Early College Information for Students & Parents

What classes do Early College students take at SCC?
Early College students are working to complete the Associate of Arts – College Transfer degree, which ensures students’ transfer with junior status into most major universities. With assistance from their college advisor and guidance counselor, students should become familiar with the entrance and program requirements at the university they plan to transfer to in order to guide their course selections at SCC.
It is possible for students to obtain both degrees in four-to-five years because of articulation agreements that exist between the county and community college. For example, successful completion of college courses POL-120 (American Government) and ECO-151 (Survey of Economics) not only equal 6 credit hours towards the Associate’s Degree, but also equal the Civics & Economics requirement of the high school diploma. Take a look at this Sample 5-Year Plan to get a better idea of how this works.
Where does the Associate’s Degree take students?
Through the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement with the University of North Carolina system, SCC students can earn up to 66 hours worth of credit that will transfer to any of the 16 public universities in the state. A number of North Carolina’s Independent Colleges and Universities have also signed a similar agreement. Students interested in attending an out-of-state institution should be in contact with that school’s Admissions office to ensure transferability.
Do students have to test into college classes?
SCC administers the Accuplacer College Placement Test (CPT) in Reading Comprehension, Sentence Skills, Arithmetic, and Algebra so as to find the most appropriate placement for students planning to take certain college courses. This test is not a pass/fail test, but is for placement only. Students are made aware of when they should take the CPT through advising, and are strongly encouraged to complete the sample tests before taking the real test.
What are the college’s attendance policies?
Attendance in college classes is critical to the success of Early College students. Since most college courses meet only two days per week, missing one class meeting can negatively affect the student’s final grade: not only do absences count towards their grades, but they may miss key lessons, assignments, and tests. It is very important that the student contact the instructor, either by email or phone, prior to missing the class to ensure arrangements can be made to make up assignments or tests. Students are made of aware of each instructor’s attendance policies via their course syllabus. SCC also outlines attendance policies for the college in its handbook.
At times, there are differences in holidays between SCC and the public school systems. Students should be aware of these differences and make appropriate transportation arrangements prior to those days.
Related to weather delays and closings, SCC and the public school systems may have differing schedules. SCC’s weather policies are outlined in its handbook. When SCC classes are expected to meet when the public school busses are not running, students are still expected to be present in their college classes and should make appropriate transportation arrangements. If the weather still presents transportation issues, students are expected to remain in contact with their instructors.
Where are online courses?
Online college courses “meet” in their online classrooms, powered by Blackboard. Students can access Blackboard directly, or through their MySCC portal. To login to either of these, the Username is the first letter of the student’s first name (lowercase), the first four letters of the student’s last name (lowercase), and the last four digits of the student ID number. The Password is the student’s birthdate (mmddyy). Example: You are a student named Sam Masters with a student ID number of 0456789 and a birthdate of Jan 1, 1990. Your user name would be smast6789 and your password would be 010190.
“We don’t have a computer or the internet at home – what can we do?”
SCC has computers available for student use at each of its campuses. All of the campuses and centers of SCC have computer labs, and the Library boasts both PC’s and laptops (for use in the Library only). Students should find access to all of the programs that they will need to be successful in all college classes from these computers. Remember that community libraries allow patrons to use their computers and Internet access as well.
If students have their own laptops that they choose to bring to school, nearly all of the buildings on the main campus and the Macon Center have WiFi available to access the Internet.
Is tutoring available for college courses?
When students need additional academic help outside of the college classroom, SCC offers free tutoring services. The Learning Assistance Center (LAC) provides drop-in tutoring services in a variety of disciplines. The Student Support Services (SSS) office offers regularly-scheduled peer-tutoring. Students are expected to contact these offices directly to learn more about how these services can benefit them.
What resources are available for the success of the Early College student?
• Student Support Services
• Academic Advising: College Liaisons or Academic Programs
• Career Counseling: College Liaisons or Career Center
• Student Email Accounts (powered by Google)
How do students drop or withdraw from a college course?
Early College students should always communicate their desire for dropping or withdrawing from a course with their Advisor/College Liaison before taking further action. SCC has clear guidelines for how students can make changes to course schedules.
How are grades assigned for college courses?
Just as the credits earned in college courses also count as credits earned towards the high school diploma, so do their respective grades. For example, an “A” earned in the college course ENG-111, or Expository Writing, will also be an “A” on their high school transcript. Grades for college courses are submitted only once, at the end of each college semester. 
Where can a student track his/her college progress, including grades?
WebAdvisor is SCC’s online tool for students to be able to monitor their degree progress, as well as to check on their grades at the end of each semester. In addition to tracking progress and grades, WebAdvisor allows students to print/view current class schedules, search for courses scheduled for the next term, print/view an unofficial transcript or request an official transcript, verify Accuplacer College Placement Test (CPT) scores, and check on financial information and financial aid.
To login to WebAdvisor, the Username is the first letter of the student’s first name (lowercase), the first four letters of the student’s last name (lowercase), and the last four digits of the student ID number. The Password is the student’s birthdate (mmddyy). Example: You are a student named Sam Masters with a student ID number of 0456789 and a birthdate of Jan 1, 1990. Your user name would be smast6789 and your password would be 010190.
How can parents contact college instructors?
According to FERPA guidelines, information about a student can be released to their parents without the expressed permission of the student, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes of the parent /s. Parents are encouraged to contact their College Liaison and arrange communication with faculty through that office.
What can parents do to support the growth of the Early College student at home?
• Know the Syllabus: Each college class is required to provide students with a course syllabus. While it can vary between instructors, this document may include the instructor’s contact information (for student-use only), course objectives, material requirements for the course, attendance and assignment policies, due dates for readings and assignments, and other pertinent information. Students should always refer to the syllabus when they have questions about course expectations.
• Calendar/Planning: Maintain a family calendar on which students can post their semester projects, tests and other assignments. Large projects, such as 15-page research papers, can be broken down into smaller parts, which helps assignments become more manageable for the student. Parents can then help students monitor completion of all homework and other assignments.
• Encourage Self-Advocacy: When students rely on themselves to seek help and information from their instructors, tutoring services, and answers to questions they have about their progress in college courses, they prove to be more successful in reaching their academic goals. Not only do college faculty and staff respond to students’ needs when they reach out for help, but a student’s self-advocacy fosters self-confidence and control over their own success.
• Transportation: When differences in schedules occur between the public school systems and SCC (i.e., holidays and weather delays/closures), public school busses may not be able to transport students to school. However, as students are expected to attend all scheduled college class meetings, alternate transportation arrangements should be in place in order for the students to not miss class. Seek options such as relying on family members, friends, or car-pools to ensure that attendance does not affect the student’s success.
• Keep in Touch: Parents are strongly encouraged to communicate with high school teachers, administrators, and College Liaisons in order to learn more about what students do not mention at home. Early Colleges hold conferences, PTO meetings, and college curriculum events for parents to be “in the know” about their students’ progress. By maintaining regular communication with all of these individuals, parents will become active members of the Early College communities and further help their students’ success at home.
• Monitor Online Course Progress: One benefit to students taking online college classes is that they are always aware of their grades, assignment completion, and progress in those courses. With the students guiding the way, parents can view the “MyGrades” section of all online/Blackboard courses to check on their progress.