The school year has ended for local colleges and universities, but at Durham Tech there’s still a lot of activity. Officials are shifting to a new class-schedule format; the college is launching a new collaborative health-education effort with local high schools and Duke Health; an arts foundation just made a major gift to the school; and all of that is happening in the context of government budget talks, which will affect Durham Tech on the local, state, and national levels.
97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck sat down with Durham Tech president JB Buxton for an extended conversation on all those issues.
Click here to listen to their conversation in full. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
JB Buxton: We start summer term in a week, and we have also all our continuing education programs, but fall is coming – and we’re seeing even higher enrollment right now, as compared to the registration period this time last year. So people are continuing to come back to higher education.
Aaron Keck: What drives enrollment up versus down, for Durham Tech in particular and community colleges in general?
Buxton: It’s really interesting. Historically we’ve been a countercyclical institution: people come to us as the economy softens, to prepare for when the economy improves and they can increase their opportunities. (But) the economy’s been pretty good over the last few years coming out of the pandemic, (and) we have (still) seen significant increases, semester over semester and year over year. Part of it is just being in the Triangle: we’re a growth region, and people recognize we’re a good pathway to life sciences or clinical trials or skilled trades.
Keck: There’s also the juxtaposition between the economy being good and people thinking the economy is terrible, which has been the case for the past few years.
Buxton: I think that’s right. We’ve been surprised at how robust and durable the gains have been.
Keck: The format for some classes is changing a little bit, right? Eight-week classes?
Buxton: That’s right. We (made that switch) this past fall, (for) a majority of our degree-seeking programs and our associate degree programs. It’s still the same amount of class hours, but we condense it into eight weeks versus 16. It’s really about giving you momentum and getting you out on time: people don’t come to us to do a two-year degree in four years, they want to do it in two, and for part-time students and working adults, (it’s about) finding ways to move them through their programs of study – same learning objectives, same courses – in a shorter amount of time. We’re seeing really good success in the early returns. We’re seeing success rates in those courses higher. We’re seeing withdrawal and failure rates lower. We’re seeing enrollment up. So we’re pleased thus far.
Keck: I can imagine (that decision) had to have been a little bit hairy: I’ve taught classes at Durham Tech, and you do get that dropoff with students towards the end of a semester, but at the same time, twice as much time in class for a week means it’s harder for people with full-time jobs to juggle that. But they’ve been able to do it?
Buxton: They have thus far. And we’re really paying attention, course by course, to what’s happening. We took about 18 months, almost two years, to really make sure this was the right approach for us. We looked at colleges across the country, and what you see with colleges who have moved to this format is just what we’re seeing right now: increased success, lower rates of failure and withdrawals, increased enrollment. We’ll make adjustments if we think courses aren’t as good for (that format), but the ones that are seeing success will continue. Keck: What else is going on at Durham Tech that folks should know about?
Buxton: We launch our Early College of Health Sciences in Durham in the fall. This is where students will come to us as ninth graders and enroll in either nursing, clinical trials, surgical tech or medical assisting – and in four years, they’ll be able to get the credentials they need to move into those industries. In nursing, (the program takes an extra year), but that is tuition free – and that is then going to be met by a commitment from Duke Health to hire up to 60 percent of the graduates of that program, year in and year out. That’s just part of a larger strategy we have with our public schools, to increase the number of students coming to us in high school…we can waive tuition for high school students, we can make it highly affordable, (and) we also know if you start with us while you’re in high school, you are much more likely to finish that credential, and increase your options in this labor market or to continue on to a four-year university.
Keck: Do people have to know, as a ninth grader, what they want their career path to be? I didn’t know until I was 30.
Buxton: Same here! No, they don’t need to commit to taking jobs in those industries, but building those skills and beginning to get a taste for what those professions involve (is) pretty important for them.
Keck: It is spring, which means it’s budget season for state government, local government, national government. Where do things stand for you?
Buxton: It’s kind of like “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” I would say (there’s) a level of interest and concern that escalates as you move up the branches of government. Locally, (we’re) working hard with Durham and Orange Counties to make sure we can continue to offer the same kind of services we offered this past year. We’re happy to see what the State House did (for community colleges) in their budget this past week, to see the enrollment growth dollars that are there. They didn’t include the cut that the Senate had included; they’ve got other important workforce funding supports and employee raises for our faculty and staff – so that’s trending in a better direction than what we had seen with the Senate budget…
When you get to the federal level, it’s a little less clear what we’re going to see. I think the Senate’s probably going to have a different package than the House did. We’re concerned about restrictions to some of the Pell Grant eligibility in the House. There’s some short term Pells, (which is positive) for our workforce courses, (though) not our degree seeking courses. But there’s some headwinds in that budget, including some issues with Medicaid that a lot of our students and families rely on. So we are watching that closely as well.
Keck: Also in financial news, Durham Tech just got a really cool endowment, for the arts specifically.
Buxton: Yeah, we’re very excited about this. You know, we’ve had a long time commitment to the arts. We just celebrated the 25th anniversary of our Viva the Arts group, which has done a lot of work over the years to make sure we are a place where arts is part of the conversation. (And) the Eichholz Foundation – (trustees) Dan and Natalie Dunn are Hillsborough residents – just made a major gift, $1.5 million to start the Durham Tech Endowment for the Arts. That foundation is one of the big backers of the American Dance Festival and arts efforts from around the country, (but) this is the first community college they’ve ever gifted to. So we are excited to be in that place, but really excited for (how) it’s going to allow us to make a permanent and long-lasting commitment to the arts as a part of the Durham Tech experience, and also how we engage with the local community. We’ll (be able to) ensure that our new gallery that we launched four years ago is programmed year-round. (We’ll) do some outdoor art, begin to bring in emerging local artists from the local community, and make sure art is part of what you experience no matter what you take at Durham Tech…
(And) you definitely want to develop that sense of being part of a community. I mean, one thing I’ll tell you that’s a common denominator with Durham Tech graduates: they all see themselves as making an impact in the community. They often come to us because they had an experience or challenge that is motivating their focus in a certain area, (and) they want to focus on helping other folks. We have incredible graduates who see the community as a place (where) they want to give back or make an impact. And you don’t do that by just being singularly focused on the kind of vocational nature. It’s got to be a more well-rounded experience.
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