Vision Concept Paper

This document is not intended as a promise or guarantee, but a summary of what the College hopes to achieve.

General Considerations Guiding COCC’s Development in the Next Ten Years

Central Oregon Community College, is dedicated to serving students by providing opportunities for individual learners to grow. The College will continue its primary focus on serving adult learners in its traditional community college programs: associate degree and transfer programs; applied degrees and certificates; adult basic and developmental education; and a wide range of community education offerings on a cost recovery basis. Since the needs of businesses, public sector organizations and the workforce are changing more rapidly than ever, COCC will respond with expanded programs for business and service sector training and workforce development. The global nature of business, issues and events provides an obligation for the College to develop an international perspective.  Further, COCC will closely monitor changing conditions and growth in the communities it serves, and remain well-informed regarding their evolving educational needs. All College operations will demonstrate a continuing commitment to listening and reflecting the views of citizens within its service district.

COCC is committed to focusing on clear goals, to assessing evidence of progress toward
achieving those goals, and adjusting programs and services based on documented outcomes.
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Service

COCC will be a hub for lifelong learning and professional development in Central Oregon. It will maintain and enhance its position by taking an active role in attending to students’ educational needs and striving constantly to promote students’ success.

All COCC programs will aim to expand the reach of lifelong learning opportunities throughout the district, and promote universal access to education based on an open-door admissions policy. Programs will assist students in developing the skill levels needed to succeed in an international labor marketplace.

Recognizing that educational progress will differ for each individual learner, COCC remains committed to providing educational opportunities for adult learners at all levels of skill and knowledge, according to the individual’s ability to benefit from instruction. Adult basic education and other remedial and developmental services for adults will remain important parts of COCC programs.

In support of its emphasis on training for family wage jobs, a major part of new COCC programs will involve developing training programs for businesses and other entities. These training activities will support regional business efforts to remain on the leading edge of their industries through better educated employees who are equipped to meet their employment and career goals.

To support delivery of programs, COCC will make innovative use of distance education technologies; provide referrals to others' programs; and broker programs more appropriately provided by others. The College will create linkages and partnerships at multiple levels, including: local, state, regional, national and international.

COCC is committed to long-range progress to broaden opportunities for learning and economic  development throughout the District.  In the next five years, the College will expand learning  opportunities beyond Bend, where significant growth in demand for education is anticipated.  The College will use a combination of online instruction, new facility construction and facilities shared with community partners, staffing, and coordinated scheduling of programs and services to maximize opportunity and efficiency.  Progress in specific communities will be shaped by (a) cost effectiveness of potential initiatives, (b) focused grants, financial contributions, and community partner support for construction and operational expenses, and (c) demand and opportunities for programs and services targeted to meet specific localized needs.
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Community Relationships

COCC will participate fully in open, inclusive communication and collaboration efforts throughout the district. This includes creating high levels of awareness and visibility for COCC programs and services. It also means creating meaningful and effective working relationships with business, government and education partners, and keeping information and ideas flowing between COCC, the media, legislators and community leaders. 

COCC will develop effective college-business partnerships for workforce training and participate with many partners in other economic development efforts, as we work together toward making Central Oregon an effective competitor in the global economy.

The College recognizes that education beyond high school is increasingly important for the personal and economic vitality of individuals and communities.  Accordingly, the College will collaborate with regional school districts to inspire high aspirations in students, to provide options for achieving college credit for students while in high school, to develop articulated instructional programming and assessment that facilitates student's transition to college education, and to support positive working relations between college and school faculty and staff.  

COCC will constructively participate in, encourage, and support inter-institutional cooperation to expand higher education offerings in Central Oregon.   To this end, the college will encourage the efforts of higher education providers Oregon State University – Cascades Campus, to deliver a broad array of degrees.  COCC will serve as an advocate for expanding higher education opportunities throughout Central Oregon. 

COCC is committed to close articulation of our courses, programs and service with Central Oregon's emerging university institution with the goal of ensuring that Central Oregon students have a local opportunity to continue their education beyond COCC.
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Community Diversity and Well-Being

COCC’s focus on students and educational programs provides unique opportunities for the College to be an important social, cultural and leadership resource in the communities it serves. COCC embraces these opportunities – on its own and in partnership with others.

COCC will reduce or remove barriers which might limit educational opportunities for any group of individuals within our service district. The community college will actively move toward diversity.   In order to implement this commitment, COCC will:  increase its understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in serving a diverse population; handle diversity issues with sensitivity and awareness of local/district interests and attitudes; model awareness and appreciation of diversity within our organization; and encourage dialogue and collaboration across all lines of difference within our communities.

Through its own programs and through partnering with other community groups, COCC will contribute to the well-being of the community through its efforts to promote community-wide health and wellness; to provide, support and encourage cultural programming events, including fine arts and the performing arts; assist in the conservation of Central Oregon’s natural resources; assist in the development of global perspectives; and prepare students to be educated, effective participants in the democratic process.
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The College Community Environment
While academic development remains the primary focus on the institution, COCC recognizes that broader elements contribute to a positive learning environment.  Therefore, COCC is committed to developing a vital campus environment which welcomes and supports students.  Specifically, COCC will develop a campus center to strengthen campus services and student activities.  Additionally, the college will explore options to expand cost effective student housing opportunities to serve district students, out-of-district Oregon students, and out-of-state students.  Expanded campus housing can be a strategic investment to support the college fiscally, create a more vibrant campus environment, and expand the diversity of the college. 

Funding and Growth

The demand for adult education services in Central Oregon is growing rapidly and evolving in its most basic characteristics. In such a context, there exists significant risk and uncertainty regarding future funding levels. COCC's financial future is affected substantially by its relationship with the State of Oregon and, as a result, is increasingly determined by statewide political and statewide financial considerations.  It is likely that State General Fund support for COCC will diminish significantly as the State seeks to counterbalance COCC's relatively higher income from local property taxes.  It is possible in six to eight years that the college may be receiving no State General Fund allocation.  Therefore, maintaining quality and supporting program growth will require increasing both publicly funded services and entrepreneurially-generated, privately-supported services.  The College will diversify and expand its resource base by identifying and developing alternative funding sources.

In addition, COCC will demonstrate its effective stewardship of public funds and its awareness of resource limits, by making deliberate choices among alternatives that support COCC's mission, matching funding levels to demonstrated program needs and emphasizing program evaluations based on demonstrated service levels to students.

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