PRIORITY1

NSCC seeks to improve the consistency of excellent student life outcomes by getting better at what it has always done: innovate academically and take care of students. Environmental scanning data suggest that developing holistic strategies to support student credit completion should be central to NSCC’s strategic plan. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, NSCC student credit completion is on the decline, particularly for Hispanic and Black students. At the same time, providing flexible, skills-driven educational opportunities are especially important to attract learners in NSCC’s primary service area, who are trending older. 2020 US Census data estimates project over 154,000 adults ages 25 and over without a college degree (associate’s level or higher) in the eight most heavily represented NSCC student hometowns. Those potential students represent a fertile market opportunity for NSCC to attract and retain through expanded flexible academic scheduling and support services.

Given the recent uptick in NSCC’s noncredit student population, increasing the conversion rate of noncredit students to credit programming is one strategy to address declining credit student enrollment. Expansion of noncredit to credit pathways will be a key component in NSCC’s strategy to respond to national trends. As more students seek short-term options in academic programming to pursue immediately available job opportunities, NSCC will heavily promote this opportunity and make it easier for students to access and accomplish the transition from noncredit to credit options. Clearly articulated pathways between noncredit and credit programming via Credit For Prior Learning vehicles will remove barriers to connecting the skills and knowledge gained in short-term programming with the traditional certificate and associate degree credentials that many employers ultimately require for further advancement.

The college’s NCAL project is the first stage of addressing the mundane but very real bureaucratic and systemic barriers — policies, procedures, different software systems, etc. — that prevent students from easily moving back and forth between noncredit and credit education, according to their current need and over the course of a lifetime of learning.

Creating equitable educational opportunities aligned with high paying jobs that meet urgent regional needs is central to this strategic priority, especially as they align with students’ own stated goals. Creating academic Centers of Excellence that prioritize the industry sectors most in need of talent and that offer our students the best opportunity for social mobility will be a key tool to this end. The Centers will include active involvement of local employers in the sectors they serve. For instance, local hospitals and community health centers are helping NSCC to expand its Bertolon Health Care Simulation Center of Excellence. The Life Sciences Pathways Center of Excellence the college plans to develop on its Danvers campus, utilizing a combination of public funding and privately raised capital, is another example of this approach and will enable the college to offer expanded programming to attract and serve new students while simultaneously meeting urgent regional employer needs.