North Central Texas College (NCTC), established in 1924 in Gainesville, Texas, is renowned for its dedication to providing high-quality and affordable education. The college offers over 60 diverse programs, including associate degrees, certificates, and workforce training, designed to equip students with the skills necessary for successful careers and further academic pursuits. NCTC serves a diverse student population, emphasizing inclusivity and equal opportunity for success. The institution is deeply committed to student achievement and continuously seeks innovative ways to enhance its services and support for students.
NCTC has always been dedicated to student success and strives to continually improve its processes to better serve its students. Despite this commitment, the college faced challenges related to managing and awarding student credentials due to the highly manual and time-consuming nature of their existing processes. These processes placed a considerable burden on internal teams and sometimes led to delays and missed opportunities to award credentials to deserving students.
The introduction of House Bill 8 and the shift to performance-based funding made it crucial for NCTC to act. Dr. G. Brent Wallace, Chancellor of NCTC, emphasized the urgency of the situation: “Our existing processes were holding us back. We needed a system that could deliver results now, ensuring we awarded all earned credentials and captured the additional performance-based funding.”
Learn how your institution can improve data management, boost graduation rates, and unlock millions in funding by adapting to this transformative funding model.
Don’t miss out—click the link now to watch and gain the strategies you need for institutional success!
NCTC partnered with ZogoTech and implemented Pathways Analytics to automate and streamline processes related to degree audits, progression tracking, and credentialing. Pathways Analytics integrated seamlessly with NCTC’s existing systems and offered several key features that addressed their needs.
Key features of Pathways Analytics included:
Automated Degree Audits: Pathways Analytics performs nightly degree audits for all students against all credentials, ensuring prompt identification of any student who has completed the requirements for a credential. This automation reduces the manual workload on the IR/Registrar teams, allowing them to focus on strategic tasks.
Fast Performance and Reduced System Load: ZogoTech performs nightly snapshots and offloads data processing from internal systems, therefore delivering results to end users in seconds compared to the hours it takes with disparate data sources and degree audit tools. This efficiency ensures no burden is placed on IT production environments, allowing for smooth and uninterrupted operations.
Proactive Student Progression Tracking: Pathways Analytics identifies students who register for a course that’s off-path before it’s too late, preventing them from taking unnecessary courses that slow their progress toward a degree. It can also be used to pinpoint the exact courses needed to complete a credential, even if it differs from their declared credential. This targeted guidance helps students stay on track and complete their degrees efficiently.
Up-to-Date Data Processing: The system provides current information on student progression, enabling the college to make timely decisions. This includes identifying and reaching out to students who are 1-2 courses away from completing a credential or those registered for off-path courses.
Course Substitutions Handling: Pathways Analytics allows for flexibility in handling course substitutions. For example, if a degree plan requires ART 1301 but a student has taken an equivalent course approved by the department, the system can recognize this and count it towards the credential.
Historical Data Analysis: The tool can analyze student records going back 10 years, identifying students who may have been close to completing their credentials in the past but never finished. This feature helps these students complete their credentials retroactively.
Reverse Transfer Tracking: Pathways Analytics supports reverse transfer initiatives, enabling students who have transferred to a four-year institution to complete their associate degree with credits earned at their new institution. This capability increases credential attainment and supports student success beyond their time at NCTC.
Dr. Wallace highlighted the transformative impact: “With Pathways Analytics, we’ve shifted from labor-intensive data processing to focusing on ensuring our students are successful. This tool allows us to operate more efficiently and effectively, ensuring that we can support our students and improve their outcomes.”
By automating and streamlining processes related to degree audits, progression tracking, and credentialing, NCTC significantly enhanced their ability to identify and award credentials, leading to substantial increases in performance-based funding.
Before implementing Pathways Analytics, NCTC’s manual processes yielded an average of 211 credentials per year over the three years leading up to the implementation. Since implementing Pathways Analytics, the college has awarded an average of 581 credentials per year. This represents an increase of 175% in the average number of credentials awarded annually.
Key benefits included:
Increased Credential Awards: In 2023 alone, Pathways Analytics helped NCTC identify over 700 completed but unawarded credentials, resulting in an additional $1.85 million in House Bill 8/performance-based funding.
Significant Financial Opportunities: The system identified over 10,000 students who were 1-4 courses away from completing their credentials, representing a potential $26 million in additional funding. Even if a small fraction of these students complete their courses, the financial benefits would be substantial.
Enhanced Student Support: By identifying students who were close to completing their credentials, NCTC could proactively offer support and guidance, improving student outcomes and completion rates.
Operational Efficiency: Automating the degree audit process reduced the administrative workload, allowing staff to focus on strategic initiatives and direct student engagement.
Data-Driven Decisions: Access to real-time and historical data empowered NCTC to make informed decisions regarding curriculum development, resource allocation, and student services.
“Pathways Analytics has allowed us to significantly boost our efficiency and better support our students in achieving their educational goals. This tool is a testament to our commitment to student success and institutional excellence,” adds Dr. Wallace.
