State Licensure Examinations

The College evaluates licensure pass rates annually. NETC has two programs that have licensure examinations – the Practical Nursing Program (LPN) and the Associate Degree in Nursing Program (ADN). Students in the LPN program take the NCLEX-PN, and the students in the ADN program take the NCLEX-RN upon completion of their study. Licensure examinations are fundamental in ensuring the quality of student learning and exhibiting student achievement. Nursing faculty, the Nursing Department Head, Dean of Instruction, and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services monitor the first-time pass rates of the NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN examinations and use these results for program improvements. The first-time pass rates of the NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN examinations are also reported to the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) to fulfill Institutional Effectiveness reporting requirements. NETC strives to be within 5% of the national pass rate for the NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN, based on National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) standards. This target is appropriate for NETC, as a pass rate that is more than 5% below the annual national pass rate is deemed deficient by the NCSBN. In 2015, NETC's pass rate for the NCLEX-RN was 90.48%, well above of the 5% range of the national pass rate of 84.51%. NETC's 2015 pass rate for the NCLEX-PN was 70.59%, which was below the national pass rate of 81.89%. Passing rate reports for the past five years of NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN examinations compares NETC's pass rates with the national pass rates.

Graduate Production Rates

The graduate production rate is a measure that reflects NETC's fulfillment of workforce development. This rate includes all awards for degrees, diplomas, and certificates and is not cohort specific. The graduate production rate is calculated by dividing the unduplicated graduate headcount by the fall term unadjusted FTE. NETC's target level of achievement for the graduate production rate reflects the SCTCS performance funding indicators target of 20%. The target rate of 20% is appropriate for the College as it is set by the SCTCS. In 2015-16, NETC's graduate production rate was 27.78%, above the target rate of 20%. Graduate production rates for the past five academic years compares NETC's rate with the SCTCS target and the other technical colleges in South Carolina.

Graduate Placement Rates (Program Evaluation)

The College reviews every academic program on a yearly basis in accordance with the timetable established by State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education (SCTCE) Procedure 3.1.301.1. The program evaluation includes review of student success in terms of enrollment, graduation, and graduate placement data. Each of these student success factors helps to validate that the College is accomplishing its mission and meeting federal mandate. Enrollment and placement data are reported for certificate programs only if a certificate had graduates that year. SBTCE criterion for a program to remain in good standing is that fifty percent (50%) of the graduates available must be employed or continuing their studies full-time in a related field. The reporting process runs one year behind graduation in order to allow students to seek employment. The Program Evaluation Report gives the placement rates of graduates from NETC degree and diploma programs in employment or pursuit of further higher education. Faculty, Department Heads, the Dean of Instruction, and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services evaluate this data yearly to determine which programs are in need of improvement. NETC's target level of achievement for the overall graduate placement rate reflects the SCTCS performance funding indicators target of 80%. This target is appropriate for the College as it is set by the SCTCS. Northeastern Technical College's overall graduate placement rate for 2014-15 was 95.88%, the third highest among the sixteen technical colleges of South Carolina and well above the target of 80%. This placement rate reflects the high success rate of NETC graduates with respect to employment or continued education.

• Academic Programming
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  • Health & Public Service
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    • NETC to USC
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    • NETC to Coker
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    • NETC to Purdue University Global
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  • Student Achievement & Success

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