Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
15 <br /> Commissioner Fowler asked if the five years referenced on the "Small Business Center <br /> Coordinator" slide was in comparison to Durham, or if it had doubled just in Orange County. <br /> Dr. Buxton said over the past five years in Orange County it has doubled, due to <br /> increased demand. He said with federal and state funds, plus loan opportunities, a lot of small <br /> businesses need application and technical assistance. <br /> Commissioner Fowler asked if the absolute could be identified. <br /> Dr. Buxton said he would find the number. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton asked if the success of the students and programs is tracked. <br /> Dr. Buxton said students were traditionally tracked by completion rate, such as first year <br /> success and credit accumulation, as well as time to completion, and overall completion rate. <br /> He said this is how community college systems have historically measured success. He said <br /> DTCC tracks transfer students by whether they transfer to a four-year universities and how they <br /> do at that university. He said DTCC is moving to measures of economic and social mobility. <br /> He said historically the impact is not as great as DTCC wants it to be. He said DTCC is looking <br /> at graduate wages by age 34, or how students move up on economic strata. He said DTCC <br /> does not compete with these measurements on the national level. He said DTCC is more <br /> accessible to first generation college students, and students in poverty than most places in <br /> North Carolina and the country, but is not doing as well as social and economic mobility. He <br /> said DTCC is very focused on improving this. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton said she is looking forward to seeing some of that data and <br /> commends DTCC for looking beyond the traditional completion rate. <br /> Chair Price said when she goes to national and state conferences, it is amazing how far <br /> ahead Durham Tech is with working with partners, businesses, high schools, and economic <br /> development interests. <br /> Dr. Buxton said DTCC wants to continuously improve, and the shifts seen due to <br /> COVID-19 have been challenging. He said DTCC is committed to dealing with the role of race <br /> in the student outcomes. He said DTCC has a robust equity commitment that gets to the <br /> student outcomes, and is committed to accelerating the pace of impact. <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Dorosin, seconded by Commissioner Greene, to <br /> recess the meeting for a five-minute break until 8:47 p.m. <br /> Roll call ensued <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />