Middle States Summary

1. Middle States Summary

2. Middle States Timeline • September 2nd- Report is available to the entire college community for feedback • September 14th– Report presented to the Middle States Team Chairperson • November – Feedback from Middle States chair will be available • November – December – Edit report based on feedback (if required) • December – Faculty Council vote on report endorsement • January – Board votes on report endorsement • February – Middle States external team visit

3. Standard 1Mission, Goals and Objectives (Summary) • Changes in Leadership - Over the last 6 years the college has had 3 different presidents. Each president had slightly different ideas regarding mission and goals. • Updated Mission and Goals– Our college president has spent a great deal of time working with the college community to update the mission and goals. • Updated Strategic Plan - Transition from a Strategic Plan which lacked operational details to a new Strategic Priorities which reflect campus-wide input and goals.

4. Standard 1 Recommendations • Continue to review our mission, vision and value statements within the same timeframe as we are drafting five-year strategic plans. • Implement the APB Model and incorporate assessment into annual operational goals.

5. Standards 2-3 : Planning, Resource Allocation, Institutional Renewal and Institutional Resources (Summary) • Link between Planning, Resource Allocation and Mission - The subcommittee found that the College links planning and resource allocation to the Mission and Goals • New Model for Assessment, Planning and the Budget - The College has recently adopted new Mission and Values statements and a Strategic Plan implementing a new model for the assessment, planning, and budget cycle. • Human, Financial, Technical, and Physical facilities - The Subcommittee found that the human, financial, technical, physical facilities and other resources necessary to achieve an institution’s mission and goals are available and accessible. • Current Economic Conditions - Due to the escalating financial crisis of the New York State economy the College is under increasing pressure to utilize existing resources more effectively and efficiently and to seek alternative funding sources.

6. Standards 2 and 3 Recommendations • Continue to seek out alternative source of funding • Documented contingency plans to maintain all technologies critical to the mission of the college. • Develop a systemic process to fund ongoing technology maintenance and new software applications according to institutional needs.

7. Standards 4-5: Leadership, Governance, and Administration (Summary) • Surveys – The subcommittee administered 3 surveys. • Leadership and Governance Survey (To Everyone) • Faculty Council Committee Survey (To faculty Council Committee Chairs) • Administrative Structure Survey (To Board of Trustees and Presidents Council) • The college community is relatively evenly divided as to perceptions of communication and governance. • There is still an undercurrent of mistrust when it comes to communication and decision making. We tend to assume a lot of things that are not true because we don't talk enough. We need to address this. But How?

8. Standard 4 and 5 Recommendations • Adopt formal processes, criteria, and instruments to ensure that assessment occurs at the administrative level on a consistent basis and ties assessment to progress towards the college’s strategic plan. • Solicit more input from adjunct faculty. They are invited to meetings, but most cannot attend during our traditional meeting times, so a more proactive approach is required. • Utilize the tracking system for Faculty Council proposals as they make the journey through the approval process toward implementation. • Implement an effective process to integrate Faculty Council committee work, in particular program reviews, into the College’s Strategic Plan.

9. Standard 6: Integrity(Summary) • Integrity – The committee found that CCC makes an effort to maintain sound morals and integrity towards its faculty, staff, students and the community that it serves. • Academic Freedom - The subcommittee found that CCC fosters an environment of academic freedom • Academic Honesty – The subcommittee examined the accessibility and accurateness of how student academic honesty complaints are handled according to policies outlined in the policies and procedures manual. • Multiple Versions of Policies - the subcommittee found that policies were often difficult to find and, in some cases, published in more than one version. • New Technologies - New technologies are being introduced on campus, such as CAMS, with the goal of making information more accurate and easily accessible.

10. Standard 6 Recommendations • Coordinate policies and procedures updates so that all versions of the documents are the same regardless of the manual’s location. • Develop and implement a faculty procedure to address academic grievance to standardize the documents that a faculty member must provide. • Develop a system to make all parties aware when a policy or procedure has been updated • Develop a system that is more “user friendly” to disseminate information regarding policies and procedures to all parties

11. Standard 7: Institutional Assessment (Summary) • Assessment History and Timeline - This report begins with a detailed description and timeline of assessment activity at CCC. Assessment has formalized over the years; and in the first part of this report it is evident the College has been successful in capturing assessment data in a cyclical process of institutional review and goal generation. • Met Objectives - The second part of this report substantiates that CCC has concretely met the expectations of Standard 7 as each relates to the following: the impact of assessment on the process of student learning, the improvement of planning and offered services, allocation of resources, and institutional renewal. • Mission, Strategic Plan and Institutional Effectiveness plan - The report confirms that the College’s Mission, Strategic Plan, and Institutional Effectiveness Plan (IEP) are fluid documents that yield evidence for the support of assessment activity on CCC’s campus.

12. Standard 7 Recommendations • Finish the 2011-16 Strategic Plan. Assess all aspects and communicate results. • Complete 2011 Institutional Effectiveness report, include more analysis and communicate results. • Complete analysis of 2010 SOS.

13. Standards 8-9: Student Admissions and Retention and Student Support Services (Summary) • Admission and Retention of Students – The subcommittee found that our efforts to admit and retain students are congruent with our mission and provide reasonable support to enable students to achieve their educational goals. • Support Services - The subcommittee found that In addition to its academic offerings, CCC offers an array of support services that are consistent with the mission of an open admissions community college

14. Standard 8 and 9 Recommendations • Successful tracking of outcomes regarding student’s educational objectives by individual, rather than entering cohort, would greatly improve planning for retention initiatives. • Integrate the current Early Alert system with CAMS, thereby facilitating more direct communication between faculty and students. • Create a more systematic way for student clubs to record their annual activities. This could lead to increased participation. • While security procedures are closely observed by college staff, no internal written policies or procedures exist for the secure protection of student files within offices. With the transition to CAMS, it is expected that electronic scanning of student files will improve security and eliminate the need for frequent access to hard copy files. It is suggested that CCC develop written policies and procedures for the protection of student information.

15. Standard 10: Faculty (Summary) • Hiring and Evaluation - The subcommittee found that the college has a process in place for both hiring and evaluating faculty that ensures faculty members are highly qualified experts, and who continually remain so, as shown through the requirements of the evaluation process. • Curriculum Development – The subcommittee found that faculty participates extensively in curriculum development through the faculty governance system. • Student Success - The subcommittee found that faculty members are actively involved in student success both in and out of the classroom with almost half of the faculty members devoting sixteen or more hours to students outside of class. • Different Versions of Policies - The subcommittee found that searching CCC’s website and public folders yielded four different versions of the “Policies and Procedures Manual” existing in seven different locations.

16. Standard 10 Recommendations • Non-Teaching Faculty positions should have documented criteria by job title. • Replace all of the old editions of the “Policies and Procedures Manual” on the website and in Public Folders with the most current version. • Post the “Policies and Procedures Manual” as a .pdf file, instead of a Word document, in all locations on the website and in Public Folders. • Inform all employees when changes and updates are made to the “Policies and Procedures Manual.” • Increase funding and access to professional development opportunities. • The method used to determine who receives funding and how much funding he/she receives has changed during the past five years. Revise “Policies and Procedures Manual” because it is not the same as our current practice.

17. Standard 11: Educational Offerings (Summary) • Link Between Educational Offerings and Mission – The subcommittee found that educational offerings, including certificates, degrees and non-credit programs, are evaluated to ensure that the content, rigor and coherence align with the mission. • Consistent Approval Process - The subcommittee found that the college follows a standard course/degree approval and evaluation process. All certificates, degrees and courses must go through this process to ensure that they possess the appropriate level of rigor. • Assessment of Educational Offerings – The subcommittee found that CCC has mechanisms in place at both institutional and departmental levels to assess the educational offerings.

18. Standard 11 Recommendations • Explore options for adult programming that is flexible to meet the needs of the changing adult population. • Continue to support the Foundations for College Success implementation.

19. Standard 12: General Education (Summary) • Communication of General Education Goals and Requirements - The general education goals and requirements are communicated adequately to students using a variety of formats. • General Education Requirements Integration - The general education requirements are integrated in the associate degree programs designed for transfer and, to a lesser degree, in the AAS degree programs. CCC's general education courses transfer well to other colleges within the State University System. • General Education Learning Outcomes - The College has a plan in place to assess general education learning outcomes; collect and analyze results; and implement recommendations for improvement. • Institutional Support of General Education - there is institutional support of the general education program

20. Standard 12 Suggestions • Include the applicable SUNY General Education category in the catalog course description for all general education courses. • Develop and implement the use of a template for standardizing curriculum and graduation worksheets, to ensure consistency of formatting and content for all CCC degree programs. • Include general education information with respect to transfer and a list of general education course options that can be used as electives on the curriculum worksheets of all A.A.S. and 2+2 Transfer programs. • Formalize a process of notifying other colleges, especially those to which CCC students transfer, about major changes to our courses/sequencing. • Review the curriculum of upper-level courses within each department to determine the suitability of each course as a general education course. • Facilitate, via academic advisement, A.A. and A.S. graduates to meet the Oral Communication requirement by taking COM101 as a Humanities or free elective.

21. Standard 13: Related Educational Activities (Summary) • Variety of Related Educational Programs - The subcommittee found that the College offers a variety of related educational programs which support the College’s Mission and Goals, as well as the Strategic Planning Processes. • Assessment of Related Educational Programs The subcommittee found that the related educational programs are monitored and assessed on a regular basis to ensure that they adhere to the same standards as all other educational offerings at CCC.

22. Standard 13 Suggestion • Require all online courses that fulfill a general education requirement to be assessed following the general education assessment cycle. Data should be gathered and reported by the Distance Learning Coordinator. The reported outcomes can be used to guide strategic planning of distance learning initiatives.

23. Standard 14 Assessment of Student Learning (Summary) • General Education Assessment History – The subcommittee found that there is strong history of general education assessment, writing assessment, and program review. • General Education Committee – The General Education Committee has been actively involved in creating assessment tools, implementing the assessment activities, and analyzing the results for further action. • Program Reviews – The subcommittee found that Program Reviews are methodically performed and are on a specific cycle of completion. The program review process is standardized and the recommendations from the reviews are systematically addressed. • Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Coordinator – The person in this new position will initially focus on updating all program goals and creating a schedule for when the goals will be assessed. This process will help strengthen the strong review program process that has been in place since 2003.

24. Standard 14 Recommendations • Complete and follow the schedule/matrix for learning outcomes assessment. • Continue to support the position of Student Learning Outcomes Coordinator, providing necessary resources to strengthen the student learning outcomes process. • The Program review process has a continuous history of completion; however, the student learning outcomes section needs to be strengthened and must follow the process begun by the Student Learning Outcomes Coordinator. • Internally assessment results are communicated and utilized. The College should examine ways to communicate the results more widely and implement a plan for this communication. • Continue to support the efforts of the Academic Department Chairs in syllabi review.