THE
WCC
vol. 9 no. 2
CA.AAPUS VOICE
Wayne Community College, Goldsboro, NC 27533-8002
November 7, 1996
Efforts for semester conversion intensify
By JERRY DE VORE
In compliance with
the "Community Colleges
for the 21st Century"
initiative, WCC and the
57 other community
colleges (and 1
technologies institute)
throughout North
Carolina will convert
from quarters to
semesters beginning
with the fall semester,
1997.
To achieve the
effort, administrators
and over 1,000 faculty
from all over the state
are organized in 4
teams: the Program
Review Team, the
Program Title Review
Team, the Common Course
Numbering/Catalog Team,
and the Program
Planning and Approval
Process Team.
”The initiative,
mandated by the General
Assembly in 1995, has
been discussed for
approximately 6 years
and North Carolina is
the last state in the
region to make the
change; some of the
other states changed to
semesters as long as 5
years ago," said George
Fouts, Vice President
for Academic Affairs.
"Transition courses
will be offered in the
summer quarter, 1997,
but the re-engineering
will be complete by the
fall semester, 1997,"
according to Fouts.
"The re-engineering
has required intensive
effort by the faculty
and staff, but is going
smoothly," said Pouts.
"The next big task
we must meet is
rewriting each course
syllabus," he said.
"The standards for each
course will be much
more exact and
restrictive."
One task completed
was individual mailings
to more than 5000
students and former
students advising them
to complete sequential
courses they have
already started.
"Students returning
after a few years away
will have to be treated
as college transfer
students," said Fouts.
"That is, they'll
have to have their
quarter hour credits
converted to semester
hours and checked to
see if they meet the
criteria for transfer."
Fouts said, "Both
pros and cons of re
engineering exist; 1
less registration
required for each year,
but tuition will have
to be divided between 2
semesters instead of
among 3 quarters.
"Under the semester
schedule, we will lose
I week of school each
year, but because we
will only have 2 exams
per year instead of 3
as we do now, the loss
of 1 week will not
interfere with any
courses," he said.
Pouts said, "Our
school calendar closely
matches that of the
public schools in the
area because our
student body is made up
largely of people who
have children attending
the public schools.
"This calendar helps
eliminate scheduling
problems for them."
"Under the semester
schedule, our calendar
will even more closely
match the public
schools," he added.
"We*11 have a fall
break of 3 days plus
the weekend in October,
a longer Thanksgiving
break, at least 2 weeks
for Christmas break,
and a spring break of
II days."
Other changes noted
in a bulletin released
by the North Carolina
Community College
System include:
• fewer program
titles representing a
consolidated and
modernized curriculum
with similar programs
combined.
• quarter hours of
credit convert to
semester hours of
credit by a multiple of
2/3: for 3 quarter
hours students will
receive 2 semester
hours.
• students will not be
penalized as a result
of the conversion to
semesters.
English Department members meet every Wednesday to revise
course handouts and competency statements to meet semester
requirements: (1 to r) Paula Sauls; Marian Westbrook; Rosalyn
Lomax; Diane Price, Ann Spicer, chair; Gerald Simmons; and
John Vincell. (Not pictured: Kathryn Spicer, Marie Bames,
Liz Meador) PHOTO: VOICE STAFF
Get ready to
celebrate—
WCC turns 40!
• vocational/technical
programs will not be
de-emphasized; the
primary mission
continues to be
preparing individuals
for the work force.
Contents
Interview with the President..
Information specialist... 2
Midterm Madness.. .3
From the SGA President.. .3
Alcohol Awareness.. .4
AIDS Seminar.. .4
Effects of hurricane.. .5
Humanities projects.. .6
Cheney award... 7
Tours.. .7
Civic Center.. .8
Drug dogs.. .8
Academic Skills.. .9
Renaissance Fair.. .10
Media Production.. .11
New buildings.. .12-13
Gary Smith.. .14
Choirs.. .15
Fund Drive.. .15
PTK aid.. .15
Fall Conference.. .16
Tennis complex.. .17
Recruiters & marketing.. .18
Stickers.. .19
Apollo Show.. .20
Sports.. .21
New employees.. .22
Mary Rowland.. .23
Edna Viney.. .24
..2