Hope and Agenda

One of my favorite movies is called Love Actually, a British film that came out last year. It is a mix of love stories, comedy and music that is very entertaining. Anyway, one of the characters uses the expression "without hope or agenda". That expression hit a nerve with me as it seems like that is what so many colleges with declining electronic enrollments have, no hope or agenda. That is the problem. It is not that the schools do not care, it seems to be they just flat do not know what to do. As it turns out, there are lots of things you can do to turn things around.

Just recently I did a survey on the ETD Listserv regarding the state of declining enrollments. Some of you have have seen it and even participated. I thank you for your input. I am tabulating that survey now and will post the results here hopefully later this week. Watch for it.

One of the responses I got was from Chuck Safrit of Stanly CC in North Carolina. His school has experienced a 100% increase in enrollments over recent years. That is counter to what is happening most places so he explained what he had done. I suspect that there is no where else to go but up when y0u are at the bottom, but his experience shows what can be done. If ever there was hope and agenda, Chuck Safrit sure had it. Here is Chuck's response in full with his blessing.

Stanly Community College, Albemarle NC
Chuck Safrit, EET Program Head/Instructor

1. In the past 3 years, your enrollments have been:

a. Increasing

2. What is the approximate % of change?

a. Increase of 100%

3. If there is a decrease, what do you believe are the main causes?

Not applicable

4. If there is an increase, what did you do to initiate this improvement?

I took over the EET program at Stanly Community College in Jan 2002 with only 4 second-year students. Two graduated and two dropped out of the program. I spent 50 to 60 hours per week from Jan 2002-Aug 2005 rebuilding the program. The following are my strategies for success:

1. Take a vested interest in your program. The EET program at SCC had been through several program heads with short tenure prior to my arrival. Their lack of dedication to the program, students, curriculum, and equipment was quite evident.

2. Start an aggressive recruitment campaign. Sitting back and waiting for students to show up at the door for Fall registration does not work. Our recruitment strategies were as follows:

a) Call every student contact number you can find. Go through current and old records to identify future students or reclaim those who have fallen by the wayside.

b) Run tours of the college and EET program for every Middle School in your county. Target 7th and 8th graders. Most High School students are driving, dating, or have already made career choices. They are most difficult to influence and recruit. Challenge the students during the tour. Ask them hardball questions concerning their future and the current economy. Make them realize that farming, natural resource harvesting, and manufacturing are the only ways to make money from scratch. Electronics and Electrical Engineering are major players in automated manufacturing and future technologies.

c) Host a summer camp at your college. Again, target 7th and 8th graders. Take them on a tour of several local manufacturing plants. Have them design and build a product using AutoCAD, Electronics Workbench, and EET lab fabricating equipment. We host the Jim Wentz Manufacturing Camp each summer at SCC.

d) Host an Electronics and Engineering Competition at your college. Target High School Electronics, Math, and Physics students. Have the schools compete for individual and team awards. There should be written and practical sections of the competition. Encourage the local High Schools to form Skills USA, VICA, and JETS clubs. Encourage them to attend local, regional, and national competitions.

e) Build a red truck and hit the road! OK, I’ll explain. The SCC EET students built an electric truck during the Summer 04 semester. It has been to every parade, expo, festival, high school, and car show we can attend. It’s one of the best recruitment tools this college has ever developed.

3. Have a number of diverse EET Electives. Our current EET elective courses are Programmable Controllers, Computer Upgrade/Repair, Basic Wiring, National Electrical Code, Motors and Controls, Telecom Cabling, Fiber Optics and Lasers, Industrial Safety, Data Communications & Networking, Electronics Application Project, and Co-op Work Experience. A student can focus in his or her career field by carefully selecting 10 hours of electives.

4. Create liaisons with local industry. Try to meet their training needs. Also, many workers seek promotions which require a degree.

5. Create articulation agreements with regional four-year colleges. Your students should be able to report as true Juniors when they transfer to a four-year college with their Associates Degree in hand.

6. Set up a night EET program. Most Community College students are non-traditional. Many have jobs and attend college part-time. If students take online (web) classes in addition to night classes, they can complete the SCC EET degree in two years. However, night programs require aggressive advertisement and a lot of nurturing to be successful.

7. Encourage graduates to return to college for industry certifications in specific areas such as A+, Net+, MOUS, CCNA. These certifications look good on a job application. SCC offers many industry certification courses. Students can take these classes online or seated.

8. Get a grant. Research and apply for multiple grants. You will not succeed if you wait for money from the state to support and grow your program. This is especially true for NC. Also remember, Community College teachers are among the lowest paid in the country. Once again, this is especially true for NC.


5. Do you believe curriculum content, currency, focus, or relevancy is a factor in the increase or decrease?

Students must be made aware that technology classes are challenging and change constantly. It is imperative they “keep up with the times”. They must be dedicated to the program, willing to put in the long hours, and not be afraid to take a math class. We cannot “dumb down” the EET curriculum and expect them to succeed in the real world. If the equipment plugs into the wall, EET students must be able to troubleshoot and fix it. That’s what employers want these days. I tell my students that a degree gets you to an interview. The wisdom and professionalism you display at the interview will get you the job.

Chuck Safrit
Electronics Engineering Program Head
Stanly Community College

That definitely shows what can be done if we get our rear ends in gear. Thanks Chuck for giving us all hope and agenda.