SCC Dean of Students Dr. Marvin Rondon presents enrollment numbers to the trustees Tuesday night, having set a new record with almost 1,800 students now enrolled at Sampson Community College.

SCC Dean of Students Dr. Marvin Rondon presents enrollment numbers to the trustees Tuesday night, having set a new record with almost 1,800 students now enrolled at Sampson Community College.

<p>Chuck Spell, with his wife Lisa by his side, takes the oath as a new Sampson Community College Board of Trustees member. He took his seat on the board Tuesday night.</p>

Chuck Spell, with his wife Lisa by his side, takes the oath as a new Sampson Community College Board of Trustees member. He took his seat on the board Tuesday night.

<p>Britt Honeycutt, chairwoman of Sampson Community College’s English and Communications department and co-chair of the Quality Enhancement Program (QEP), addresses the SCC Board of Trustees, talking about the progress of the new orientation program during a meeting Tuesday night.</p>

Britt Honeycutt, chairwoman of Sampson Community College’s English and Communications department and co-chair of the Quality Enhancement Program (QEP), addresses the SCC Board of Trustees, talking about the progress of the new orientation program during a meeting Tuesday night.

Sampson Community College reached another milestone recently with its highest enrollment period to date this school year, with almost 1,800 students enrolled.

That news was delivered during the Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night, a meeting which also saw trustees welcome back a familiar face to its ranks.

Dr. Marvin Rondon, dean of students at the community college, said students enrolled at SCC have come from 40 counties across North Carolina, and several states, and among those, the college has seen an average low dropout rate of 10 percent, down from 15 percent in 2021.

“We have 1,767 students enrolled, and from six states,” Rondon told the trustees during his report. “We broke another record,” he said speaking on both the fall 2024 and spring 2025 enrollment numbers.

“We’re the closest to 1,8000 in a semester than ever,” he added.

Dr. Bill Starling, president of Sampson Community College, was hopeful about the numbers, and said he looks forward to continued growth and success, even though, realistically, he knows enrollment numbers ebb and flow over time.

“Enrollment fluctuate from semester to semester,” Starling explained during an interview Friday. “We’re encouraged by our growth of high school enrollment and college students, and meeting the needs of our students and their families as they build better lives. We feel students are recognizing the importance of trades, and the medical area through our nursing program. Everywhere we look, truck driving, heavy equipment operators are in demand and they are able to get the qualifications they need at the college.”

Tuesday night, Rondon said certain programs have suffered a loss since Covid, but have more than since recovered this school year.

Trustees absorbed the information provided by Rondon but made no comment.

Also Tuesday night, Chuck Spell returned to the board after a half-decade hiatus, taking his oath of office and a seat among the trustees.

No stranger to the Sampson Community College Board of Trustees, Spell’s previous tenure with the board was from 2015-2019.

He stood in front of the trustees, with his wife, Lisa, by his side, as the oath was administered.

Spell, who is filling the seat held by Trustee Pat Jones, who passed away in 2024, is the director of manufacturing for Hog Slat, and a Sampson County native. He said he looks forward to serving SCC again.

“I’m very exited,” Spell attested. “There were a lot of projects we talked about during my previous time (on the Board of Trustees), so I’m excited to see those come to fruition.”

Starling said about Spell’s return, “Chuck is one of our most valuable voices from the industrial community. He’s been a great advocate for our programs and a wonderful resource for our community. He was instrumental in helping us move to the industrial site we have for truck driving and heavy equipment operating, and we’re thankful to have him back on the board.”

Spell said he looks forward to the progress the college will continue to make with new endeavors, which will attract new industries and grow the tax base in Sampson County by offering more programs to train skilled workers. His desire, he said, is to help both the college and the community of Sampson County grow and thrive.

“Continuing to grow this program for local industries is vital,” Spell noted. “I represent industry and serve on the (Sampson County) Economic Development Board. I know what industries are looking for, such as adding fabrication. Hiring qualified fabrication workers and welders is difficult, so hopefully, we can offer programs that local industries are needing to find employees for, and pull new industries to the area.”

But before future students begin their training at Sampson Community College, they all have to take a quality enhancement plan course to better understand the resources and expectations at SCC, especially when it comes to navigating online courses.

Britt Honeycutt, chairwoman of the English and Communications department, and co-chair of the Quality Enhancement Program (QEP), spoke to the board about the updates and reasoning for having a QEP program course.

Required for all students before they register for classes, Honeycutt said students will have a better grasp of what is required of them and develop a better learning experience. Called the “Viking Crew Course,” it is part of orientation, she said.

“In early fall, we administered the course to all freshman students. They all took the course in front of us and we got to see how they interacted with the course” she explained. “and since then we have made edits to the course.”

She spoke on some policy changes, challenges and solutions, such as opting out if students can pass a test beforehand.

“One way we addressed this challenge is they can complete it in less than 30 minutes. We were worried students might become frustrated, so students can take a test at the beginning and if they past those tests then they don’t have to take that portion of the course.”

She also said some student taking in-person classes wondered why they had to take an online course. “We feel it’s best to have every student prepared for online learning” she explained, mentioning the pandemic causing all classes to go online about five years ago.

However, there are special exceptions for certain students who can’t participate in online learning; they are given override and exempt from the program.

As outlined in the presentation, the goals for the QEP program course is as follows:

• Identify key skills in resilience, responsibility, and communication essential for succeeding in online courses.

• Demonstrate understanding of computer and digital literacy skills, such as user interface navigation, file management, and system and software requirements, to be ready for successful online course participation.

• Gain a better understanding of Moodle navigation: login, tool use (email, discussions, video), assignment submission, online assessments, and resolving connectivity issues for effective online learning.

The first beta test of the course was administered this past fall, which was also the largest enrollment of students to date.