Standard One - Mission and Purposes

DESCRIPTION

The basic mission of Cape Cod Community College has remained the same since its founding. Student education is the center of our existence. The first mission statement in 1961 stated the following:

Cape Cod Community College is based on the assumption that higher education in a democratic society is a public responsibility and its ultimate goal is to awaken the intellectual and spiritual capacities of the individual to the end that he may live a richer life, bring his maximum power to bear in his chosen career and apply an enlightened understanding to civic responsibilities.

Over the past 45 years the essence of this mission has not changed; however, there have been some new threads introduced to the mission as time has passed. In 1978 the words "diversity" and "social responsibility" were introduced into the college mission. The 1988 mission statement reflected the greatest changes since our founding, including developmental education, concern for the environment, adult basic education and literacy, cooperative education, and international education.

In 1998 there were two mission statements: The Board of Higher Education (BHE) statement describing the mission of all community colleges in Massachusetts and the focused mission specific to the individual community college. In the 1998 mission statement appear the phrases "rapidly changing" and "socially diverse global economy." For the first time Information Technology and Distance Learning are mentioned. Developmental Education and English for Speakers of Other Languages became priorities. In addition, the focused mission of 1998 introduced the development of partnerships with other institutions to bring baccalaureate and advanced degrees to the region.

The 1998 mission statement was cumbersome, constrained by mandates from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education requiring a "priorities" statement appended to the mission statement. BHE also directed colleges to publish a Sector Mission in catalogues and other public documents. Further, BHE said each community college should have an institutional mission statement that identified only those areas that were unique to its particular service region and activity.

The complexity of this earlier mission was most apparent when an attempt was made in the spring of 2005 to reorganize the College’s administrative structure. The question arose, "Does this reorganization support the mission?" As a result of this and our impending accreditation self-study, the president appointed a committee in the summer of 2006 to examine the mission and its applicability to the present, possibly creating a new mission statement. This committee, which also served as the NEASC Standard One committee, consisted of representatives from administration, full time and adjunct faculty, student services, support staff, information technology, and the student body.

Committee members began by researching current thinking on mission development. A concise, focused statement, easily read and remembered by all, general enough to allow for change, yet structured enough to use as a guide, was recommended. After receiving College-wide comments, the committee developed a single paragraph that it felt embodied our mission. This again was sent out for final comments, which were incorporated as appropriate. In October 2006 the mission statement was approved by College Meeting, followed by the Board of Trustees’ approval in November. The Board of Higher Education and the Chancellor approved our new mission statement in January 2007. The mission is consistent with the Massachusetts Public Higher Education system mission statement and the State’s Community College mission statement. (The new mission statement is at the beginning of this chapter.)

The new mission statement, because of its brevity, easily replaces the lengthy 1998 mission in nearly all official college publications, even making an appearance in the 2007 Commencement Program.

Our college is unique because of the region we serve: a 413 square mile peninsula that stretches 75 miles and serves as the mainland connection for two islands. Over a third of all jobs in the region are related to tourism and retail sales, which depend on our attractiveness as a touristdestination. We have a thriving arts community that draws many visitors and an active technology council committed to developing cutting edge technology programs that minimally impact our fragile environment. After the tourism and hospitality industry, the healthcare industry is the second largest employer in our region.

We are also challenged to meet the needs of a varied demographic. Twenty-three percent of the region’s population is over 65, while those aged 20-54 account for about 29%. Fifty-seven percent of the population have not attained a college degree. The median earnings of male full time workers are just over $41,000, and the median earnings for full time female workers are approximately $30,000. Due to high property values, the seasonal nature and the low wage scale of much of the local economy, many residents of the region have trouble making ends meet and look to the college for new opportunities and job retraining.

In addition, advances in technology and significant shifts in labor force deployment have motivated us to prepare students for a global economy. We foster multiple opportunities for students to participate in international education experiences and welcome international students and educators to study and share their expertise at our campus.

The college is a driving partner in the economic growth of the area and a strong advocate for the development of sustainable industry for the Cape and Islands. For example, we have enjoyed the financial backing of the business community, which, with matched state funding, allowed us to build our first new building in 35 years. Built with consideration for the Cape’s sensitive ecosystem, this "green building" is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) approved state structure.

Other activities on the CCCC campus also serve our mission to meet the needs of our distinct community. Our large population of elders is served through Computers for Seniors and the Academy for Lifelong Learning, which serves 500-600 elders per semester with a variety of mini-courses. The Higgins Art Gallery provides a showcase for student and local artists. The Workforce Education Resource Center is designed to meet the educational needs of local employers. Each year the college hosts a multi-cultural festival, the Lowell Lecture series, and a foreign film series, all attracting participants from every segment of the community. Our art and theater offerings provide opportunities for participation from students and community members. Our annual health fair and career fair reach out to provide valued services as well. The Life Fitness Center and athletic fields are used by the College and community groups.

Since our last accreditation, our "multicultural perspective" has expanded to include students who represent the Cape’s unprecedented growth of populations from Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Eastern Europe, Mexico, South America, and the Middle East. The College provides the majority of for-credit and noncredit ESOL training for the region. In January of 2006, an ESOL taskforce was formed to address the issue of maximizing offerings while preparing students for work and life.

The College community highly values this institution, which is evident in the way we honor our past. The college library features a unique collection of historical Cape Cod documents and records, including books written by faculty on college history. Each year, the college hosts retiree and emeriti luncheons and includes them in all college emails.

CCCC also makes every effort to celebrate our present: multicultural gatherings, holiday parties that include students, many graduations (GED, individual certificate program), student scholarship awards, recognition of employee excellence, achievement awards, recognition of exemplary programs, College Meeting acknowledgments, and publication of our successes.

Currently, CCCC is in the process of developing a new general education curriculum, aimed at providing our students with a versatile educational foundation that will ready them for lifelong learning. We are developing green practices and environmentally friendly solutions that will protect our fragile ecosystem. No doubt we will encounter new challenges yet to be discerned, but our core mission will remain the education of our students.

APPRAISAL

The College was not altogether successful in its efforts to satisfy Board of Higher Education requirements for the mission statement in 1998, since faculty and staff wanted their mission statement to reflect the comprehensive mission of the College, not just the specialized aspects of it. Community colleges tend to try to be everything to everybody, often spreading themselves too thin. Still, our community expects much of us because we are the only comprehensive higher education institution on Cape Cod.

The 1998 statement provided extensive detail about our programs and services, but failed to convey a clear sense of direction and purpose for the institution. After soliciting feedback from the faculty and staff, we identified the most important role of the college as facilitating learning. Our newly revised and approved mission statement reflects that realization. As the main post-secondary educational institution in the area, we are called upon to serve a variety of student needs, including preparation for transfer to other colleges, career training, professional development, opportunities to study abroad, and personal enrichment. Our new mission allows us the flexibility to meet those varied needs. In all of these endeavors, we strongly identify ourselves as "learning-centered," and we expect that all members of the college community participate in open inquiry. We are committed to a climate that values the contributions of all, and we strive to interact courteously and collegially; several faculty and staff have offered workshops designed by the National Coalition-Building Institute, modeling professional standards of discourse and behavior.

As a consequence of the rapid growth in populations from Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Eastern Europe, Mexico, South America, and the Middle East, the College has struggled to find resources to meet the demand for ESOL instruction.

An historical perspective on the mission of Cape Cod Community College demonstrates that its mission, while consistent in its basic goals, has been fluid enough to adapt to the changing needs of our service community. In researching the history of the mission, we learned that changes were made approximately every ten years. If this means that the mission was reviewed for efficacy only every ten years, clearly this is unacceptable. With rapidly changing needs in contemporary society, the mission needs to be examined annually by every stakeholder.

While we recognize that it is important that each person in the College community understand our mission, we need to formalize a process through which the mission statement guides every activity and provides a framework to assess our effectiveness at delivery of this mission. In order for this to happen, a mission statement must be widely understood and accessible to everyone on campus. If asked, many of us could point out the page in the catalogue where the mission statement is located; however, was it an active part of our decision making? Many would say "no."

INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

The College re-examines its mission and purposes occasionally but not regularly, seeking input from the entire college community. As the basis for strategic planning, the mission statement provides guidance for administrative and academic decision-making, for planning for the future, and for resource allocation. More frequent and regular evaluation of our mission and purposes and their importance in planning would improve the institution's effectiveness.