Standard Two - Planning & Evaluation

PLANNING

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DESCRIPTION

The Cape Cod Community College Board of Trustees approves a Strategic Plan every five years. The Strategic Plan is part of the Mission, Planning, Resource Allocation, Evaluation model that the College uses to ensure institutional effectiveness. The College's planning process is based on the Harvard Business School model of analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). This SWOT analysis underlies most planning at the College. The College contracted with the Institute for Higher Education Policy to assist in the development of the 2003-2008 Strategic Plan. For the time period of this self-study the 2003-2008 Strategic Plan was linked to the "old" mission statement of the college. In November 2006 the College modified its Mission Statement; consequently, in this self-study the College is looking at the link between the 2003-2008 Strategic Plan and the Mission Statement that was in place at the time. The 2008-2013 Strategic Plan will be linked to the new 2007 Mission Statement.

Using the Strategic Plan as a starting point, the College develops a number of plans for specific areas of its activities. The Academic Master Plan, the Facilities Master Plan, and the Information Technology Plan are all linked to the needs identified in the Strategic Plan. The 2003-2008 Strategic Plan posits seven major priorities: (1) Focusing and Strengthening the Core Mission; (2) Fiscal and Enrollment Stability; (3) Enhancing student success for all students; (4) Nurturing and Improving campus life; (5) Strengthening linkages to the employment community, and improve workforce development; (6) Improving campus communication and marketing at every level; and (7) Strengthening the use of data to improve internal and external accountability.

While the Strategic Plan is developed on a local level, the Facilities Master Plan is developed on a regional level. Through the efforts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Board of Higher Education and the Commonwealth's Division of Capital Asset Management, the College participates in regional planning processes to determine facilities' needs. The Facilities Master Plan includes a space utilization report that was completed by Sisake Associates. As a result of this analysis of facilities needs, the Governor has recently proposed a major capital improvements initiative for public higher education in Massachusetts. Through this plan the Commonwealth would support the construction of a new $36 million health and science building and other capital improvements.

The College Meeting's Institutional Research and Planning Committee has been charged with assisting in the overall planning function at the College. From September 2004 until February 2006, the faculty and professional staff were on "work-to-rule" because the state government did not properly fund a collective bargaining agreement. This action by the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC) had a major impact on the College governance process as the College Meeting committees did not meet during this period. The College's Administrative Council performed much of the work of the Institutional Research and Planning Committee during that time. Since "work-to rule" has ended, the Institutional Planning and Research Committee has resumed meeting and reviewing the College's planning process.

It should also be noted that the College has had several challenges that have impacted not only planning and evaluation efforts, but many other efforts to improve the College. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Board of Higher Education and the Massachusetts Community College Council (Day Contract) increased teaching loads of full-time faculty by 25%. The advising loads for full-time faculty were reduced from 25 students to 18 students. Between FY 2001 and FY 2004, the legislature and governor reduced the state appropriation to the College by 22%. In 2002 and 2003 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts offered an Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP).

The number of full-time faculty declined from roughly 75 to 55. College wide, more than 40 individuals participated in the ERIP. Moreover,the ERIP mandated that the College could not use more than 20% of the salary savings for replacement personnel. These developments made planning and evaluation more difficult, but also impacted many other aspects of the college as well.

In response to all the staffing reductions, the College developed a plan for replacing faculty and staff. The plan was developed using data on numbers of sections offered in different disciplines and enrollments. Every effort was made to assure that resources were allocated to those areas that demonstrated the greatest need.

Because CCCC is part of the state community college system operating under the auspices of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, it is also responsible for carrying out the goals established for the entire system, including affordability, access, and student success. These statewide goals are measured through the state system's Key Performance Indicators (KPI). At CCCC particular attention is paid to the College's performance on those indicators.

In 2005 College Meeting created an ad-hoc Committee to study the feasibility of student housing. As a result of the work of this committee, the college received an appropriation to hire a consultant to conduct a more formal study of the feasibility of student housing.

Also through College Meeting in 2006, the College established an ad-hoc Committee on the Schedule Template, which reviewed the effectiveness of the current class schedule template and proposed a revised schedule that was adopted by the College Meeting in September, 2006.

 

APPRAISAL

The College uses the Strategic Plan to guide decision-making and resource allocation at the College. For example, to address the priority of "enhancing student success for all students," the Strategic Plan calls for improvements in academic advising and retention. There were ample data to support the lack of student satisfaction with academic advising. The College increased the allocation of resources for advising by establishing the position of Director of Advising and Counseling Services in 2003 and subsequently increasing the funding for that area in order to hire more part-time advisors. The most recent Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Survey indicates increased student satisfaction with academic advising.

The Strategic Plan also addresses the goal of "curriculum review grounded in learning outcomes." The College has made curriculum review and the identification of desirable student learning outcomes a priority by allocating professional development time and reassigned time to work on curriculum review. This has been a major area of improvement for the College since the 1998 accreditation visit, at which time the College had identified no student learning outcomes. Currently, the College has developed student learning outcomes for approximately 60% of its courses.

In 2003 College Meeting created the Ad Hoc Committee on General Education to reexamine the College's General Education requirements. This committee has created a proposed revision of the General Education requirements.

Probably the most significant area of use of planning involves "nurturing and improving campus life." This priority highlighted the College's lack of adequate space for its activities. The new Lorusso Applied Technology Building has provided more classroom and faculty meeting space. Again the College has used the Strategic Plan to guide resource allocation. In this case, the College was able to raise nearly two million dollars to pay for the new building. One illustration of how the College has addressed the strategic priority of "nurturing and improving campus life" is by providing the upper floor of the Grossman Commons area with a ping-pong table and a television for student use.

The College has addressed many aspects of the strategic priority of "fiscal and enrollment stability." Enrollment has been very stable with a slight increase in the last few years. Also with respect to this priority, the Strategic Plan indicates that "special efforts need to be paid to the needs of low-income students, members of ethnic minorities, and students who are first generation." In 2004, the College's TRIO Student Support Services proposal for the ADVANTAGE Program was funded for another four years at about $250,000 per year, which will guarantee services to low-income and first generation students. The Coaches and Mentors support program has also been funded annually during this period with Perkins Vocational funds of about $200,000.

To address the strategic priority to "improve campus communication and marketing" in 2005 the College hired the marketing consultants Golden Associates to help the College create a successful marketing plan. One of the findings of the consultants' marketing study was that the College needed to improve its web presence. In response to this advice, a new website was launched in May 2007. In addition, following the new marketing plan, the College increased the number of early morning courses and increased options for students to learn on-line through the introduction of the Blackboard instructional management system.

In response to the strategic priority to "strengthen the use of data," the College has converted from an unsatisfactory information system to the robust Jenzabar Student Information System. Having this new system has enabled the College to successfully respond to reporting requirements and data needs for the College. The College has also increased the number of Information Technology staff to better support users. Moreover, the College has created a new position of Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness to improve the availability of data to the campus to evaluate effectiveness and improve planning.

At the division, department, program, and unit level, those entities contribute to annual operational plans that connect all activities at the College to the Strategic Plan and the budget process. However, more coordination of planning activities among the various areas of activity within the College needs to be achieved. The College will also benefit from longer-term planning. In some areas it seems that five years is not long-term enough.

In addition, the College needs to improve its system of establishing strategic goals, connecting those goals to more focused annual operational plans and then making sure that the budgetary resources are allocated to the priorities identified in the operational plans.

 

Projections - Standard Two - Planning
Projections Prepare a Five year Strategic Plan for 2008-2013 using the new mission statement as a guide as well as information from the Facilities Master Plan and the Technology Strategic Plan	Responsible Staff President Strategic Planning Committee	Completion Date FY 2008
Prepare a budget that will allocate resources using the priorities identified in the Strategic Plan	Cabinet VP Admin. and Finance	FY 2008 and annually thereafter
Supplement the Facilities Master Plan with a comprehensive campus Facilities Improvement Plan that identifies the priority and cost of all needed physical plant infrastructure improvements, using the DCAM list of required maintenance and any additional requirements identified.	VP Admin. and Finance	FY 2008
Hire a Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness	President	FY 2008
Prepare and complete a Technology Strategic Plan update	Exec. Dir. of Info Tech.	FY 2008
Formally establish a Campus Utilization Advisory Committee (CUAC), which exists only informally now.	VP Admin. and Finance	FY 2008
Prepare and complete an Information Security Plan and submit updates annually for approval to the Administrative Council each June	Exec. Dir. of Info Tech.	FY 2008 and annually thereafter

 

EVALUATION

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DESCRIPTION

Cape Cod Community College has a systematic plan for evaluating its activities. At the Strategic Plan level, the Board of Trustees, College Meeting, and more frequently the Institutional Research and Planning Committee periodically discuss reports on the implementation of the Strategic Plan (J. Fraser, D. Burlin, J. Grant).

Additionally, the College considers the Key Performance Indicators and uses the analysis performance to help guide activity at the College. For example, in 2004 the KPI indicated that there was a decline in the number of degrees and certificates being awarded at CCCC. Members of the Institutional Research and Planning Committee met with each academic department and several Student Affairs areas to discuss the issue and to develop strategies for increasing the numbers of graduates. The 2006 Linear Trends Report from BHE indicates that in FY 2003 the College awarded 371 degrees and certificates. In FY 2006 the College awarded 488. Please see chart below. Also, the College has developed an Academic Program Review Process, an Academic Discipline Review Process, and a Student Affairs Review Process.

Through these reviews the College regularly evaluates the quality of the services that it is providing and makes changes to improve those areas where needed. For instance, in a recent program review of the Early Childhood Program, one of the findings was that the program needed to improve its curriculum and facilities. As a result, a classroom has been improved to allow for Early Childhood activities, an administrative office related to Early Childhood Education has been improved, and the curriculum for Early Childhood Education has been completely revised. Further, the Early Childhood Education Program has received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Similar reviews are done in the Student Affairs area. Most recently, Academic Support Services and Admissions (including the ACCCESS program) completed their self-studies and reviews.

All reviews include the provision of external consultants, who review self-studies and provide analyses of department or program strengths and weaknesses, along with recommendations for improvement. These reviews include the use of both quantitative and qualitative data. For example, Academic Program Reviews ask for the analysis of graduation numbers, course enrollments, course completion rates, and methodology for evaluating textbooks.

The College also regularly administers the Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement to assess its effectiveness in a variety of areas. The results of these surveys are used to make improvements at the College.

The Board of Trustees has been systematically evaluating its effectiveness since 2005. The Board uses the results of the evaluation to improve its effectiveness from year to year.

As part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the College has a systematic way of evaluating all faculty and professional staff performance. As part of the faculty evaluation process described in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, students are provided an opportunity to evaluate their instructors.

Members of College Meeting also annually complete an evaluation of the effectiveness of College Meeting and that aspect of the governance process.

Number of Annual Degrees and Certificates Awarded
Degree Level	FY1999	FY2000	FY2001	FY2002	FY2003	FY2004	FY2005	FY2006
Certificate	177	114	127	96	66	109	85	103
Associate	272	281	307	325	305	316	345	385
Total	449	395	434	421	371	425	430	488

 

APPRAISAL

The College has developed a systematic approach for evaluating its services and uses external perspectives. It relies on the Institutional Planning and Research Committee to look at the overall evaluation process. The College has begun a systematic process for evaluating programs, disciplines, and student affairs areas. Through the program review process, the College can identify strengths and weaknesses and has made changes to programs to improve curriculum and the quality of its services. The Early Childhood Education Program, for instance, as part of the program review process, completely revised its curriculum to include program outcomes and student learning outcomes for all the courses in the program. The College has begun to implement many of the recommendations that come from program review processes. For example, the College has collected ten years of data from the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Survey, which it has used to improve academic advising. The College has data that demonstrate a higher level of student satisfaction with academic advising in 2006 than was the case in 1997. Although the College collects the Noel-Levitz data in a systematic way, we have not developed a systematic way of disseminating the results of the survey so that the College community can work with it more effectively to effect improvement in more areas.

In addition to the Noel-Levitz Survey, the College also uses the Community College Survey of Student Engagement biennially to evaluate its effectiveness. As is the case with the Noel-Levitz Survey, the College has collected CCSSE data regularly and systematically since 2005, but is still lacking a comprehensive plan for using the data to improve its programs and services. Further, until very recently, the College did not allocate resources in a systematic way that used the information from these data sources.

The College has a very good system of personnel evaluation, as is prescribed in the Collective Bargaining agreements. Employee evaluations are on file in the Human Resources Office.

The College does not have a systematic method for evaluating the administrative areas of the College.

 

INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

The College has begun to move toward systematic evaluation of its planning and evaluation activities. At many levels, including Cabinet, Administrative Council, and especially through the Institutional Research and Planning Committee, the College regularly discusses planning. In Spring 2005 the College devoted a Collegewide Professional Day to examining the 2003-2008 Strategic Plan, evaluating progress made, and identifying further areas of focus and those needing improvement. With respect to evaluation the College regularly engages in the Academic, Discipline and Student Affairs program review processes.

 

Projections - Standard Two - Evaluation
Projections Create a system for connection program review/evaluation results tooperational planning and annual resource allocation	Responsible Staff Admin. Council and Departmental and Divisional units	Completion Date FY 2009 and annually thereafter
Improve the systematic evaluation of college operations	Cabinet	FY 2009
Improve the use of data from the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement in the annual budgeting process	Cabinet Institutional Research and Planning Committee	FY 2008 and annually thereafter