Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Online Compliance Certification
Judgment of Compliance |
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X |
Compliance |
Partial Compliance |
Non-Compliance |
NARRATIVE/JUSTIFICATION FOR JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE
Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC) adheres to a systematic planning cycle centered around its five-year Strategic Plan [1], which supports the overall mission [2] and values [3] of the Institution as well as those of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). In addition to college-wide objectives outlined in the Strategic Plan, the college’s Annual Plan [4] details individual unit and program outcomes on a yearly basis. The Annual plan receives input from the president and the college’s leadership team, which includes deans, division heads, and the Director of Institutional Effectiveness. The plan is reviewed both annually and semi-annually to gauge progress toward the completion of goals. The plan is updated every year to reflect Institutional goals in new areas or to continue progress in a current area.
Individual unit leaders and educational program coordinators, working with division chairs, jointly determine individual unit or program outcomes. Educational programs share many of the same assessment criteria, such as program enrollment, number of completers, retention rate, and job placement rates, and student satisfaction, for example. These criteria are often referred to as program performance indicators [5]. Program coordinators track some of these criteria, while the Office of Institutional Effectiveness tracks others. There is also an increased emphasis in assessing student-learning outcomes as well. To this end, programs are looking closely at licensing exams, grades in prerequisite courses, and standardized test scores (i.e., Work Keys) to assess student learning more precisely. In addition, each educational program has a competency or task list that must be mastered before the student can graduate. Other support units, such as counseling, advising, the library, and tutoring, typically have outcomes related to the number of students served and the quality of service, as reported by students. In fact, SKCTC surveys students in each of these areas every year, and the results are analyzed by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) [6] and the President’s Leadership Team (PLT) [7] in an effort to improve administrative and educational support services.
The Institutional Effectiveness Manual (IEM) [8] lays the foundation for the assessment of units and programs. The IEM contains planning templates, unit/program review forms, and guidelines for units to follow in assessing their level of achievement. The OIE provides data and assists each unit head or program coordinator in preparing an annual assessment of program outcomes. Outcomes that are met are checked off and may be maintained at the current level or upgraded to reflect a higher level of program effectiveness. Outcomes that are not met are either carried over to the next year in their current form or modified to reflect changes in the program, the Institution, or in the student body. This process is similar for non-educational units as well, which operate with varying sets of unit goals and outcomes. The OIE reviews outcomes for each unit and program yearly and reports the assessment results in the college’s Annual Report [9]. The Program Review Committee [10] formally reviews each educational program every other year and makes recommendations based on program performance. Unit and program improvement is demonstrated through increases in one or more of the following key indicators: (1) enrollment, (2) retention rate, (3) number of completers, (4) job placement rate, (5) student satisfaction, (6) student grades, (7) student performance on national/state licensure exams, (8) student performance on semester comprehensive exams, (9) student performance on standardized tests (i.e., Work Keys), and (10) employer satisfaction with graduates.
