Strategic Doing

Strategic Doing: Equity-Centered, Equity-Actioned Progress at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ

Year 1 Foci Priorities

    »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ will be reporting on progress each year.

  • Data-Informed
  • Focused on Decreasing Equity Gaps
  • Considering of Institutional Capacity
  • Building on 2013-2019 »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Strategic Plan Learning

Five-Year Average 2017 – 2021

Performance Indicators: Full-Time Freshman 24 Credits or More

Race/Ethnicity Zero Credits Earned On-Time Credit Accumulation Timely Completion Gateway Math Timely Completion Gateway English
American Indian 11.1% 28.6% 0.0% 85.7%
Asian 9.1% 53.3% 46.7% 73.3%
Black or African American 35.5% 26.8% 26.8% 53.6%
Hispanic 31.7% 32.6% 34.7% 57.9%
Two or More Races 23.2% 20.0% 28.0% 64.0%
Unknown 12.2% 34.6% 32.7% 61.5%
White 18.0% 42.1% 41.1% 70.1%
Total Students 21.0% 40.4% 37.9% 66.9%
Pell Eligible 21.5% 35.9% 33.8% 65.0%
Pell Non-Eligible 20.3% 48.7% 43.8% 69.7%
Total Students 21.0% 40.4% 37.9% 66.9%

Source: »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Institutional Effectiveness (IE)


Performance Indicators: Part-Time Freshman 12 Credits or More

Race/Ethnicity Zero Credits Earned On-Time Credit Accumulation Timely Completion Gateway Math Timely Completion Gateway English
American Indian 50.0% 50.0% 50.0% 50.0%
Asian 14.3% 42.9% 0.0% 42.9%
Black or African American 42.9% 26.0% 6.5% 36.4%
Hispanic 42.0% 30.7% 10.2% 43.2%
Two or More Races 34.4% 37.5% 9.4% 46.9%
Unknown 10.5% 42.1% 13.2% 55.3%
White 21.9% 38.7% 11.4% 46.2%
Total Students 27.0% 38.3% 10.7% 45.2%
Pell Eligible 26.0% 40.2% 10.7% 48.0%
Pell Non-Eligible 28.4% 36.8% 10.6% 41.5%
Total Students 27.0% 38.3% 10.7% 45.2%

Source: »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Institutional Effectiveness (IE)

Foci Lead(s): Role and Responsibilities

  • Facilitate Foci operational work
  • Identify Foci team members to participate in the development and implementation of action plans
  • Convene meetings with Foci Team as needed to discuss progress, identify barriers, and adjust operational plan accordingly
  • Document progress using Foci Operational Plan guide and templates
  • Coordinate Foci Reflection Reporting
  • Coordinate meeting(s) with IE for Foci Reflection Reporting
  • Prepare and present Foci Reflection Report

Year 1: 2022 – 2023

  • Goal I: Equitable Student Success

    Student success is defined as the outcome from an experience that fosters a student's felt sense of accomplishment upon completion of their self-identified and/or college goals. Individual experiences are supported by practices, policies and procedures at the College and measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. With recognition of the individual nature of success and a need to track success metrics, the College will pay particular attention to reducing achievement gaps for BIPOC and historically marginalized students.

    Foci I.A.1: Develop Comprehensive Individualized Advising, Coaching and Mentoring

    Co-Leads: George Ambriz and Lyndsay Isham-Morton

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    I.A.1: Develop comprehensive individualized advising, coaching and mentoring (ACM) through co-curricular collaboration.
    • Student learning outcomes (SLO) associated with individualized advising, coaching and mentoring;
    • inventory of tracking process and supporting tools;
    • number of advising, coaching or mentoring sessions;
    • CCSSE survey results (administered spring 2023);
    • positive student sentiment index.
    • SLOs, persistence rates, graduation rates, GPA student success outcomes, student sentiment of ACM.
    Interventions and initiatives developed in response to establishing SLO baselines aligning with measurable support services for student success connected to student goals and College outcomes.
    Alignment: DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity, Strategy 2: Transform Institutional Cultures to be Equity-Minded Priority 1; Student Success Framework; NADOHE — A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 1 Institutional Structure; NECHE Standard 5.10, 6.19.
    Discussion Questions
    1. What have been your experiences from Advising, Coaching, or Mentoring?
    2. How are each similar and/or different?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email George Ambriz
    Email Lyndsay Isham-Morton


    Foci I.A.2: Expand Career Coaching

    Co-Leads: Charlotte Lotz and Geoff Tabor

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    I.A.2: Expand Career Coaching
    • 191 student participants (currently Handshake software platform), 141 individual career coaching sessions, 16 career classroom presentations;
    • number of career workshops,
    • number of internships offered,
    • number of participants in internships;
    • number of employer participants (currently Handshake software platform).
    • number of student participants (currently Handshake software platform), number of individual career coaching sessions, number of career classroom presentations; number of career workshops, number of internships offered, number of participants in internships;
    • number of employer participants (currently Handshake software platform).
    Expand students' ability to explore internship opportunities that connect their education, personal interests and goals to career experience and overall professional development.
    Alignment: DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity Strategy 5: Prepare Students of Color to Thrive Beyond Their Time in Higher Education, Priority 1 and Priority 2; NUE: High-Impact Practices and the Co-Curriculum Recommendation; NECHE Standard 5.10 and 8.6.
    Discussion Questions
    1. What experiences stick out for you most when thinking about career exploration?
    2. What experiences have positively or negatively impacted you?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email Charlotte Lotz
    Email Geoff Tabor

  • Goal II: Equitable Teaching and Learning

    Equitable teaching and learning practices are student-centered and asset-based. These principles employ multiple means of representation, engagement, expression and action, thereby allowing student learning to be flexible, holistic and empowering. Equitable teaching and learning are reflective of data and rely on all faculty and non-teaching staff to be curious, lifelong learners.

    Foci II.A.2: Culturally Relevant, Equity-Minded High Impact Practices

    Co-Leads: Meghan Callahan and Matt Muller

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    II.A.2: Provide teaching and learning professional development opportunities that are culturally relevant, equity-minded and employ evidence-based high impact practices (HIPs) focused on success for all students, particularly BIPOC and historically marginalized students.
    • Inventory of Center for Teaching and Learning (CTLI) professional development offerings centered on culturally relevant and equity-minded topics;
    • inventory of current embedded HIPs.
    • Inventory of 2022 learning communities.
    • New faculty onboarding outcomes.
    • Faculty survey results of usage of HIP results.
    • SLOs from HIP-embedded courses (e.g., direct and indirect measures such as attendance, pass rates, student feedback);
    • number of faculty proposals for communities of practice, faculty sentiment of community of practice;
    • utilization of active and experiential learning spaces.
    Faculty engagement and application of best practices from professional development and trainings focused on culturally relevant, equity-minded high impact practices; positive student outcomes in success, retention and completion. Increase in faculty and staff engagement within and across divisions; increase in alignment of SLOs, increase in student engagement with learning opportunities, increase in usage of active learning spaces, increase in integration of reading and writing across disciplines; establish training sessions for sharing lessons learned from teaching and learning professional development.
    Alignment: DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity Strategy 2 Transform Institutional Cultures to be Equity-Minded, Priority 3; DHE NUE Equity-Minded Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Recommendation; NADOHE – A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 5 Curriculum and Pedagogy, Priority Area 8 Education/Training/Employee Development; NADOHE – A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 4 Academic Equity and Student Success; NECHE 6.6, 6.16, 6.17.
    Discussion Questions
    1. What activities do student most enjoy in the classroom?
    2. What activities do student most enjoy outside the classroom?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email Meghan Callahan
    Email Matt Muller


    Foci II.B.1: Expand and Foster Consistent Student Learning Outcomes and Program Learning Outcomes

    Co-Leads: Stacy Evans

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    II.B.1: Expand and foster a consistent and transparent process for student learning outcomes (SLOs) assessment that considers current methods and incorporates program level outcome (PLO) assessment.
    • Inventory of program review and SLO assessment components, current departmental assessment plans and practices, and academic program accreditation reports.
    • SLOs by course and program;
    • development of multiple measures for use as sources of evidence for each outcome.
    Systematic process to measure and monitor SLOs and PLOs; faculty engagement and application of best practices from professional development, trainings and webinars focused on SLO development and improvement. Completed assessment plans for all programs, including assessment practices, rubrics and norming practices for using the plans.
    Alignment: DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity Strategy 4: Build a Culturally Relevant and Civically Engaged Educational Experience for Students of Color, Priority 1; NUE High-Impact Practices and Co-Curriculum Recommendations; NADOHE – A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 5 Curriculum and Pedagogy, Priority Area 8 Education/Training/Employee Development; NECHE Standard 2.7, 4.2, 8.3, 8.8, 8.9, and 8.10.
    Discussion Questions
    1. What are Learning Outcomes?
    2. Why might they be important for Teaching and Learning and Student Success?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email Stacy Evans
    Email Erin Lynn


    Foci II.B.2: Data Strategy, Governance and Enterprise Architecture

    Co-Leads: Bill Jennings and Margaret Stephenson

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    II.B.2: Develop a data governance structure to increase data integrity, access, literacy and utilization and, in turn, operationalize a campus-wide data-informed culture of inquiry.
    • Inventory policies, procedures, practices and programs for using data in decision-making.
    • Assess data governance best practices both in the classroom and throughout academic support services.
    Established pattern of data-request cycles and follow-up practices; increased disaggregated data requests by faculty and staff, and corresponding application of that data. Establishment of a »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Data Team responsible for data review and report distribution for use in decision-making; transition plan for reimplementation of the College’s enterprise system with employee training; 100% employee access to dynamic data sets and shared reports; comprehensive policy and procedures for data integrity; 100% new employee onboarding training with IE; increased employee understanding of data request process, availability and access. Data utilized through an equity lens to inform understanding of class, program and college-level SLOs. Data-informed equitable changes to policies, procedures, practices and programs in the classroom and in student support services. Development of a data-use plan with scheduled inquiries to inform decisions; incorporation of ad-hoc inquiries for emergent needs and areas for future study.
    Alignment:DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity Strategy 4 Build a Culturally Relevant and Civically Engaged Educational Experience for Students of Color, Priority 1; NUE Equity-Minded Teaching, Learning, and Assessment; NADOHE – A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 4 Academic Equity and Student Success; NECHE Standard 2.2, 2.6, 6.13, 8.5, and 8.7.
    Discussion Questions
    1. How can the College increase transparency of data?
    2. How might we have conversations about data?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email Bill Jennings
    Email Margaret Stephenson

  • Goal III: Equitable Workforce and Community Engagement

    Technical skills, hands-on experience and opportunities to earn credentials shape a robust portfolio for workforce and community education. Programs are designed to meet the needs of area employers and connect students with new and relevant job opportunities. By engaging employers in workforce training, »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ can help strengthen employee retention and enhance equitable work environments.

    Foci III.B.1: Digital Skills and Career Exploration

    Co-Leads: Liza Dister and Nell McCabe

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    III.B.1: Expand integration of digital skills and career exploration into Community Education and Workforce (CE&WD) and first year courses to infuse a "future of work" mindset, beginning with Liberal Arts 101/Introduction to Liberal Arts and Liberal Arts 285/Capstone, as well as Community Education STEM programming. Scale and implement successes, particularly through student ePortfolio development, to strengthen digital literacy, career readiness and First-Year Experience (FYE) elements of the courses.
    • Liberal Arts Program SLOs, Business Program SLOs, and CE&WD 21st-century skills SLOs and digital skills SLOs.
    • CE&WD identification of entry-level skills, certificates and target populations.
    • Fall-to-fall persistence and retention rate for Introduction to Liberal Arts (LAR 101), pre (LAR 101) and post (LAR 285) SLO assessment, student reflections on learning in ePortfolios for LAR 285, digital skills competency rates (mastery) across several academic programs, including Business, CE&WD SLOs and skills competency rates (mastery).
    Increase in persistence and retention in Liberal Arts Program, increase in SLOs, career-readiness and digital skills competencies; increase in persistence in Business Program, Business Program curriculum mapping to ATD digital skills competencies; clearly defined career pathways and student advising that support experiential learning. Online pathways for Liberal Arts program, specifically those that accelerate time to completion and increase on-time credit accumulation. Increase bi-directional (non-credit to credit and credit to non-credit) opportunities for students to earn industry recognized certificates and badges.
    Alignment: DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity Strategy 4 Build a Culturally Relevant and Civically Engaged Educational Experience for Students of Color, Priority 1 and Strategy 5 Prepare Students of Color to Thrive Beyond Their Time in Higher Education, Priority 1 and 2; NUE Equity-Minded Teaching, Learning, and Assessment; NADOHE – A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 4 Academic Equity and Student Success; NECHE Standard 4.37-4.39, and 5.7.
    Discussion Questions
    1. What digital skills are most important for students, today?
    2. How might our co-curricular programming strength the development of these skills?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email Liza Dister
    Email Nell McCabe

  • Goal IV: Equitable Institutional Innovation and Sustainability

    »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ pursues transparent, agile and efficient operational practices while maintaining standards that promote excellence. In doing so, the College underscores the need for innovation, continuous reflection and accountability that address current and future challenges, paying particular attention to instilling equity across the College. Additionally, »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ is committed to attracting, developing and retaining quality and diverse employees who are passionate about the College’s mission. In serving the needs of our communities, the College supports highly effective performance and cross-campus collaboration to advance knowledge, creativity and capability.

    »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ prioritizes responsible and sustainable stewardship of the College's resources and community relationships by engaging in partnerships with educational institutions, community groups, nonprofit organizations, governmental entities and businesses. Leveraging these partnerships allows the College to broaden its community reach and increase the capacity to ensure equity.

    Foci IV.C.2: Develop a DEI Strategic Plan

    Co-Leads: Toni Buckley, Charles Prescott and Daryl Shreve

    Focus Area Baseline KPI Outcome
    IV.C.2: Develop an institutional DEI strategic plan for faculty, staff and students, woven throughout the College’s culture and practices.
    • »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ DEI self-assessment survey results (2023), DHE racial equity survey results;
    • UMass Donahue Institute equity inventory results;
    • inventory of resource allocation supporting DEI efforts.
    • DEI self-assessment survey administration;
    • participation demographics.
    A multi-year DEI strategic plan consisting of goals, objectives and strategies with corresponding measurables, with particular attention to increasing a sense of belonging on campus.
    Alignment: DHE Strategic Plan for Racial Equity Strategy 2: Transform Institutional Cultures to be Equity-Minded, Priority 2; NADOHE – A Framework for Advancing Anti-Racism Strategy on Campus: Priority Area 4 Academic Equity and Student Success and Priority Area 9 Campus Climate/Culture; NECHE Standard 2.1, 2.2, and 7.1.
    Discussion Questions
    1. What does equity mean to you?
    2. How do you center equity in your daily work?
    3. What are you curious about?

    Share your thoughts with Foci leads:
    Email Sarah Blizzard
    Email Toni Buckley
    Email Charles Prescott
    Email Daryl Shreve

Strategic Plan in Action: Ownership for goals and initiatives flow down and across the College, measures indicating action and success flow up the College; »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Plan: College's mission and vision, focus areas and strategic initatives, department/unit plans, departments articulation of alignment and overall contribution, department initatives, actions plans and success measure; Performance Plans: chairs, deans, directors, ect., goals and action items, individual contributor's goals and action items