DCCC, the College of Davidson and Davie Counties, along with 4 other North Carolina community colleges, has been awarded a grant under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation “Completion by Design” grant program. The grant will also be shared with Guilford Technical Community College, Central Piedmont Community College, Martin Community College and Wake Technical Community College.
Completion by Design aims to build on proven, existing practices already underway at these forward-thinking community colleges that are already working to address the needs of today’s students. They are doing this by focusing on new approaches to areas such as course scheduling, advising, and curriculum development.
“No longer can we simply hand students a thick course catalog and ask them to choose classes and complete a degree,” said Hilary Pennington, director of education, postsecondary success at the Gates Foundation. “Completion by Design aims to get community colleges to restructure how they interact with the majority of their students from the moment they enter the college to the time they graduate to provide them the quickest, straightest path to a degree. When that happens, more students finish with a degree, certificate, or credential in hand.”
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
