WILMINGTON — The Port City’s two public college institutions are teaming up to make the pipeline from one to the other an easier journey for students.
UNCW’s Chancellor Aswani Volety and Cape Fear Community College President Jim Morton charged the Pathway Partnership Group, a joint committee of nine representatives from both institutions, to improve the institutions’ connection and reduce barriers for students transfers.
The group has three specific goals, the first being to replace the existing Seapath program with a new, robust program that provides clear, equitable and effective pathway options. It will also explore a direct admit program for qualified CFCC students to be directly admitted to UNCW. Finally, it will identify additional opportunities for collaboration to include career and technical education pathways.
“The student need is there, and the community landscape is right,” Volety said in a press release. “The committee will help both institutions think bigger as we reinvent existing programs to better serve CFCC students seeking to transfer to UNCW, while also meeting the increasing workforce needs of our region.”
Current enrollment trends show the number of CFCC students transferring to UNCW is growing. In fall 2022, UNCW admitted 95% of the nearly 450 applications received from CFCC students.
“This continued relationship will also boost our ability to retain North Carolina residents after graduation, ultimately increasing our educated workforce and our ability to recruit jobs and companies to our area,” Morton said in a press release.
The top five intended majors from CFCC students are psychology, communication studies, business administration, nursing and biology. PPG will help establish better means of communicating the requirements for these and other majors to both students and school counselors and reach out to community groups to engage with the programs.
The group is led by Brandon Guthrie, vice president of academic affairs at CFCC, and Dr. Stefanie Norris, UNCW’s director of transfer partnerships. PPG will meet monthly to ensure progress is being made toward its goals.
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