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 and evaluation process that involves the entire Institution and is based on research. First, our planning cycle begins with our (five year) Strategic Plan [1], which supports the Kentucky Community and Technical College System’s (KCTCS) Strategic Plan [2] and, most importantly, encompasses the mission [3] and values [4] of the Institution. The Strategic Plan also drives our Strategic Needs Analysis [5], which prioritizes Institutional needs in relation to budgeting and expected funding and lays out a detailed plan for how Institutional funds will be allocated and where funding is needed most.
While the Strategic Plan charts the college’s course over a five-year period, the Annual Plan [6] specifies particular goals and outcomes for the college to accomplish in a given year. The Annual Plan receives input from all academic and non-academic units throughout the college. Moreover, each unit and educational program sets its own goals and outcomes that support the overall mission of the college and of KCTCS. The planning cycle at SKCTC officially runs from October 1 to the end of September [7]; however, much of the actual planning is done in July when the President’s Leadership Team (PLT), made up of unit heads, drafts goals and outcomes for the upcoming year [8]. The Plan is assessed by the PLT mid-way through the year [9] to check on the college’s progression toward the accomplishment of its goals. Full assessment of the plan occurs in July when the PLT evaluates every aspect of its goals and objectives and uses this knowledge to draft next year’s plan. Thus, the plan is updated every year to reflect Institutional goals in new areas or to sustain progress in a current, key area. This systematic and cyclical process of assessing the degree of goal attainment and the subsequent setting of new goals or continued progress in key areas results in constant improvement from year to year. The Annual Report [10], prepared by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) in September, serves as a formal evaluation of the college’s attainment of its goals for the past year. The comprehensive report also contains assessments of individual units and educational programs based on their goals and outcomes and includes trend data regarding key indicators.
Effective planning, at all levels of the Institution, depends on effective Institutional research. The OIE collects, interprets, and disseminates a broad range of data that is both internal and external to the college. The OIE, working in cooperation with the PLT, produces an Institutional Effectiveness Manual (IEM) [11], which specifies how individual units, as well as the Institution itself, is to be assessed. Essentially, the IEM serves as a blueprint for the college in the assessment of Institutional and unit goals and outcomes. In the planning process, all unit heads and program coordinators complete a planning template [12] and submit it to the OIE. These planning templates specify the goals and outcomes of the units and programs and are reviewed at the mid-year point and formally assessed at the end of the year. Many of the goals and outcomes, especially for educational programs, are centered on several common key indicators, such as enrollment, retention rate, number of completers, job placement rate, and student satisfaction. The OIE collects much of this data and assists units and programs in completing their end-of-year reviews. For their end-of-year reviews, program coordinators complete a Program Review Form [13] and submit it to the OIE. The OIE checks on the completion of proposed outcomes and makes a formal status report on each unit/program to the president. These individual reports are also highlighted in the Annual Report. Outcomes that are met are checked off and may be maintained at their current level or upgraded to reflect a higher level of program effectiveness. Outcomes that are not met are either carried over to the next planning cycle in their current form or modified to reflect changes in the program, the Institution, or in the student body. Educational programs are formally reviewed every other year by the college’s Program Review Committee, which makes recommendations pertaining to significant changes within programs. This coordinated planning and assessment process ensures that each unit and program sustains improvement and contributes to the Institution’s mission.
It should be noted that individuals, working in cooperation with their supervisor, develop goals that also support the goals of their units as well as the mission of the college. Individuals are evaluated [14] on the degree of their goal attainment and their overall job performance. In addition, as part of the evaluation process, individuals write a self-assessment, where they are encouraged to look critically at their strengths and weaknesses, and propose ways to enhance their contribution to the college’s mission.
The OIE utilizes a number of survey instruments to evaluate programs, services, and instruction. Students rate their level of satisfaction with their instructors [15], with their advisor [16], counseling [17], and the library [18]. We also administer an entrance survey [19] to all applicants that concentrates on demographics and student intentions. Upon graduation, students complete an exit survey [20] that measures levels of student satisfaction in a wide range of areas. In addition, SKCTC administered the Your First College Year Survey [21] in spring 05. We also administered and the Transfer Survey [22], which was developed by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Moreover, in our continuing efforts to move toward becoming a learning college, our faculty, staff, and students completed the Learning College Survey [23]. Data from these surveys were analyzed by the OIE and the PLT to see where improvements could/should be made. In spring 06, SKCTC is planning to administer the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) [24] .
SKCTC also recognizes the value of collecting and responding to informal data, such as suggestions, requests, and complaints from students, faculty, and staff. To improve our data gathering in this area, we have recently installed suggestion boxes where students and employees have convenient access and we encourage individuals to contribute their ideas or observations. We have also dedicated a forum on our Professional Development web page for the free discussion of current issues of interest to our college community.
