In order to prepare for the future of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College (LCOOCC), and the communities it has been incorporated to represent, the institution has undergone an extensive self-appraisal of where it is today, where it wants and needs to go, and has begun to lay the framework for how to get there. The document before you organizes these ideas, expectations, challenges, opportunities, trends, and activities to serve as a guide for tribal higher education in northern Wisconsin. LCOOCC has a clear understanding of its mission, visions, goals, and purposes and it effectively makes decisions today in advance of the challenges of tomorrow. The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College must be operative in its evaluation strategies to recognize its weaknesses, build upon its strengths, and be effective in its use of community and organizational constituent resources. This Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) is a culmination of hundreds of responses by the college's constituents to provide for the needs of LCOOCC students in realizing self-determination, personal growth, pride in cultural identity, respect for diversity, as well as academic successes to support individually and wholly a system of life-long learning
This document is more and less than a strategic plan as the expression Is usually understood. The Lac Courte Oreilles College community has derived from various planning processes, 17 “strategic visions” toward achieving excellence in institutional effectiveness that qive meaning and importance to our deriving of goals and implementation strategies. While we have identified many strategic initiatives, we have not mandated where all our organizational resources should be allocated. Rather, we have determined the processes that will affect our decisions in how resources are allocated. As a tribal entity, the college is culturally-based and committed to a governance of leadership in support of the Ojibwa people. This requires decisions to be made with the overall support and input of its community constituents. The Administrative Council has the responsibility to the community to act in its best interest, as well as in the best interest of the College as an academic institution upholding its standards of accreditation through North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. This CIP acts as a guide for the planning and decision-making processes used by the Administrative Council in setting goals, implementing activities, allocating resources, and recommending policy to the College's Board of Regents for approval.
This document has been written to serve a three-year time period, but it is also a working document as it guides the continuous improvement of the college in serving its community. As trends and opportunities arise in education and in the communities served by LCOOCC, the college must be able to evolve with the varying dynamics by realizing both its strengths & weaknesses and, accordingly, adapt to the community needs. This is an imperative in serving both institutional effectiveness and in serving the tribes and communities of northern Wisconsin Subsequently, this document will also evolve and change with yearly reviews of its content and relevancy in today's diversifying society.