The institution provides services supporting its mission with qualified personnel to ensure the quality and effectiveness of its student affairs programs. (Student Affairs and Services)

Summary

Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) demonstrates compliance with this standard by showing the qualifications and experience of the employees that make up the seven units of Student Development. Services provided by each unit are discussed to show how they support the mission of the College. The quality and effectiveness of the services is demonstrated by the surveys and audits conducted by the College and outside entities; as well as the professional development opportunities given to each member of the Student Development department.

Narrative

Student Development is made up of seven units, each one staffed with qualified and experienced professionals dedicated to supporting the mission of Cape Fear Community College. There are 35 full-time and 12 part-time employees who make up the division (Student Development Roster). To ensure that employees are appropriately qualified, every job description and minimum qualifications required are reviewed and updated as necessary as positions become vacant and advertised to the public. Individuals who do not meet the minimum qualifications of the position are eliminated from consideration. Additionally, personnel are expected to participate in professional development activities, such as continuing education classes and workshops, to remain qualified in their respective fields (Professional Development). CFCC also pays for institutional memberships in various professional college-related organizations, such as the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Carolinas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, North Carolina Association for Higher Education and Disabilities, North Carolina Community College Student Development Personnel Association, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and the North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Student Development personnel take advantage of conferences and listservs provided through these organizations to communicate and collaborate with professionals from different colleges who provide the same types of services. Unit supervisors evaluate their full-time employees annually to ensure satisfactory job performance, as well as to set goals for improvement (Performance Appraisal for Exempt Employees (Non-Faculty), Performance Appraisal for Non-Exempt Employees).

Administration
The administrative unit of Student Development is made up of four full-time employees. The vice president of Student Development has administrative responsibility over all the units that make up the division. The administrative assistant to the vice president gives secretarial support to the vice president and the division. The assistant to the vice president of Student Development coordinates student related events and workshops on each campus and works with faculty on other special projects for the College. The assistant to the vice president of Student Development also develops the annual CFCC Day Planner and supervises the College’s daytime switchboard operator.

Enrollment Management (Admissions)
The Enrollment Management unit has four full-time employees at the Wilmington Campus and one half-time employee at the North Campus. This unit is responsible for coordinating procedures related to student recruitment activities, advising prospective and current students in admissions requirements and individual program requirements, and receiving and processing admissions and residency applications. The Office of Enrollment Management provides various federal and state agencies with student enrollment data. In a survey of currently enrolled students for the Fall 2004 semester (Currently Enrolled Student Survey), Admissions received an overall satisfaction rating of eighty-eight percent (88%). The survey included questions on the courteousness and promptness of admissions personnel, as well as the student’s overall satisfaction with dissemination of information and the quality of the CFCC Catalog and Student Handbook.

Registrar/Records
In the Office of the Registrar there are six full-time employees at the Wilmington Campus and one half-time employee located at the North Campus. This unit is responsible for the maintenance of curriculum student records, planning and overseeing registration, issuing permanent records, processing grades, graduation, and academic standing. In the Currently Enrolled Student Survey of Fall 2004 (Currently Enrolled Student Survey), the Registrar’s Office received an eighty-seven percent (87%) satisfaction rating on courteousness, promptness, regular registration procedures, as well as the Telephone Registration at Cape Fear (TRAC).

Career and Testing Services
The Career and Testing Services unit has five full-time employees, four at the Wilmington Campus, and one at the North Campus. This unit is responsible for testing students for appropriate placement in classes and for receipt of their General Educational Development (GED) diploma. They also provide students with information regarding career selection, employment preparedness, and job opportunities. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of the students surveyed were satisfied with the overall services provided by the Career and Testing Services’ Office (Currently Enrolled Student Survey). Along with courteousness, promptness, and information, the survey also asked about the convenience of the services and quality of the job search component.

Financial Aid
The Financial Aid Office has five full-time staff members and one part-time support person located at the Wilmington Campus; and one half-time employee located at the North Campus. This unit assists students with all types of financial aid to pay for college, including grants, loans and scholarships. The overall satisfaction rate for Financial Aid was eighty-four percent (84%) (Currently Enrolled Student Survey). Eighty-two percent of the students surveyed were satisfied with the dissemination of information from Financial Aid. This score led to an evaluation of all written materials provided to students by Financial Aid and revision of the Veteran’s Administration handout. CFCC Financial Aid Office received clean audits from the Office of the State Auditor for the past four years (2004 Audit, 2003 Audit, 2002 Audit, 2001 Audit).

Counseling/Disability Support Services
At the Wilmington Campus, the Counseling unit has seven full-time employees, five counselors and two support staff members. The North Campus has one full-time and one part-time counselor and one half-time support staff member. Two additional part-time counselors are responsible for Disability Support Services, along with a part-time assistive technology specialist. The Counseling unit is responsible for providing confidential academic, personal and career counseling on an ongoing basis to all students. Counselors also assist students with transferring from and to other colleges by evaluating previous college transcripts. The Counseling unit received an eighty-eight percent (88%) satisfaction rating on their courteousness, promptness, and dissemination of information. Disability Support Services’ rating was ninety-one percent (91%) satisfaction on these same criteria (Currently Enrolled Student Survey).

Student Activities/Athletics
The Student Activities unit has two full-time employees and one part-time staff member. This unit is responsible for all student activities and events at the Wilmington and North Campuses, including campus clubs, organizations, and athletics. There are also six part-time employees who coach the various athletic teams at Cape Fear Community College. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the students surveyed in the Currently Enrolled Student Survey of Fall 2004 (Currently Enrolled Student Survey) were satisfied with Student Activities/Athletics.

Ensuring Quality and Effectiveness
Student Development ensures the quality and effectiveness of its services in several quantitative and qualitative ways. One method is through a number of surveys, such as Orientation/Registration Survey, Student Development Survey, Graduating Student Opinion Survey, Non-Completer Survey, and Faculty and Staff Survey (Orientation/Registration Survey Results, Student Development Survey, Graduating Student Opinion Survey Results, Allied Health Programs Student Survey - 2004, Non-Completer Survey Results - 2004, Non-Completer Survey Results - 2005, Faculty and Staff Survey Results, Spring, 2004). Survey results are used to develop new goals for the upcoming year. Each unit establishes objectives for the year, which are available in the online planning system (Strategic Planning On-line).

Another method used to ensure the quality of services within Student Development is offering professional development workshops sponsored by the College, such as Customer Service and Defusing Conflict (Customer Service Workshop Evaluation). Participation in professional development activities is an important part of every employee’s job performance and is included in each person’s annual evaluation. Full-time staff members are encouraged to continue their education by taking advantage of one tuition-free class per semester provided by the College (Tuition - Free Courses). Other college-specific and/or office-oriented software trainings are provided, such as Datatel, CampusCruiser, Blackboard, Dream Weaver, Microsoft Excel, Word, Access, Publisher and PowerPoint (Master Planning Calendar, Sample Datatel Training Roster). Every full-time employee in the Student Development division is required to attend Datatel training before having access to the program.

Additional information on student support services can be found in Core Requirement 2.10 (Core Requirement 2.10).

Documentation