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Mission

Durham Tech ensures that all students develop the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to be successful in college, work, and life.

Vision

To be the leader in our community’s educational, training, and economic development.

Core Values

Durham Tech is ...

The Standard for Excellence

The College commits to the highest professional standards of quality, integrity, and performance in our programs, services, and operations.

Student-Centered

The College provides high-quality, learner-centered, and affordable educational and training opportunities, within a welcoming and supportive environment, that supports students through goal achievement. 

A Champion for Equity

The College embraces the diversity, equality, equity, and uniqueness of students, employees, and the communities that we serve by committing to be an anti-racist institution. 

Data-Inspired

The College monitors and utilizes appropriate data, considers various sources of community input and developing trends, and implements changes to support continuous improvement. 

Communicative

The College commits to effective, open, and proactive communication. We take responsibility to listen and employ effective communication strategies to inform and foster collaboration.

A Good Steward of Resources  

The College networks with community partners, targeting grant and resource development to address strategic priorities, and by allocating resources based on focused priorities that are sustainable.

A Collaborator

The College fosters economic development by leading, promoting, and creating educational opportunities through mutually respectful and beneficial partnerships with community organizations.

 

Strategic Goals

By 2026, the College will…

  1. Progressively and equitably increase the number of students completing in-demand credentials and training with the goal to meet or exceed 60 percent (completion rate).
     
  2. Demonstrate positive economic impact within the College’s service area by achieving an 80 percent job placement rate with earnings that meet or exceed median earnings within the field by expanding and strengthening partnerships with educational providers, community-based organizations, and industry sectors within Durham and Orange counties.

Strategic Priorities

  1. Pathways to Academic Excellence

    Provide pathways to academic excellence by defining, aligning, and assessing clear student learning outcomes (within each guided career pathway) that prepare students for work-based learning opportunities, university transfer, and seamless job placement.

    • A.1 – Identify, implement, and evaluate evidence-based teaching and learning practices in our classrooms, labs, and online learning environments.
    • A.2 – Identify appropriate program and student learning outcomes, including mapping non-credit to credit and professional development needed for effectively assessing and improving pedagogy, within the College’s guided career pathways and communicate them with the college community.
    • A.3 – Partner with local school systems and community-based organizations to create opportunities for students to explore career pathways (e.g., camps, bridge programs, etc.).
    • A.4 – Coordinate the alignment of work-based learning opportunities within appropriate guided career pathways (e.g., apprenticeship, internship, work-study, etc.) and provide opportunities for all students to participate.
    • A.5 – Create seamless alignment with co-curricular resources (e.g., Center for Academic Excellence) to ensure that students have timely access to coursework support.
    • A.6 – Improve the learning environment by including questions on end-of-term course evaluations that ask students to evaluate the implicit and/or explicit atmosphere of inclusivity created by their instructor.
       

  2. Pathways to Student Success

    Provide pathways to student success by investing in success coaching, advising, and student development best practices that support goal discernment and achievement, leading to on-time completion, university transfer, and job placement.

    • B.1 – Identify appropriate resources and implement, at scale, the success coach model.
    • B.2 – Complete the one-college model alignment of student support service areas for ensuring optimal and seamless student experiences.
    • B.3 – Ensure all students have access to the resources needed to succeed in and beyond the classroom by proactively offering support services and resource connections in close collaboration with community-based organizations.
    • B.4 – Strengthen admissions, advising, and student support processes by implementing a student success management system (e.g., EAB, AVISO, etc.) designed to provide employees with information needed to best serve all students.
    • B.5 – Reduce barriers to student success by analyzing and revising practices (e.g., strengthen inter-departmental collaborations and knowledge), policies, and procedures that negatively impact students, especially Students of Color.
    • B.6 – Ensure that all enrolled students persist, progress, complete a credential or appropriate training, transfer, and secure living wages at equitable rates that meet or exceed regional, state, and national averages.
       

  3. Pathways to Living Wages and Economic Mobility

    Provide pathways to living wages and economic mobility by leading the development of integrated delivery systems, with community, industry, public school, and university partners, that provide access to high-value, short- and long-term training and programs that are aligned with labor market demand.

    Strategies

    • C.1 – Assess, retire, or reinvent current programs based on regional economic demands and maximizing return on investment for students (e.g., yield a living wage for students, appropriately resource viable programs, etc.).
    • C.2 – Assess effectiveness of current agreements, identify new opportunities based on the College’s guided career pathways, and integrate industry-supporting opportunities within the Durham, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and Orange County school systems.
    • C.3 – Formalize industry partnership development, coordination with the appropriate pathway (e.g., development of advisory committees), and establish agreements for mutually supporting needs (e.g., industry supporting new program/training start up).
    • C.4 – Support the evolving workforce by prioritizing accelerated and short-term training leading to relevant employment, credential attainment, and the development of life-long skills.
       

  4. Pathways to Institutional Excellence

    Provide pathways to institutional excellence by investing in the construction of creative teaching/learning environments, student-centered spaces that promote innovation and learning, partnering with industry to provide state-of-the-art facilities needed to prepare a highly-skilled workforce, investing and implementing technologies appropriate for the future of work, and recruiting and developing talent (employee) that provides opportunity for growth and advancement within the college.

    Strategies

    • D.1 – Promote employee excellence and retention by investing in our full-time and part-time employees, ensuring that all employees are supported as they exceed expectations identified within the College’s Core Values.
    • D.2– Assess and implement additional organization changes needed to better align one-college and guided career pathway needs.
    • D.3 – Create the teaching and learning spaces needed to prepare students for the future of work, including renovating classrooms, labs, and other instructional/learning areas with state-of-the-art technologies and supporting infrastructure.
    • D.4 – Create green and sustainable campuses, minimizing the College’s carbon footprint, and engaging in campus beautification efforts that culturally reflect Durham and Orange counties’ communities.
    • D.5 – Develop a culture of equity-mindedness, inclusiveness, and anti-racism.
    • D.6 – Strengthen our collaborative institutional culture to foster financially sustainable operations.