Math instructor Dotte Williams (right) advises Salena Council (left) on her classes on Tuesday at the Durham Tech Community College’s Orange County campus. College officials expect a significant increase for the fall semester. |
HILLSBOROUGH — Students waited in lines Tuesday to register for classes or talk to counselors about course choices at Durham Technical Community College's Orange County Campus.
The late registration for prospective students was a busy day, which signals some optimism about the direction the satellite campus is headed after completing its first year in a two-story brick building just off Interstate 40.
The upcoming semester begins Monday, and students who were registering at the Hillsborough branch were part of the 5,318 students tentatively registered in the Fall 2009 curriculum enrollment, up from 5,214 the year before. Those preliminary numbers do not include continuing education students, and are expected to be adjusted after today's final registration opportunities. Enrollment figures have not been distilled yet to determine how many students registered for credit courses at the Orange County campus.
"The school is looking to enhance its programming and expand its enrollment," said Dorothy Brower Brokaw, interim director of the Orange County campus and assistant to the president for community outreach.
College officials in Durham predict an increase in enrollment for the upcoming term over last year. Course offerings are also going to see a steady growth with more faculty members assigned to the Orange County campus.
The satellite campus is expecting its student activities to see a "higher and more expanded rate than last year," Brokaw said.
In its first year the school had no student activities besides regular classes. However, the building hosted book signings, poetry readings and various other cultural activities reaching out to the community.
The satellite campus offers a limited number of courses compared to its parent campus in Durham. But it does have four certification programs -- EMT, medical coding, opticianry and restaurant management -- that can be completed here in addition to other continuing education and non-degree courses.
Courses can be taken for credit, non-credit, literacy and high school diplomas. Development and remedial courses are also available to bring students up to college standards.
The school offers one associate degree program in general education. It allows students to transfer into a four-year program elsewhere.
About 75 percent of the work on an associate in arts degrees can be completed here, with the remaining 25 percent furnished in Durham.
Though the Durham campus offers up to 100 program options, many courses required for the programs can be taken in Orange County.
The most popular ones seem to be the anatomy and physiology courses required for the nursing program. Transfer English, general biology and Spanish are other popular courses offered here.
Many students are taking courses here for purposes of "retooling, changing concerns in the job market and re-certification," Brokaw said.
Last year's student body covered a wide demographic. Among students pursuing degree courses during the spring, 44 percent were in the 20-29 age group; 23 percent were 19 and younger and 19 percent were 30-39.
"We are still making an assessment of the programs by including faculty, students, community members and working professionals in the process," Brokaw said.
