Aims Community College
S T R A T E G I C P L A N2011 // 2012
Aims Community College, established in 1967, remains one of only two local district colleges in the State of Colorado that have three revenue sources. These sources are tuition and fees, state appropriation and local property tax. Aims is governed by a five member, elected Board of Trustees. Aims has three campuses in Greeley, Fort Lupton and Loveland and a new Automotive Technology Center in Windsor.
The College mission states that “Aims Community College (is established) to help students achieve their learning goals and objectives through effective and efficient program options and services, and to develop partnerships that support economic development and global understanding.”
In keeping with this mission, the purposes of the College, in accordance with the laws of Colorado as a post-secondary institution are six-fold. They include 1) General educational offerings designed to prepare students to make intelligent choices in all aspects of life;
2) College parallel courses preparing high school students to transfer to four year institutions; 3) Career and technical education courses preparing students for initial employment, further education or advancement in employment; 4) Developmental education for those needing to advance their skills in preparation for college level study or employment advances; 5) Advising and assessment services and; 6) Community services and continuing educational offerings.
The educational offerings and services of Aims Community College are based upon the belief that the primary obligation of the College is to assist in the development of individuals for meaningful and productive lives. The College embraces the following values: 1) A focus on supporting learning and innovation; 2) A belief in building relationships and; 3) A sense of community.
In the most recent years, economic issues surrounding the State of Colorado and the United States have caused renewed focus and emphasis
on job preparation and training, along with affordable and effective educational options. At the center of dialogue at both the state and national level are community colleges. We believe that Aims provides quality opportunities for our students and stakeholders in both regards.
This strategic plan is based on multiple levels of data and input over the past year from the Board of Trustees to the All College Action Committee; from a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis to the AQIP/Higher Learning Commission; from the Colorado Higher Education Strategic Plan to external benchmarks from Community College Survey of Student Engagement and National Community College Benchmark Project and from Think Tank
discussions to the College Suggestion link. We are both pleased and excited to present this to you as our best effort to provide solid strategies for continued excellence and continuous improvement.
Aims Community College
Strategic Planning Document Rationale
innovation
relationships
community
Profile
3
Aims Community College
A Profile
the Students
Hispanic 23%
Minority 27%
Female 55%
Under 30 years old 74%
Colorado residents 97%
Financial Aid recipients 48%
Test into developmental courses 69%
Enrollment increase over 2.5 years 21%
Aims Community College Revenue Sources
Aims Community College receives revenue from several
sources, most significantly through property tax revenue from
the Aims Junior College District.
Investment Income & Other Nonoperating Income 17.8% Tuition & Fees
18.1%
Grants & Contracts 4.9% Auxiliary Revenue 4.2% General Property Taxes 47.5% State Appropriations 6.6% Other Operating 0.9%
Aims Community College
Collegewide SWOT Analysis
Prioritized by Senior Management
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESS
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
• Affordability of tuition rates • Local taxing district • Percent of online courses
• High cost & number of remedial students • Limited budget • Multiple locations in
small geographic area (cannibalizing campuses & increasing costs)
• Re-evaluate all programs for relevance vs. College mission
• Consolidate College locations
• Expand online courses • Concurrent enrollment
• Required compliance with federal & state regulations (reporting & workload)
• Diminished funding (federal, state & local) • Lack of control over
legislative issues/decisions • Lack of student
preparedness
• Managing increased workload with potential staff reductions
4
Strengths / Weaknesses / Opportunities / Threats
Rank Rank Rank Rank
1. Develop a budget representing
the current economic
situation, while maintaining the
quality of academic programs
to help students learn.
a. Maintain a General Fund
balance sufficient to
cover the projected
two-year downturn.
2. Engage employees in
continuous improvement
initiatives and activities to
support learning.
3. Measure institutional
effectiveness and impact
of student engagement
and outcomes.
Aims Community College
Board of Trustees
Goals 2011-12
Student Learning
and Success Awareness and Access Sustainability EffectivenessInstitutional
Increase efforts to maximize programs and services that enhance active student learning so that students may achieve their own educational and career goals.
Awareness of and access to post-secondary educational opportunities are critical for our community. Preparing individuals for the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, improving understanding about the long-term financial impact of a college education on lifetime earning potential, and improving pathways to enrollment will ensure a better way of life for the people Aims Community Colleges serves.
In order to fulfill its mission to our students and community, Aims Community College shall continue efforts to ensure the financial viability of the organization.
At Aims Community College, institutional effectiveness focuses on achieving our stated mission and the strategic goals that support our mission. The Aims Community College Board of Trustees has charged the College community with measuring institutional effectiveness and its impact on student engagement and learning. We strive to meet this expectation through the collection of reliable data using established instruments and metrics. The analysis and interpretation of those data to inform decisions regarding student ability to benefit, maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of academic and student support programs, and improving student success.
Based on all of the data sources mentioned earlier and
to provide direction for Aims Community College for
the next 3-5 years, the Strategic Plan has been updated
for the College, based on the following four strategic
imperatives and supported by strategies to ensure
successful fulfillment of the goals.
Strategic Plan
5
Aims Strategic Plan
Aims Community College
Board of Trustees
Goals 2011-12
Strategic Imperative
1
Student Learning
and Success
Increase efforts to maximize programs and services that enhance active student learning so that students may achieve their own educational and career goals.
Strategies
Student Learning
• Continue to focus on the Learning College as a climate for enriched learning at Aims Community College.
• Engage employees in continuous improvement initiatives and activities to support learning.
• Emphasize College partnerships and articulations with all levels of education, from K-12 through university transfer.
Instructional Programs and Delivery
• Continue to maintain efforts to increase and emphasize program relevance in both academic and career and technical areas. • Increase Aims’ flexibility in course delivery to make program areas more available to students.
Student Success
• Improve student preparedness through better pipeline usage—access, articulation, transition.
• Emphasize the AAA study skills courses in a way that makes Aims’ new students more familiar with the community college educational process. • Engage students more fully to improve their chances of success. • Develop Aims’ operational definition for “completers” and “student success” so as to more clearly understand and thus better measure the success of our students’ educational efforts.
• Acknowledge and further address the difficult dichotomy that open access brings. While developmental education is incumbent upon us as part of our mission, it increases per student expense and diminishes timely completion of coursework.
Strategic Imperative
2
Awareness & Access
Awareness of and access to post-secondary educational opportunities are critical for our community. Preparing individuals for the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, improving understanding about the long-term financial impact of a college education on lifetime earning potential, and improving pathways to enrollment will ensure a better way of life for the people Aims Community Colleges serves.
Strategies
Enrollment Management
• Evaluate enrollment by term and by site to align with fiscal needs of campus, community needs, and resources available.
• Assess enrollment processes to ensure access and eliminate barriers. • Assess tactics employed to increase awareness and access.
Marketing
• Promote the use of social media tools to enhance the College’s web presence.
• Revise website to improve navigation and access to information. • Promote course transferability via General Transfer Pathways. • Promote workforce readiness programs in Career and Technical Education and Continuing Education.
Address Student Transition Issues
• Explore methods of data collection for students’ educational goals to help determine if students are successful in reaching their goals. • Develop indicators to track student retention, success and engagement.
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Sustainability
Strategic Imperative
3
Sustainability
In order to fulfill its mission to our students and community, Aims Community College shall continue efforts to ensure the financial viability of the organization.
Strategies
Utilization of Technology
• Eliminate time-consuming processes. • Improve customer satisfaction.
Organizational Health
• Analyze current staffing needs of each department in order to achieve efficiency based on current and future work flow demands.
• Realign staffing based on achieving improved internal and external customer satisfaction, efficiencies and cost containments.
• Develop a plan to improve employee morale and retention.
Focus the General Fund on Core Functions
• Realign General Fund expenditures to focus on core academic functions of the College.
Budget
• Analyze the annual budget and year-end expenditures to highlight unused or unnecessary non-core expenditures that can be shifted to fund core functions.
• Explore more grant and/or private gift opportunities to fund core learning functions.
• Explore alternative funding sources to outsource current non-core functions of the College (i.e., Bookstore and Reprographics) that will reduce costs and/or increase revenues.
• Establish a revised long-term plan that will reflect the current and changing economy, facility needs and maintenance, projected available budget dollars, and board goals and directives.
• Review the economic viability of College-owned vacant land in relation to future growth and economic outlook.
Analyze Economic Reality
Institutional Effectiveness
9
Strategic Imperative
4
Institutional Effectiveness
At Aims Community College, institutional effectiveness focuses on achieving our stated mission and the strategic goals that support our mission. The Aims Community College Board of Trustees has charged the College community with measuring institutional effectiveness and its impact on student engagement and learning. We strive to meet this expectation through the collection of reliable data using established instruments and metrics. The analysis and interpretation of those data to inform decisions regarding student ability to benefit, maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of academic and student support programs, and improving student success.Strategies
Institutional Data
• Implement systems to ensure the reliability and validity of institutional data.
• Develop and institutionalize the use of data to support College decision-making processes.
• Use data to inform existing course and program continuance and new program development.
Ability to Benefit
• Assess student ability to benefit and ensure that students are placed in appropriate courses to maximize their opportunity to succeed. • Assess developmental educational curriculum to ensure that students have appropriate opportunities to succeed in achieving their educational goals.
• Implement course prerequisites designed to maximize student success.
Program Effectiveness and Efficiency
• Assess College programs to improve their impact on student success, as benchmarked against other identified institutions.
• Assess academic, certificate and degree programs to ensure relevancy to career and university aspirations, as benchmarked against other identified institutions.
• Assess academic, support and administrative programs to maximize efficiency in use of College resources, as benchmarked against other identified institutions.
Accountability Metrics
• Implement a national accountability tool to demonstrate successful attainment of College missions and goals.
