As required by the South Carolina General Assembly and the South Carolina commission on
Higher Education's Institutional Effectiveness Program, Section 101-350 (formally known as ACT
255), and the requirements of section 59-103-30 through 45 (formally known as ACT 359),
Technical College submits reports on the following components according to a
staggered matrix as developed by the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education:
General Education, Majors or Concentrations, Professional Examinations, Library Resources and
Services, and Transfer Success Tables.

1. General Education

The assessment of General Education at Technical College was last reported in
the year 2001 with some major revision that improved the intent of assessment and general
education skills enrolled in developmental courses at the college. From fall, 2001 to summer,
2002, there has been a 42% achieving expected outcomes (See attached table) to be able to
enroll in transferable courses. This shows a marked improvement from previous years.

This just covers the developmental area of general education for students to be enrolled into the
desired transferable courses.  The data indicates that students that successfully complete these
do succeed in higher-level math and English courses.  Also included here in the reading abilities
show marked improvement.

2.  Majors or Concentrations

Technical College assesses specific majors on a five-year cycle through the
Program Evaluation process.  The following programs were reviewed during 2001-2002;
General College Studies, Pre-Nursing, and Human Services.  The effectiveness of programs is
assessed by program review, surveys of students, graduates, and employers, and advisory
committee recommendations.   Examples of factors examined included enrollment, retention,
placement, number of graduates, and student satisfaction.

 General College Studies

The General College Studies is designed to prepare students for transfer to complete the
four-year B.S. or B.A. degree in Education.  Technical College has
developed this in cooperation with Francis Marion University.  In the past three year
(2000, 2001, 2002) there has only been an average of three graduates completing this
program.  All are presently still in school.  What we have found through the various
surveys used to evaluate this and all programs, was that many may start in General
Studies but switch to either Associate of Science or Associate of Arts programs.  They
continually rated the General College Studies program highly, but felt the AS/AA
programs suited them best.
 

 Pre-Nursing

Technical College offers a certificate in Pre-Nursing designed to prepare
students for transfer to complete the associate degree in Nursing.  The shortage of
nurses in our service area prompted the development of this program with the support
and cooperation of other colleges in our region.  The certificate offered at
, provides basic courses, which may be, transferred to complete degree
requirements.

From survey responses of students in the Pre-Nursing program covering an
eight-semester time frame (1998-2001) 97 percent strongly to agree responses that
Technical College Pre-Nursing program prepared them for associate
degrees in this field.  From the number of responses, between 30-40 of these students
will not graduate with a Pre-Nursing certificate from Technical College.
Students who received a certificate in this program (years 1999 through 2002) showed
a placement rate of 75 percent (either getting jobs or continuing their education).

Advisors of the program believe that the low number of graduates in the program is due
to two factors.  One: many students in the program change their programs before
completing the program.  The AS program contains the same course requirements as
the certificate program. In addition, the AS program is more flexible.   Two: The
Pre-Nursing program required students to complete a College Algebra course.  Many
students fill below the required scores here.  Based on responses from Pre-Nursing
students that transfer before completion, students which to have more consistent course
flow.  Therefore, they transfer to a program that has the associate degree offering.

In tracking the students from Pre-Nursing programs transferring to Francis Marion
University and have at least 15bcredit hours after 1997, their aggregate GPA was 2.87;
thus demonstrating that our students can compete in a competitive college environment.

 Human Services

Technical College offers a certificate in Human Services.  Upon
completing this program students will be qualified to entry-level work in a variety of
fields requiring a basic understanding of the causes, nature and consequences of human
behavior.  Career opportunities exist in youth services, retardation facilities,
substance-abuse programs and mental health units.

During the reported assessment of program evaluation (years 1999,2000, 2001, and
2002) there were a total 13 graduates which 8 were placed (62 per cent).  Surveys over
that same time period indicate that students in the Human Services program, 85 percent
indicated strong to very strong satisfaction with the program in terms of courses offered
and faculty evaluation.

One change that was used to evaluate student improvement in critical thinking skills
was to present exam questions in course work that covered this area.  It was found that
93 per cent of the Human Services students scored 12 out of 15 or better when the
answer to essay questions dealt with critical thinking.

3. Academic Advising

Academic Advising was reported on in the 2001 Report.
 

4. Two to Four Year Transfers

First time fall transfers of Technical College students for the fall of 2001 is
the first actual count that can be evaluated.  Up until this time frame, the numbers of
transfers were very scattered and poorly reported from the four-year schools. One
exception is those students in our AA/AS, Pre-Nursing, and General College Studies were
tracked transferring to Francis Marion University.  What was found that those students
who earned at least 15 credit hours at Technical College (after 1997) had an
aggregate GPA of 2.87.  This demonstrates that those students can compete at the four
levels.

The First-Time Fall, 2001 numbers for all technical colleges (which is attached) shows
that Technical College had a 56.5% acceptance to four-year colleges who
enrolled.  More telling in this table is the acceptance rate of those that were accepted.  The
percentage here is 92% acceptance by four-year institutes.

5. Library Resources and Services

Technical College reported in this area in the year 2001.  Since last year we
have gone through a SACS visit and one suggestion was for the library to administer on a
regular basis a survey covering services.  The results from the first survey are worth going
over.  One area that was evaluated was Helpfulness of Staff.  92.7% of the responses
reported good to excellent the helpfulness of the staff.  In terms of resources and services
being adequate in fulfilling student needs, 74.9% agreed to strongly agree that the library
filled those needs. Overall satisfaction for the library was 99.9% rating satisfaction good
to excellent.  This does not differ from the past surveys which are covered by last year's
report from Student Opinion Surveys and Student-Faculty Surveys aver the last 4 years.