Academic Plan

The Vision and Ends developed by the Board of Directors define the kind of academic institution COCC will be within the next 5 years. Growth and demographic change in Central Oregon and the new presence of a higher education institution in our community influence the direction that instructional departments will follow in realizing the Board Ends in that period. This Academic Plan is the initial roadmap for that journey. Implementation of this plan will be a continuing process, and the pace at which we progress will depend upon a number of circumstances, including the availability of financial resources.

The plan is divided into the following primary sections:

I. The Board of Directors’ Vision and Ends

II. External Considerations of Importance in developing the Academic Plan

III. Core Strategies to realize board goals through academic programs and processes

IV. The Academic Scorecard: Benchmarks we will regularly consult to monitor our progress.

The Central Oregon Community College Board of Directors adopted a policy governance model in 1994. The board created eight "Ends" to define the way in which Central Oregon Community College should serve its 10,000 square mile, 100,000-population district. In the last two board revisions of these ends, the eight ends have been consolidated into six. They are analyzed and monitored annually. The current ends, approved April 12, 2000, are listed below.

I.A Board Ends

Because of COCC Central Oregon communities will . . .

1. Have an adult population with the proficiencies and learning skills necessary for lifelong employment at a family wage level.
2. Have an adult population with academic achievements and learning skills necessary to successfully pursue education at and beyond the community college level.
3. Work collaboratively to achieve shared purposes.
4. Have wide-ranging opportunities to enhance learning, wellness, quality of life, and cultural appreciation.
5. Support diversity.
6. Interact effectively with state, regional, national and global communities.

II.A A growing and changing region

Central Oregon has grown from a sleepy logging and recreational area into the fastest-growing region in the state, with its center, Bend, now a city of more than 50,000. This growth both increases demand for enrollment and signals change in regional needs. Central Oregon now provides cutting edge regional services, education, and light manufacturing. Central Oregon will continue to experience profound economic, social, environmental and cultural change, characterized by rapid growth and diversification.

II.B A changing student body

Two thirds of the College’s student body is composed of older, returning students, most of whom seek to prepare for a career change. See Fig. II.1, below. As the average age of the general population shifts upward over the next decade, it is likely that the number of returning students seeking a second or third career will increase. These students are often place-bound and likely to pursue their programs as part-time students. We can expect increasing competition for these students by non-traditional entities offering internet instruction. COCC will need to continue to serve these students and their traditional college-age peers (also a growing cohort) by offering an education appropriate to a rapidly changing workplace, especially the acquisition of communication and problem-solving skills.

II.C A changing faculty

Fifty percent of the current faculty have come to COCC since 1986. A large number of additional new faculty are expected over the course of this Plan. Furthermore, the College has recently begun to encounter sharp competition nationally in its recruitment of qualified replacements. This unprecedented rate of turnover provides an opportunity to strengthen certain areas of the curriculum but also carries the risk of instability. It will challenge the College to engage the imagination and commitment of so many new faculty members and create a more balanced faculty in terms of ethnic and minority group representation. The College’s nationally-recognized faculty evaluation program and extensive professional improvement program will be key tools for meeting the first challenge. The College’s Diversity Plan contains implementation strategies to meet the second of these challenges.

II.D Evolving higher-education opportunities in the region: partnerships, articulation, and change in educational expectations

The expected presence of a branch university as soon as Fall 2001 offers opportunities for growth and articulation and brings challenges for planning instructional offerings. A higher education partner offering baccalaureate and graduate programs will affect our student mix, bringing us more students with clear transfer expectations. The College will seek to maintain our own unique identity and support our mission while serving those lower division needs.

Higher education articulation efforts are already underway with a number of partners. More than 20 institutions provide coursework in our service district, and COCC has supported and coordinated those efforts through University Center, Central Oregon Advisory Board (CORAB), and other articulation agreements.

Additionally, many virtual colleges and universities already provide forms of service and curricula in Central Oregon. Most expect COCC’s excellent library to provide the scholarly and technical resources necessary to the curriculum. As electronic competition and collaboration become common many mechanisms will need to be in place to ensure that quality is maintained. As one response, the college library recently became the only community college member of ORBIS, a consortium of over 15 colleges and universities in the Northwest which provides a lending system allowing patrons direct access to member library collections. Additional plans include keeping library staff active in all regional library consortiums, initiating a library advisory committee (comprised of faculty, library staff, and distance education staff) to plan for acquisitions and change, and close cooperation between the library director and the University Center.

II.E Funding controlled at state level.

Prior to legislation in the 1990’s, COCC funding was local and under the control of the Board of Directors. However, Oregon’s Community College Funding Model is currently the mechanism through which the College receives more than 55% of its general fund resources. The Model allocates funds through a three year weighted average of FTE produced by each College. There is no consideration of any of the other services traditionally provided by community colleges such as performing arts events, community development, or community lecture series. Additionally, the rate of reimbursement per FTE is the same regardless of the cost of delivery of a particular course. Put another way, the funding formula is blind to the reality that some courses cost more to deliver than others do. Additionally, the FTE funding level is not an entitlement. The State allocates a sum of money and the value of an FTE is determined simply by dividing the total dollars by the total FTE. It is thus possible that if FTE grow faster than dollars, the formula would assign fewer dollars per FTE in a subsequent year than it did in the previous year. The Oregon Community College Funding Model creates both budgetary uncertainty and a potential leveling effect. In order to maintain the program mix consistent with the Board ends, the College will need to scrutinize programs carefully, manage enrollment, seek additional external funding sources, and, if possible, reform state funding.

The first four strategies reflect widely-held principles that have guided instructional planning at COCC: community growth has resulted in enrollment and program growth, and as we have grown, we have maintained a mix of programs consistent with the Board’s vision and ends for the College; the emphasis on teaching, learning, and retention are consistent with the College’s identity as a teaching-centered institution and its focus on excellence; the diversity goals have been developed by the Diversity Steering Committee beginning in 1999. Assessing our effectiveness in a systematic way is the most challenging strategy in this plan.

IIIA. MAINTAIN STUDENT FTE MIX WHILE ACHIEVING DESIRABLE GROWTH:

III.A.1 The current mix

III.A.2 New programs

III.A.3 Enrollment growth and new faculty positions

III.A.4 Space needs

The student FTE mix identified in this chart was created from 1986 through 2000 through a systematic effort to meet the needs of the community and implement the ends of the Board. COCC is committed to maintaining the proportions of the current student FTE mix for as long as it is appropriate to our Board ends and our service district needs.

In general, the program mix reflects approximately the emphasis of the six Board ends. While 50% of the mix is lower division transfer by definition, many of the lower division transfer courses directly support Professional Technical program students. For example, in the period from 1990-1994, nursing graduates averaged 116 credits. Of those, only 66 are required nursing courses. The rest of the classes are transfer courses such as anatomy, writing and chemistry that support nursing courses. Integration of professional technical with transfer programs is basic to COCC academic planning. Over the course of this plan, each instructional department will offer at least one professional technical program.

• Associate of Applied Science degree
• Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree
• Associate of Science degree
• Associate of General Science degree

DEGREES CERTIFICATES Cultural Resource Management (pending approvals) Automotive Diesel Addictions Studies Automotive/Diesel Computer and Information Systems Computer and Information Systems Dietary Manager- 1 year Early Childhood Education Dental Assisting – 1 year Massage Therapy – 1 year Water/Waste Water Cascade Culinary Institute- 4 terms Allied Health Options: Medical and Dental Assistant and Dietary Manager Automotive Chassis Specialist- 2 terms (department certificate) Massage Therapy Field Service Photocopier Tech. - 1 year Professional Golf Management Computer-Aided Drafting/Design – 1 year Criminal Justice Undercar Certificate Emergency Medical Services Engine Machinist Landscape and Turfgrass Management Driveability Technician Geographic Information Systems Auto/Truck Counterman Drafting Technology Options: Architectural, Mechanical Transmission Technician Business Administration- Hospitality, Tourism, Recreation Management   Wildland Fire Science Management   Structural Fire Science Technology   Exercise Science   Health Promotion   Outdoor Recreation Leadership

• New Program Task Force Report
• The State planning network for workforce and the Workforce Investment Board
• The COCC Training Center, the Business Development Center, and the College Centers
• Advisory Committees for each professional-technical program

• Automotive (1): Diesel
• Forestry/Geographic Information Systems (3)
• Manufacturing (1) Composites
• Computer Information Systems (4)-2 degree specialists and 2 generalists
• Fine Arts (8)-Fine Arts 5-10 Year Plan proposes adding 8 new faculty positions:
  4 in Visual Arts (Graphic Design, Sculpture, Art History, Drawing),
  2 in Music (Band Director, Jazz Studies), and
  2 in Theater (Performance Technology/Design, Broadcast Communication/ Production)]

• Business (4)
• Social Science Dept.-(5) Criminal Justice, Psychology, Anthropology , Early Childhood Education, & Geography
• Humanities (6) Asian languages, writing (3), Spanish, communications
• Math (4) Mathematics Education/Developmental Mathematics, Applied Mathematics/Technical Mathematics, Statistics, General Mathematics
• Health and Human Performance (2)
• Allied Health (4)-Medical Assisting, Veterinary Tech, Dental Hygiene, EMT. Allied Health/ Nursing Program’s growth plans project cross-disciplinary use of existing (2) faculty…& new director positions for each of Allied Health’s programs.
• Science (4)-Sciences Dept. 2-5-10 Year Plan proposes adding 4 new full time faculty: 2 in biology, 1 in chemistry, and 1 in physics/geology/physical science.
• Library (3) faculty positions

III.A.4 SPACE NEEDS

Approximately 15% of desired growth can be housed in the College’s current infrastructure. The remainder would fill the planned Higher Education Building and the new space on the Redmond North Campus. If this growth takes place and the higher education partner fills the Higher Education space, the College will again be out of space before 2005. We do not currently have office space for the new faculty stated above.

III.B ENHANCE TEACHING AND LEARNING

The Board Mission and Vision commit COCC not only to the mix of programs described above, but to a level of performance that ensures COCC’s leadership role in the community and in the delivery of these programs and services. This commitment to the highest standard of instruction is also stated in the achievement expectations which further Board End 3: that "COCC will be governed by policies that reflect collaboration, shared purpose, and innovative thinking" and that "COCC will work continuously to improve and develop the institution."

III.B.1 Standards which promote instructional excellence:

• COCC is committed to the principle of freedom of inquiry. To this end COCC will make its campuses and classrooms places in which all ideas may be freely examined. All efforts will be made to foster civil discourse and open inquiry.

• Believing that the liberal arts and sciences are a strong part of our core, COCC will continue its broad and deep general-education foundation in all professional/technical degrees as well as transfer oriented degrees. The College will encourage courses that develop in students the individual attributes of initiative, exploration, independent critical inquiry, assimilation, appreciation, and community service.

• COCC expects and will continue to promote clear ethical analysis, ethical behavior and a conscious civility and civic duty. Students will have ample opportunity to learn and observe the practices of ethical thought and behavior as well as the practices of civility and civic responsibility. Faculty and staff will continue to be supported in their service to the community.

• The College will promote innovation, discovery, and excellence by establishing an environment that encourages creative thinking, the highest standards of professional development, and change.

• Faculty Professional Improvement Review Program: The Faculty Professional Improvement Review Committee and the Professional Improvement Guidelines have been in place for 10 years and create a standard for and a clarity about expected professional development, standards which are clearly strengths in our instructional efforts. Over the course of this Plan, we will introduce greater accountability, so that all tenure-track faculty have current and approved plans. And we will undertake efforts (partly funded under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement) to extend such efforts to adjunct faculty, and to provide professional development activities for all faculty.

• Faculty Evaluation Procedures: The current practices have received national recognition, especially for the involvement of peer evaluators throughout the process. The challenge over the course of this Plan will be to maintain the high standards of performance and of attention to these processes while adding substantial numbers of new faculty.

• Technology Across the Curriculum: Technologies ranging from video to the World Wide Web are changing the ways in which teaching and learning can be accomplished. Faculty will increasingly explore these avenues which allow them to teach better, expand access, and increase efficiency. To meet such demand, technical support services will expand and instructional support will integrate on-campus and distance learning training resources and staff. Learning through technology and alternative formats is becoming routine for our students: they use email to seek information from instructors and fellow students; they conduct research over the internet; they are introduced to the technology current in their discipline; they appreciate the flexibility, currency, interactivity, and learner-centered features of technology-mediated instruction. Student demand for high-quality flexible learning options at an affordable cost will continue to grow. Alternative revenue sources will be needed to fund such program growth.

• The Digital Learning Environment: The World Wide Web has become a powerful instructional tool, allowing course enhancements or full course delivery in a virtual environment. Such instruction will evolve to incorporate multimedia elements, moving beyond basic text presentation. Specialized work teams will be needed to allow fuller use of the online medium, bringing together programmers, artists, and instructional designers to work with instructors on course development. Open architecture for web-based projects will be needed to allow integration of purchased components as well as locally-developed resources for distributed learning.

• Distance Education: The goal of distance learning at COCC is to utilize distributed delivery strategies to improve access to COCC programs and services for adult learners who are restricted from traditional access by distance or are otherwise place-bound. In the current model, courses are delivered entirely through video and/or digital technology. Curriculum goals include offerings that allow completion of the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree entirely by distance learning within the COCC district, selected Associate of Applied Science degrees, and the general education and skills courses common to most AAS programs. In addition, distributed learning modes will be used to provide wider access to other areas of the college curriculum when appropriate to address constraints of time and distance. Delivery of distributed education will emphasize multiple modalities, and the program will provide essential student services to students in a distance format. The program will continue to invest in faculty development and to closely monitor the quality of courses and programs. COCC will seek alternative revenue sources to fund the growth of the program.

• Library and Media services: Library and media collections will expand to include relevant historical and new materials supporting research and knowledge in all new program offerings. Collections for all areas will remain up-to-date and well supplied for current programs. Collections will continue to reflect a mix of print, microform, and electronic media expertly selected for the educational needs of the College. The library will take innovative approaches to access and delivery of all types of information to its clients. Media services will serve instructional technology needs that support the educational and intellectual goals of the campus and related sites. Library/information instruction will contribute to the skill sets required for degrees.

III.C IMPROVE RETENTION

Improved retention efforts usually address the following areas of concern:

1. Students are prepared when they enter.
2. Students are advised appropriately.
3. Adequate support services exist to assist students in achieving academic success.
4. Faculty address different learning styles and work to achieve student success.

COCC has retention rates rather consistent with those of community colleges of similar size and location, but higher rates of retention would strengthen our programs (better filling second year courses, allowing for predictable enrollment in planning) and signal greater student success. Additionally, retention through our programs and into the upper division programs of the Branch will better ensure success of that articulation effort.

Currently, task forces have formed under the direction of the Dean of Student and Enrollment Services to propose improvements to the advising process (especially making the orientation programs more effective and efficient) and to propose a student retention plan.

III.D CREATE A DIVERSE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY AND REFLECT DIVERSITY IN THE CURRICULUM.

The Diversity Steering Committee (convened 1999) has identified the following diversity goals:

• provide access to professional development programs in multiculturalism and diversity for staff
• increase the recruitment and retention of students of diverse cultures and backgrounds
• increase the diversity of staff
• encourage cultural diversity through events
• encourage curriculum development to reflect the importance of diversity

The Diversity Committee monitors progress toward these goals and ensures that effectiveness indicators are measured and reviewed. The hiring of a Diversity Coordinator to provide leadership and support to insure full implementation of the College’s commitment to diversity has been proposed.

III.E STRENGTHEN ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Measuring institutional effectiveness:

COCC measures effectiveness in instruction in many ways, including student satisfaction surveys, faculty evaluation documents, enrollment data, student retention rates, student employment rates, student transfer rates, numbers and kinds of articulation agreements, program and degree reviews (See Accreditation Standard 1.B.1). Operational planning for the instructional budget occurs in an open, collaborative process among the department chairs with leadership from the administration. The various measurements that are collected inform those discussions: for example, the pressures of enrollment tell us where we need new positions, community need tells us where we need new programs.

While COCC has consistently collected relevant data that confirm instructional effectiveness, and has fed that data into the operational planning and budgeting process, we have not yet published and reviewed the data in a systematic way. Additionally, instructional departments have made great strides in the last three years in moving toward outcomes assessment of courses and programs. Feeding this instructional effectiveness data into academic planning will also change and, we believe, strengthen that process. Measuring instructional effectiveness in a systematic way is thus a major goal of this plan and involves the following actions:

1. Effectiveness indicators will be published. (See the "Academic Scorecard").
2. Data will be gathered at consistent and regular intervals.
3. Measurements will be published, including the Vice President’s Biennial State of Instruction Report, delivered to the Board and the campus community.
4. Instructional goals will be revised biennially in light of those measurements.
5. Future budget planning will ensure implementation of the Academic Plan.

The Academic Scorecard:

To make the measurements clear and accessible, we are publishing some key effectiveness indicators and benchmarks, which will serve as annual snapshots, measuring our progress in achieving the goals of the Academic Plan. In several cases, the benchmarks are widely held institutional goals (5% growth, the 80/20 full-time/part-time faculty ratio). In other cases, instructional administration has set the benchmarks to achieve an annual stretch in effectiveness. See Appendix 1 for explanation of this data.

Principles of Accountability:

The Board of Directors has approved the following Principles of Accountability, defining the basic principles which underlie the systematic assessment process represented by the Academic Scorecard. Note: For purposes of this document "program" means "degrees, certificates, programs and services."

1. Overall accountability

• Student success measured for every program
• Program performance measured for every program
• Program suitability measured for every program
• Program integrity measured for every program

2. Student success

• Students are prepared when they enter and when they exit
• Students place appropriately in jobs or further education
• Students have the tools to continue to grow and change

3. Program performance

• Programs attract and graduate students at appropriate rates
• Programs are actively sought and commended by employers
• Programs are cost effective

4. Program suitability

• Programs benefit the citizens and businesses of the College district
• Programs are articulated with the other post-secondary institutions in our state
• Programs are articulated with appropriate high school programs

5. Program Integrity

• Program faculty are regularly and rigorously evaluated
• Programs are regularly evaluated according to national standards
• Program material is evaluated for college level and technical and academic excellence
• Programs maintain the highest academic and ethical standards

Listed measures provide snapshots which tell us whether we need to look to a much wider array of measures to seek reasons for achievement which differs from expectations. See Appendix 1 for explanation of the measurements and benchmarks. Benchmarks are for Fall, 2002.

APPENDIX 1: EXPLANATION OF MEASUREMENTS AND BENCHMARKS

FOR ACADEMIC SCORECARD

1. Maintain student FTE mix while achieving desirable growth

1. See chart, Current Student FTE Mix, p. 5. Based on annual enrollment report sent to OCCURS each July.
2. Targeted annual growth rate, see p. 9 of Plan.
3. Full Time/Part Time faculty ratio: see p. 9 of Plan.
4. Current figure is Fall, 2000.

1. Enhance Teaching and Learning

1. 6.4 on a 7. scale is the overall average of student evaluations from the Student Evaluation Database, Winter 1999 to Summer 2000.

3. 74% of faculty had approved Professional Improvement Plans in 99-00.
4. Based on annual OCCURS/OUS community college match for students attending COCC in one year and moving to an Oregon public four-year institution the next year. (Does not measure other transfers).
5. Fall term certificate and degree seeking students only.

1. Improve Retention

All data supplied by Helen Pruitt, Dec. 2000

1. % of fall 1999 students who enrolled winter term 2000 (minus concurrent high school students and fall term graduates): 68.845%

2. % of Spring 2000 students who enrolled fall term 2000 (minus concurrent high school students and spring term graduates: 53.3%.

3. Based on a cohort of 388 first-time, full-time degree/certificate seeking students who entered COCC fall term 1996 and completed by August 1999.

1. All degree seeking students are required to take the Asset Placement exam on entry.

1. Create a Diverse Academic Community

   Measurements #1-5 and corresponding benchmarks taken from Nov. 2000 Diversity Plan.

   6. 8 MIC (Multicultural Infusion) course offerings in 2000-2001 course schedule (fall, winter, spring).

2. Strengthen Assessment and Accountability

3. There are a total of 245 different courses listed on the 2 course competency inventories (1999 and 2001) posted to the Chairmoot Competencies conference. There are 850 courses in the course inventory, as calculated by Betty McKee.

APPENDIX 2: OUTCOMES FOR DEGREES AND PROGRAMS

1. Associate of Arts OUTCOMES

The degree as a whole:

• Promotes self-development that will produce a well-rounded, critically reflective member of society, one who is prepared to continue productive life-long learning.
• Meets academic needs of students continuing their education at a level beyond community college in liberal arts and sciences. The AA degree meets AAOT (Associate of Arts, Oregon Transfer) lower-division general education requirements for all public Oregon universities and some private colleges.

Basic Skills Requirements:

• the student will construct sustained and coherent discourse
• the student will synthesize ideas and document secondary sources
• the student will understand the dynamics of oral communications in large or small groups
• the student will understand quantitative and analytical skills at a level beyond Intermediate Algebra in an interdisciplinary and/or civic context.
• the student will use electronic technology to access and process information
• the student will apply a wide range of health information to health choices

Accountability measures:

• Achievement of individual course competencies
• Placement in basic skills courses based on assessment of entry level skills
• Grade of C or better required in Basic Skills courses

Depth Requirement: Sequences in Humanities, Lab Science, Social Science

• the student will have attained the proficiency to speak to subtle and abstract issues within each of these disciplines
• the student shall apply understanding and skills from each course to the other courses within a sequence.

Breadth Requirement: One or more courses that broaden the range of study within each area

• the student will demonstrate basic knowledge in several content fields

• the student will understand ways of thinking, tools used, and kinds of solutions possible in several disciplines or fields

• Student competency measured in terms of individual course outcomes
• Student achievement of requirements for graduation
• Periodic degree review by Academic Affairs Committee
• State requirements for the AAOT
• Transcript reflects courses in which College controls quality of instructor, curriculum, assessment.
• Curriculum Committee reviews all new courses proposed for degree requirements.

APPENDIX 3: OUTCOMES FOR DEGREES AND PROGRAMS

1. Associate of Arts OUTCOMES

Institutional Accountability measures:

• periodic degree review by Academic Affairs Committee
• transcript reflects courses in which College controls quality of instructor, curriculum, and assessment

• state requirements for the AAOT

• the Curriculum Committee reviews all new courses proposed for degree requirements.

The degree as a whole:

• promotes self-development that will produce a well-rounded, critically reflective member of society, one who is prepared to continue productive life-long learning
• meets academic needs of students continuing their education at a level beyond community college in liberal arts and sciences. The AA degree meets AAOT (Associate of Arts, Oregon Transfer) lower-division general education requirements for all public Oregon universities and some private colleges.

Basic Skills Requirements:

• the student will construct sustained and coherent discourse
• the student will synthesize ideas and document secondary sources
• the student will understand the dynamics of oral communications in large or small groups
• the student will understand quantitative and analytical skills at a level beyond Intermediate Algebra in an interdisciplinary and/or civic context
• the student will use electronic technology to access and process information
• the student will apply a wide range of health information to health choices.

Accountability measures:

• achievement of individual course competencies
• placement in basic skills courses based on assessment of entry level skills
• grade of C or better required in Basic Skills courses.

Depth Requirement: Sequences in Humanities, Lab Science, Social Science

• the student will have attained the proficiency to speak to subtle and abstract issues within each of these disciplines
• the student shall apply understanding and skills from each course to the other courses within a sequence.

Breadth Requirement: One or more courses that broaden the range of study within each area

• the student will demonstrate basic knowledge in several content fields
• the student will understand ways of thinking, tools used, and kinds of solutions possible in several disciplines or fields.
  

  Accountability measures:

  • student competency measured in terms of individual course outcomes
  • student achievement of requirements for graduation.

2. Associate of Science OUTCOMES

Institutional Accountability measures:

• periodic degree review by Academic Affairs Committee
• transcript reflects courses in which College controls quality of instructor, curriculum, and assessment
• the Curriculum Committee reviews all new courses proposed for degree requirements.

The degree as a whole:

• promotes self-development that will produce a well-rounded, critically reflective member of society, one who is prepared to continue productive life-long learning
• meets academic needs of students continuing their education at a level beyond community college in liberal arts and sciences. The AS degree meets lower-division general education requirements for specific programmatic requirements for a specific public university or private college.

Basic Skills Requirements:

• the student will construct sustained and coherent discourse
• the student will synthesize ideas and document secondary sources
• the student will understand the dynamics of oral communications in large or small groups
• the student will understand quantitative and analytical skills at a level beyond Intermediate Algebra in an interdisciplinary and/or civic context
• the student will use electronic technology to access and process information
• the student will apply a wide range of health information to health choices.
  

  Accountability measures:

  • achievement of individual course competencies
  • placement in basic skills courses based on assessment of entry level skills
  • grade of C or better required in Basic Skills courses.

Depth Requirement:

• the student will complete an introductory sequence in the program area
• the student will have attained the proficiency to speak to subtle and abstract issues within this discipline
• the student will complete at least two courses within a sequence and will complete a third course in the same area
• the student shall apply understanding and skills from each course to the other courses within a sequence
• the student will complete at least two courses from the third area.
  

  Accountability measures:

  • achievement of individual course competencies
  • achievement of requirements for graduation.

Program Requirement:

• the student will complete at least 24 credits in a discipline that is program specific as well as institution specific.

3. Associate of Applied Science OUTCOMES

Institutional Accountability measures:

• periodic degree review by Academic Affairs Committee
• state requirements for the AAS
• transcript reflects courses in which College controls quality of instructor, curriculum, and assessment
• the Curriculum Committee reviews all new courses proposed for degree requirements.

The degree as a whole:

• prepares student for immediate employment upon completion of the degree
• student should be aware that parts of the degree may not transfer to other colleges and universities
• promotes self-development that will produce a well-rounded, critically reflective member of society, one who is prepared to continue productive life-long learning.

Basic Skills Requirements:

• the student will construct sustained and coherent discourse
• the student will synthesize ideas and demonstrate the responsible use of sources
• the student will use electronic technology to access and process information
• the student will apply a wide range of health information to health choices
• the student will understand quantitative and analytical skills at a level appropriate to the program requirements.

Additional Basic Skills Requirement Depending on the Program:

• the student will understand the dynamics of oral communications in large or small groups.
  

  Accountability measures:

  • achievement of individual course competencies
  • placement in basic skills courses based on assessment of entry level skills
  • grade of C or better required in Basic Skills courses.

   

Program Requirements:

• the student will have attained the proficiency to speak to subtle and abstract issues within their program area
• the student will demonstrate an understanding of human relations factors that are program specific.

Breadth Requirement: Three or more general education courses outside the program area.

• the student will demonstrate basic knowledge in several content fields.
  

  Accountability measures:

  • student competency measured in terms of individual course outcomes
  • student achievement of requirements for graduation.

4. Associate of General Studies OUTCOMES:

Institutional Accountability measures:

• periodic degree review by Academic Affairs Committee
• state requirements for the AGS
• transcript reflects courses in which College controls quality of instructor, curriculum, assessment
• the Curriculum Committee reviews all new courses proposed for degree requirements.

The degree as a whole:

• provides an alternative to the Associate of Arts and Associate of Science to pursue a broad general education and accomplish personal educational goals

• provides a coherent body of college level course work in core skills and general education and meets academic needs of students who desire greater flexibility to customize additional course requirements to reflect their personal interests, transfer intentions or career goals.

Basic Skills Requirements:

• the student will construct sustained and coherent discourse
• the student will synthesize ideas and document secondary sources
• the student will understand the dynamics of oral communications in large or small groups
• the student will understand quantitative and analytical skills at a level beyond Intermediate Algebra in an interdisciplinary and/or civic context
• the student will use electronic technology to access, process and research information
• the student will apply a wide range of health information to health choices.

General Education Requirements

• the student will demonstrate basic knowledge in several content areas including humanities, lab science, social science, business , and professional/technical studies
• the student will demonstrate an in depth knowledge of college level course work in personally selected content areas.
  

  Accountability measures:

  • student competency measured in terms of individual course outcomes
  • student achievement of requirements for graduation.

Additional degree outcomes are under development by the Academic Affairs Committee.

• 2005 Update: Adopting College Wide Success Outcomes