It’s hard to believe that we are almost to the mid-term of the semester. I would have to say that it has been packed with excitement. I sent out an email last week giving a brief synopsis of the recommendations by the Special Site Team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The team departed San Antonio in late September after visiting NVC, San Antonio and St. Philip’s Colleges. If you didn’t get the email, I’ve listed the recommendations at the end of this message.
We should receive the draft with more information sometime next week. The Special Site Team was wowed by the beauty of our college campus, the competence of our faculty and staff as well as our hospitality. In anticipation of the written report, we have already started working with our sister colleges and district personnel in addressing the issues raised by the Team regarding the transcripting of transfer credit and associated procedures. Following the receipt of the written report, we will begin writing our response to the seven recommendations. The NVC response will be submitted to the SACSCOC Review Board by mid-November. As we receive additional information, I will keep you updated.
In the midst of preparing for their visit, NVC reached another milestone. For the first time in our history, the number of students who have enrolled in Student Development (SDEV) and Education 1300 (EDUC 1300) classes has surpassed 3,100 thanks to our Student Success teams, and especially Gary Bowling and his student development team. With this new achievement, we can now say that NVC has the second largest incoming freshman class in San Antonio behind UTSA. Read more about it here.
Given our limited classroom space, getting to this point would not have been possible without the hard work of our Academic Department Chairs, Student Success staff, faculty and College Services staff. Collectively we were able to continue to grow in enrollment; and together we were able to enroll 18,339 students (as of Oct. 4) – which is 350 more students than the previous year. The ongoing challenge will be trying to make an impact in each of these students lives. I am confident that we will positively engage our students as we have for more than two decades. Each semester we receive reports of how our students are continuing their success after graduation. One of those student stories was recently brought to my attention.
Former NVC student Paul Hamilton successfully transitioned from a GED program and working a minimum wage job to NVC and now to just recently being hired by NASA. Paul wrote us recently to say it was math Professor Dennis Gittinger who inspired him to study engineering and eventually succeeded in completing NVC’s Math Intensive Majors program. Paul said:
“Transitioning to the university was tough for me but my time at NVC made the experience much easier. I didn’t have the greatest GPA, or scholarships, or anything really. I was just very ambitious when starting at UTSA and I made it a goal to shake hands with as many professionals as I could. I made it out of a minimum wage job and a GED program to one of the premier engineering entities in the world.”
You can read more about Paul’s story here.
SACSCOC Recommendations:
3.4.4 (Transcript) Acceptance of Academic Credit.
3.4.5 (Transcript) Academic Policies.
3.4.5 (Transcript) GPA calculation (Academic Policies)
3.4.10 Responsibility for Curriculum
3.13.4b Corporate Structure (institution retains authority for the employment of their personnel)
3.13.4b Corporate Structure (the institution accurately represents itself as a separately accredited institution)
4.7 Title IV program responsibilities (Student Financial Aid)