Boost launches at 7 more NC community colleges
A note from us
Welcome to Awake58 — a weekly newsletter with the latest updates on community college news and events. If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up for the Awake58 newsletter here, and you can find last week’s edition on our website.
This week’s edition is by Sophia Luna, a policy analyst at EdNC.
Leaders reflect on the first year of Boost, North Carolina’s replication of CUNY ASAP, as it expands to more colleges this fall… The Belk Center has launched the Adult Learner Lab… Catch up on highlights from the NC Chamber’s Education and Workforce Conference… Plus, the State Board of Community Colleges meets this week…
Good morning and welcome to Awake58 — Sophia here.
This month, the number of North Carolina community colleges implementing Boost will scale from eight to 15 as a second cohort launches the wraparound student support model.
Ahead of expansion, I spent time learning alongside Boost staff from both cohorts and N.C. Community College System leadership at the program’s summer training.
Data from Boost’s first year suggest the program, which provides students with a dedicated adviser and financial support, is working. On average, Boost students are completing more credit hours compared to similar peers who aren’t in the program. And, anecdotally, I heard stories from many of you about the community Boost students are creating with one another, from forming study groups to spending time together outside of class.
Boost is also directly tied to helping meet the state’s workforce needs — a theme highlighted at the NC Chamber’s Education and Workforce Conference last week. The conference focused on AI’s impact on the labor market and the importance of employer engagement in workforce development efforts. Leaders highlighted Davidson-Davie Community College’s work to expand healthcare apprenticeships and the Careers Electric™ Summer Academies that brought hands-on training to more than 200 high schoolers.
You can read my full recap of the conference here.
One more note: Today, the Governor’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships meets, followed by the NCWorks Commission. The Commission is expected to approve the first set of programs for Workforce Pell Grants; those programs then have to receive final approval from the U.S. Department of Education. On Thursday and Friday, the State Board of Community Colleges meets. The agenda is available here. EdNC is covering all of these meetings — stay tuned to our website for more.
As we head into a new academic year, I’m keeping a piece of advice that Wake Tech Boost adviser Bailey Thompson shared with me this summer top of mind:
“It’s important to be very patient with yourself and with the students, and always approach every day with curiosity and kindness. Because every day is going to need some curiosity and kindness.”
I’m excited to be back in your inbox soon.
Until then,
Sophia Luna
Policy Analyst, EdNC
EdNC reads
Around NC
Building degree apprenticeships in North Carolina | The National Governors Association released a new publication focused on North Carolina’s approach to expanding earn-and-learn pathways. Read it here.
Western NC is growing its own doctors | The third piece of a three-part series on rural healthcare from WNCW looks at healthcare workforce solutions, including Blue Ridge Community College’s Licensed Practical Nurse program.
Strategic plan alignment across the 58 | A new research brief from the Belk Center analyzes strategic plans from all 58 N.C. community colleges.
Helping students find their future | College for North Carolina has a new article out on Career and Technical Education (CTE) and the role it plays in exposing students to career opportunities early.
Forsyth Tech selected for work-based learning capacity building cohort | New America and the Association of Community College Trustees announced a national cohort of six community colleges, including Forsyth Tech, that will work to strengthen the quality, availability, and scale of work-based learning opportunities.
Register for the NCWorks Partnership Conference | The conference will be held Oct. 14-16 in Greensboro. Each year, the conference draws hundreds of workforce development professionals from across North Carolina, representing workforce agencies, education, labor, state and federal government, community-based organizations, community colleges, and the private sector. This year’s conference theme is “Opportunity Is Built Here – Skills, Careers, Success.” Register online at train.ncworks.gov. The early bird registration deadline is Sept. 11.
Join a webinar on ‘The Agile Community College’ | The Harvard Project on Workforce and Education Design Lab are hosting a webinar on Aug. 27 on how community colleges can position their workforce programs to meet employer and learner needs and shape inclusive regional economies in the genAI era. Register here.
Other higher education reads
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