(November 2006)
During the 1999 - 2000 academic year, the Board of Trustees of Glen Oaks Community College officially adopted continuous quality improvement as a means for improving all institutional operations and for securing continued North Central Association (NCA) accreditation. This adoption resulted from Glen Oaks' application to become and acceptance as one of fourteen initial colleges to participate in AQIP, the academic quality improvement project designed to apply the best practices of continuous quality improvement to the academic focus of institutions of higher education.
One required activity for participation in AQIP was the completion of an institutional self-assessment. Because Glen Oaks was in the early stages of implementing quality principles throughout its operations, the College selected the TRAILBLAZER Starter Guide for Educational Excellence, sponsored by Continuous Quality Improvement Network for Community and Technical Colleges (CQIN), as its self-assessment guide. A cross-functional self-assessment team was organized according to the recommended guidelines, and that team examined seven categories for institutional strengths and opportunities for improvement. Those categories were (1) leadership, (2) strategic planning, (3) student and stakeholder focus, (4) information and analysis, (5) faculty and staff development and management, (6) educational and support process management, and (7) college performance results. For internal institutional use, the team evaluated each category and distinguished categories that warranted immediate attention from those that did need improvement but not immediately. In addition, the team achieved consensus in identifying "the vital few" opportunities for improvement that were to be presented in a summary document submitted to the Program for Educational Excellence Board of Examiners for evaluation and feedback and to The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools/Commission on Institutions of Higher Education/Academic Quality Improvement Project (NCA/AQIP) for the partnership request application process.
The self-assessment team completed its work in June 2000 and presented in the summary the following four foci as The Vital Few:
- Continuous quality improvement teams will provide (a) a clearly defined method for the development of new curricula and programs, (b) a system for measuring learning outcomes in all curricula and programs, and (c) methods and systems for monitoring student and stakeholder satisfaction with College services.
- The senior leaders will develop a College Vision Statement that includes quality references. Based upon that statement, the senior leaders will direct a quality culture that encourages all employees to apply quality principles to Glen Oaks' operations.
- A continuous quality improvement team will develop college-wide, multi-dimensional, performance-based appraisal systems that incorporate long-range professional development based on institutional goals found in the Strategic Plan and on personal goals.
- A continuous quality improvement team will address improving internal communication.
In September 2000, the College President formed Team GO to coordinate work on "The Vital Few," on other institutional opportunities for improvement, and on continued accreditation. Members of the Executive Council, the Strategic Planning Task Force, and the Self-Assessment Committee made up the team. Referencing the work of the Self-Assessment Committee, representatives of Team GO and of the College at large completed an Institutional Profile and prepared to attend an NCA/AQIP goal-setting workshop. In February 2001, five personnel and a member of the Board of Trustees participated in the College's first AQIP Strategy Forum where work focused on reviewing "The Vital Few" in order to identify goals that would address the College's key opportunities or vulnerabilities for 2001 - 2004. The College determined that the following would be presented by April 30, 2001, as formal AQIP Goals Commitment Declarations:
- Design and implement systems to measure student learning.
- Design and implement systems to evaluate the viability and effectiveness of instructional programs.
- Design and implement systems to monitor student and stakeholder satisfaction. (Retired)
Thus began the first three Action Projects of the College.
The projects that address student learning and program review still remain active, and the 2006 AQIP Action Project Annual Update and Review of each reflects its current status. However, in the fall of 2004, the project addressing stakeholder satisfaction was retired. Although the work of the Stakeholder Satisfaction Committee advanced the College's quality program, especially by initiating the 2003 administration of the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory, the committee came to a roadblock. At the end of its third year of work, the committee determined that because internal and external communication issues revealed themselves to be systemic, those issues could not be addressed by the existing Action Project Committee. The issues demanded substantial changes in institutional processes. This determination coincided with the examination of other systems and processes during the writing of the institution's Systems Portfolio that was submitted in May 2004.
Receipt of the College's Systems Appraisal Feedback Report (December 2004) and participation in a second Strategy Forum (January 2005) focused institutional attention on how best to integrate planning, such as that done by a cross-functional team that had just completed the draft of a Strategic Plan ("Vision 2010"), and quality improvement initiatives, such as those coordinated by Team GO, the College's AQIP Team. To determine how best to achieve that integration and improvement, a new AQIP Action Project (The Design/Launch of a College Council Strategic Planning Model) was developed. As part of that Project, Team GO and the College participants in the Strategy Forum met weekly throughout the winter 2005 semester to assess the feedback on the Systems Portfolio and to proceed with work begun at the Strategy Forum.
This group, comprised of administrators, faculty, and support staff, worked out the logistical process by which a joint strategic planning and quality advancement team would be formed. Thus, the College Council was developed with membership to include personnel from each of the above three employment areas of the institution. Half of the membership was to be elected from a pool of volunteers, and half was to be appointed by the College President. Deans of the institution were to be included by virtue of their positions, and the President would serve ex officio. A broad statement of function was developed for the Council, and a flow chart was established to clarify the Council's purpose. This plan was presented to employees at three in-house meetings and was presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees. In April 2005, the election and appointment of members to the Council took place, and the College Council met for the first time in May 2005.
In the summer 2005, an AQIP facilitator conducted two on-site training sessions for Council members. With this direction, the Council worked through its purpose, values, structure, function, and agreements of belonging. The Council reviewed six Core Strategies which had been developed by the earlier Strategic Planning Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. The Council established structure for Strategy Teams that would create goals related to each of the Strategic Plan Core Strategies. Furthermore, the Council identified needed data and arranged for the data to be collected in fall 2005 through a series of four Clarus Corporation Scans conducted by that contracted independent agency. These included Workforce Development, Community, Students, and High School scans. In addition, comparative data on the college culture would be gained through administration of the Personal Assessment of the College Environment (PACE) survey for college employees. This survey, designed by the National Initiative for Leadership and Effectiveness (NILIE), would yield data to support the decision-making processes of the Strategy Teams.
At the beginning of the fall 2005 semester, the Council formed the six Core Strategy Teams to address the six-Board approved initiatives:
- Learner Success,
- Community Connectedness,
- Technology,
- Employee Communication and Development,
- Continuous Quality Improvement, and
- Choosing and Implementing the College's Financial Future.
Each Core Strategy Team, where possible, included administrators and employees who volunteered for the team and represent each employment area within the College. At least two Council members volunteered for each team and served as both a communication conduit between the Council and the team and a process trainer for the team. Approximately forty percent (40%) of the institution's employees was involved in this goal-generating process. During the fall 2005 semester, each team referenced, where applicable, the newly gathered data, generated goals related to its specific Core Strategy, and submitted them to the College Council.
During the winter 2006 semester, the College Council reviewed, prioritized, and condensed fifty-two proposed goals to twenty and further identified four of the twenty as Areas of First Focus:
- Develop a plan that enhances the success of current and future students from initial inquiry through completion of student goals.
- Provide the technical framework (current use assessment, future use needs, software/hardware updates and training) to improve communication between all aspects of the college, representative of current business and industry standards, including internal and external stakeholders, through such things as web applications, student email and telecommunication technologies.
- Create and implement an effective college wide communication system.
- Create and implement a comprehensive human resources plan.
The Council submitted the twenty goals and the Areas of First Focus to the Board of Trustees in May 2006. With their adoption by the Board, the Core Strategies and their related twenty goals thus became the substance of "Vision 2010," the Strategic Plan of the College. The Areas of First Focus became the 2006 " 2007 foci of that plan.
During summer 2006, the Council met to develop a system whereby strategic planning moved from plan to process and, thereby, the Strategic Plan from paper to integration into institutional systems related to the Areas of First Focus listed above. This integration will occur through the implementation of diverse projects designed by Core Strategy Project Teams. The system to Design, Form, and Train Core Strategy Project Teams, thus, became the most recent AQIP Action Project of the College, declared May 31, 2006, with the formation of the teams occurring September " December 2006. Team training, information gathering, focused content training, and CQI training will occur January " May 2007 with an assessment of the process occurring in summer 2007. The institutionalization of the Action Project, targeted for August 2007, will create a cyclical project as 2005 " 2010 Strategic Plan Core Strategies rotate into Areas of Focus (goals) adopted by the Board. As this Action Project progresses, the remaining sixteen of twenty proposed goals will be reviewed, prioritized, and publicized by the College Council prior to their being recommended to the Board for adoption and assignment to new Project Teams. Thus, the institutionalization will occur.
For participants in the quality programming of the College, the design, formation, and launch of the College Council and its first full year of operation with strategic planning, goal setting, and project team forming have been a priority since January 2005. Yet the work of the Council has not been the singular focus of institutional quality programming. For example, the College continued to participate in the Michigan Total Quality Improvement Project (MiTQIP). Glen Oaks took an active role in the 2002 formation and subsequent development of that quality improvement organization for Michigan community colleges and continues to benefit from the professional development opportunities and the quality connections made available through participation in it. Additionally, in March/April 2006, the College administered a second Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory. The College's Director of Grants/Institutional Research analyzed the data and compiled a Student Satisfaction Inventory Comparison with the 2003 results.
Furthermore, the College continued to wrestle with the assessment of student learning, and, in July 2006, four faculty and the Dean of the College attended the Higher Learning Commission's Assessment Workshop ("Making a Difference in Student Learning: Assessment as a Core Strategy"). As a result, the participants became an Assessment Project Team under the Area of First Focus that addresses the success of current and future students. That team drafted a plan to assess the attributes listed in the College's "General Statement of Educational Values" (Glen Oaks Community College Catalogue of College Information, Curricula and Courses 2006 - 2007, page 55), designed a rubric to assess the attribute of effective written and oral communication, and began the implementation of the assessment plan with an October 2006 Faculty In-Service led by team members.
No doubt connected to its scheduled Quality Checkup but also reflective of its quality programming, the College Council scheduled a Systems Portfolio and Appraisal Feedback Workshop in September 2006. At that event, participants reviewed the 2004 document, noted needed revisions, and addressed in those revisions institutional response to the Appraisal Feedback. That event positioned the Council to address systems' and processes' concerns related to Portfolio revision. In addition, in November 2006, the administrative Leadership Council of the College assessed current conditions and responses to the "Strategic and Accreditation Issues" outlined in the Appraisal Feedback.
Now as the College prepares for its Quality Checkup, the personnel of the institution are positioned to review the commitment made nearly seven years ago and to reaffirm for Glen Oaks Community College the rightness of that commitment to continuous quality improvement as a means for improving all institutional operations and for securing continued NCA accreditation.