2009 Performance Accountability Report Vol. 2 - Maryland Higher ...

Occupational Program Associate Degrees and Credit Certificates Awarded – Data Processing
The number of awards earned in Data Processing decreased from 88 in FY 2006 to 49 in FY
2007, and reached its lowest point in four years. The benchmark for this indicator is 81 degrees
and/or certificates awarded in this area by FY 2010.
Enrollment in information technologies degree programs have been in decline at PGCC and
many other community colleges for some time now. For example, 1,598 students in fall 2001
were information systems (data processing) majors, but this number more than halved by fall
2005 (761) and continued a slower decline into the fall of 2009 (633). Doubtless job market
forces are in operation here (the collapse of the hi-tech start-up bubble, etc.). This decline would
naturally be reflected in fewer and fewer graduates in this career area over time. The drop was
precipitous from fiscal year 2006 (88 graduates) to 2007 (47) and subsequently has leveled off:
in 2008 it rebounded somewhat to 57, and then dropped again in 2009 to 46.
Occupational Program Associate Degrees and Credit Certificates Awarded – Engineering
Technology
The number of awards earned in Engineering Technology decreased from 12 in FY 2006 to 9 in
FY 2007. The college is now less than halfway toward meeting its benchmark of awarding 19
degrees and/or certificates in this area by FY 2010.
The engineering technologies major at PGCC has always been a relatively small degree program
category which has been in slow decline during the first half of this decade but recently has
shown signs of stabilizing (192 majors in fall 2001, 153 in 2005 and now 186 in 2009). This is
paralleled by the fiscal year graduation data. In FY 2005 there were 16 engineering technologies
graduates, dropping to a low of 9 in 2007, and rising somewhat to 15 in 2008 and 19 in 2009.
Licensure/certification exam pass rate
In FY 2007, 29% of health information technology candidates passed their certification exams.
The college’s benchmark is based upon 90% of students passing the exam.
Fluctuations in the Health Information Management initial licensure test pass rate are probably
mostly a matter of the tiny base number of students taking the test (never higher than 7 in the
years 2005-2008). With such a small sample size, the random idiosyncrasies and level of
preparedness of a few individual students can have oversized impacts on percentages.
Admittedly, the four year rate was only 65% (n=20), much lower than the 90% benchmark, but if
the FY 2007 result of 29% is taken to be an anomaly, the remaining data points average a more
respectable 84% (n=13).
Support of Regional Economic and Workforce Development
According to the 2004 Maryland State Plan for Postsecondary Education, the critical areas for
educating workers over the next 10 years will be in the technical fields (such as computer
information systems), occupational fields (such as nursing), and in teacher education. At Prince
George’s Community College, we are responding to this demand. In fall 2008, 47.3% of degree­
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