Columbia College Evaluation Institutional Progress by College Goal and Objectives

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1 Columbia College Evaluation Institutional Progress by College Goal and Objectives Columbia College has a systematic process of evaluating and assessing how well and in what ways its programs and services are meeting student learning needs and standards. The timeline to review programs is established by the institution s shared governance body, the College Council in collaboration with faculty, staff and student groups. In the spring and subsequent fall of 2013, all programs and services completed comprehensive reviews. The following reflects a summarization of the information derived from that process and from the Institutional Effectiveness Surveys to student and staff surveys. The complete compendium is available to college staff with access to the Columbia College Research and Planning SharePont site. Summaries of the surveys can be found: IRO Surveys, website. Based on the Columbia College Goals and the results from the program reviews: Student Success Goal #1 Objective Met: The College shall increase the percentage of students that have Student Educational Plans. The College has, and is increasing its efforts to record all contacts with students who have completed and/or revised their educations plans (See 2013 Institutional Effectiveness Report, p. 14: 2013 Institutional Effectiveness Report). As a result, recorded educational plan contacts doubled from to Additional work is being done to streamline the SARS reporting system which records student educational plan services received. In terms of student follow through in completing their plans, 400 students responded that they expected to complete their goals either on time or within two additional semesters as planned in a 2013 survey. Over 70% of the respondents reported either having filed or updated their educational plans. Only 6% were undecided or planning or planned to put their college plans on hold for the coming term. Objective Met: The College shall monitor and plan for an optimal number of annual program completions. An overall 34% increase in the number of awards earned in the academic year surpassed all prior awards conferred by Columbia College since (See: 2013 Institutional Effectiveness Report, p. 15: portal.yosemite.edu/data/ccresearch/ccplanning/documents/institutional%20effectiveness%20report% pdf). Objective Met: Student completion data shall be used to determine existing time to completion velocities for college programs The average number of years needed to complete an associate degree at Columbia College is a mean of 5.1 years. (See 2013 Institutional Effectiveness Report, p. 15: This number changes over individual programs however, and as of October 2013, the standard for this objective per individual programs is under review. 1

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3 Student Success Goal #1 (continued) Objective Met: Students shall demonstrate in depth, critical knowledge of theory, research and practice relevant to their chosen professional roles and focus areas, including skill development in Organization, Computation, Communication, and Research (institutional SLO #4). The verbiage of this objective is under consideration as the components can be a mix of criteria and vary by degree and/or certificate. However, a high number of resource requests are directly identified with this goal, as are program reviews that relate to components of this objective. When students were asked to agree, or not, with the statement, Columbia College has high standards for student learning most (86%) concurred with the statement, and 85% responded they felt students were competent in the vital skills of organizational, computational and communication skills needed for success although noted the criteria is difficult to generalize over the entire student body. Given actual student success ratios (successful completion in courses by earning grades of C or better), success is averaging approximately 70% over the past six years and the student GPAs have increased slightly over the past four years (since 2008) by an average 2.47 in to 2.80 in Results from student and staff surveys indicate a high level of agreement (Agree to Strongly Agree) that Columbia meets this objective. (See: Student Survey Organized by College Goals, p. 4.) Goal #2 High Quality Programs and Services Objective Met: All college programs shall regularly evaluate and improve program quality through ongoing and systematic cycles of program review. Columbia College made significant progress in strengthening and aligning its program review, SLO and unit planning processes in Based on user feedback, a new input form made identifying planning goals and resource requests that are aligned with the College Goals much easier. By Fall 2013, fully 100% of programs and services completed or updated their program reviews for the year. The SLO work and evaluations are merged with the Program Review along with outcomes from previous programmatic goals. Requests are tied to College Goals along with the relevant evidence derived from the program reviews. Funding requests, along with their justifications and relationship to college goals, are then summarized at the unit level, at the college level, and forwarded through the shared governance process for their review and recommendations regarding resource allocations. At the conclusion of the planning cycle, the Administrative unit of the College establishes the college budget. The planning process is reviewed by the College Council during its annual retreat. Results of staff and student feedback, SLO and Program Review summaries and an Institutional Effectiveness 3

4 Report and Summary combining internal and external data are provided to the College Council during the spring term. The Council reviews the program review summaries, recommendations for improvements, recommends any upgrades needed and the cycle resets. Based on the preliminary results received of the Fall 2013 staff feedback survey and the program review process, 96% of the respondents indicate they agree or strongly agree with the statement: The college conducts ongoing and systematic cycles of program review quantitative and qualitative evidence in measuring institutional effectiveness and the progress made toward its goals. Another 79% agree to strongly agree to the statement: Columbia College is transparent in communicating the budgeting and resource allocation processes. This of course, does not mean that improvements don t need to be made. Goal #3 Institutional Effectiveness Columbia College shall demonstrate institutional effectiveness through ongoing and systematic cycles of improvement that lead to the accomplishment of the College Mission and guide the allocation of its resources. Objective Met: The College Council shall annually evaluate progress toward Mission based College Goals. Goal #3 Institutional Effectiveness continues to be a perpetual process. Columbia is meeting its objectives of Institutional Effectiveness demonstrating a consistent execution of regularly scheduled institutional plans, e.g., the Master Planning Calendar, Educational Master Plan, Facilities Plan, Technology Plan, etc., and has regular dialogue regarding institutional effectiveness that is ongoing, robust and pervasive. Data and institutional effectiveness analyses are widely distributed throughout the institution, and is maintained and improved as needed to evaluate the Strategic Planning Cycle, and increasing and improving the connections between evaluation and resource allocations (e.g., comprehensive reports from program reviews). Supporting documentation re: Institutional Effectiveness: Columbia College Institutional Effectiveness Reports The summarized PR results posted to the Integrated Planning Website Summary of the dialogue recorded in Section 2.7 of the PRs The Planning Cycle (and dates it has been reviewed) College Council minutes Annual Planning Retreats (see College Council Meeting Minutes, April and May 2013) Staff and Student Institutional Effectiveness Surveys Goal #4 Campus Climate Interactions among all constituencies at Columbia College shall be characterized by respect for all individuals and ideas. Campus policies and procedures shall be inclusive and encourage participation by all in the college community. Both the physical and intellectual environment of the campus shall encourage personal reflection and inquiry. Objective Partially Met: The College shall strive to increase broad participation in college committees by students, faculty, staff and management and increase broad participation in college activities by faculty, staff, and students. 4

5 Institutional Feedback Survey from Staff, Fall 2013 (link to survey) Institutional Feedback Survey from Students, Spring 2013 (link to survey) Number of activities involving extra outside the classroom (See: Institutional Effectiveness Report, 2013) Increasing the participation by faculty and staff on college committees may be somewhat difficult in that many staff already participate on more than one committee. From the responses of a staff survey, full time faculty serve on an average of 3 committees, full time classified staff an average of 2 committees and managers and administrators serve on an average of 7 committees. However, close to one third of the respondents indicated they did not serve on any committee. Increasing the participation from students is ongoing but difficult given their time commitments. The acquisition of a dedicated student center building and the active involvement of the Student Advisor/Outreach Advisor has greatly facilitated the involvement of, and representation from students at the college, public and state level. Objective Met: The College shall encourage diverse viewpoints and critical thinking and increase the percent of students, faculty, staff and management who find the physical environment of the campus supportive of reflection. Preliminary results from the 2013 staff survey indicate a high perception, nearly 90%, that the College encourages diverse viewpoints, critical thinking, and personal reflection. From the students perspective, 76% agree, to strongly agree that the college is a place of inquiry and investigation and 80% agree, to strongly agree that the College embraces diversity. Objective Met: The College shall increase efforts to support occupational pathways that are documented as new or viable areas of employment. The College regularly meets with the MLWIB (Mother Lode Workforce Investment Board) throughout the year, hosts the Occupational Olympics each year inviting local high school students on to the campus for vocationally directed competitions facilitated by local businesspersons, Mad about Science is a summer camp and dinner that is hosted by, and partnered with the Tuolumne County Office of Education and local business leaders. Local advisory committees participate on for any of the CTE programs. Goal #5 Community Connections Columbia College shall foster mission focused partnerships and the economic development of its surrounding communities. The college shall promote social and civic responsibility through activities and programs for its students. Objective Met: The College shall increase formal connections with city and county economic development and workforce training. The College meets throughout the academic year with the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce and the Tuolumne County Economic Development Association/Business Alliance. During Spring 2013, the College commissioned the RP Group of California to conduct a survey of local student employment activities. The raw data from that survey have been received and are 5

6 currently being compiled in the Institutional Research Office. Results will be provided to College Council in Spring The College researches its surrounding region (Calaveras, Tuolumne and Stanislaus county locations) to determine viable industry trends and assess the need for employable skills. Students can enroll in work experience coursework that earns them credits for on the job learning in the workplace as well as provides the instructors with valuable employer feedback. Approximately 80 students per year take advantage of this program. (See: Columbia College Institutional Effectiveness Report for 2013, p. 2 3). The Columbia College Foundation is comprised of community leaders of industry that provide valuable insight and support to students in the way of scholarships and mini grants to instructors for projects related to student success. In students were awarded close to $60,000 in scholarships. Qualitative data from students and staff surveys indicate that nearly all (over 90% of the respondents) feel Columbia College has a good reputation in the community. Over 60% of the students indicate they are being prepared, to highly prepared for active engagement as citizens in their communities, to participate in collaborative work, and to mentor others. Over 70% of both staff and student respondents indicated they would recommend Columbia College to a close friend (IER Feedback Surveys, Institutional Research and Planning webpage). 6