Interim Chancellor Dixon Meets with Regional Community College Leaders

ECSU Interim Chancellor, Dr. Karrie Dixon, center right, met with College of the Albemarle president, Dr. Robert Wynegar, center left, as a part of her tour of area community colleges.

Elizabeth City State University’s partnerships with regional community colleges are bringing a growing number of students to campus to complete a bachelor’s degree, and a recent series of meetings between Interim Chancellor Dr. Karrie Dixon and community college presidents is strengthening those relationships, according to LuAnn Riddick, ECSU director of community college partnerships.

“We’re creating a more comprehensive pipeline for transfer students from the community colleges to ECSU,” said Riddick.

During the week of Oct. 15, Dr. Dixon traveled to area colleges to discuss her vision for the future with presidents from College of the Albemarle, Roanoke-Chowan Community College, Halifax Community College, Pitt Community College, Edgecombe Community College, and Martin Community College.

“Strengthening our relationships with these regional community colleges is a win-win scenario for all of Northeastern North Carolina,” said Dr. Dixon. “Students who earn associates degrees and transfer to ECSU bring with them a solid foundation for success, and a desire to achieve. ECSU offers these students pathways to fulfilling their educational aspirations that they began at one of the state’s excellent community colleges.”

According to Riddick, ECSU has agreements in place with area community colleges for accelerated programs in criminal justice and social work, and a “two-plus-two” program for education majors.

“The plan is, students complete their two-year degree at the community college, and once they follow that pathway, there is a smooth transition over to ECSU, and into their designated major to complete their bachelor’s degree,” said Riddick.

Riddick said the meetings with community college presidents also aligned ECSU and community college administrators, giving the various academic departments a stronger relationship. Those relationships will allow the institutions to work closer, giving students a smooth transition to ECSU once they graduate with an associate’s degree.

Riddick says the next step is to put a plan in place to continue to follow up with the colleges and further cement these relationships. She and the ECSU interim provost, Dr. Farrah Ward, will work with the colleges to enhance the relationships and bring future transfer students to the ECSU campus.

For the fall 2018 enrollment census report, transfer students enrolling at ECSU was up 57 percent over last year. The agreements with community colleges, combined with the N.C. Promise Tuition Plan – $500 per semester for in-state students – Riddick says the university anticipates more growth.

“We want to be ready to work with the increased enrollment through transfers,” she said.