The processes that Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College (LCOOCC) followed to develop the Continuous Improvement Plan were designed to achieve both a breadth and depth of analysis about the college's effectiveness. These processes are a part of the ongoing, integrated practices of the institution. Constituents directly involved in these efforts included the Board of Regents, college administration, staff and faculty, community members, area business operators, alumni, and student representatives. Partner institutions of higher learning and K-12 schools were also consulted. The Administrative Council, which consists of the President, Vice President, the Academic Dean, the Dean of Students Services, the Dean of Facilities Development & Management, the Financial Aid Director, the Registrar, the Director of Research, Assessment & Program Development, a faculty representative, and all program chairs, provided both the direction and implementation activities, facilitated planning processes, and incorporated all evaluative feedback into the processes.
A Self-Study Steering Committee was organized in the fall of 1996. This committee was comprised of various department heads, faculty members, and the chair of the college's Board of Regents. Members were selected to ensure a broad and comprehensive representation of all facets of the college's operations. During the self-study process the faculty were engaged in the self-study through their efforts on various college committees. The self-study coordinator, being a faculty member, helped to maintain strong lines of communication and consistent and timely involvement of the faculty. (The self-study coordinator is now the Dean of Academic Affairs.)
The Self-Study was presented to the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in January of 1998. Eight years continued accreditation was granted that summer. The Self-Study Report effectively summarized the college's strengths and concerns across a range of criteria and identified recommendations for addressing these issues, problems, and weaknesses. This document has subsequently provided a foundation for institutional planning efforts.
From the Self-Study Report the college engaged itself in evaluating its Institutional Effectiveness. A Director of Research and Assessment was hired, a previous faculty member, to facilitate planning processes that were to include all college constituents. Focus groups, nominal group processes, affinity diagram processes, surveys, etc. have been used to formulate a constituent analysis of LCOOCC.
In the fall of 1999 the college was notified by AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium), that all accredited Tribal Colleges were eligible to apply for monies to be used for construction or renovation. A concerted effort has been developed to incorporate the construction and/or renovation of the college facilities with the overall strategic planning of the institution.
The SWOT Analysis, generated from a range of planning sessions with all the College's stakeholder groups, has been presented to the college's faculty, staff, and Board of Regents for further review and insight. From this collaborative effort arose the final content for the formalization of the college's Continuous Improvement Plan.
Since the Self-Study Report, the college has undergone a substantial reworking of its pursuit, documentation and evaluation of overall institutional effectiveness. The college submitted to North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) a newly established Academic Assessment Plan. NCA has approved the plan. Aggressive steps have been taken to provide assessment at the student and institutional levels of General Education, Degree Program, Vocational Program, and Remedial/Developmental areas.
The Academic Assessment Plan was initiated through careful research of other college models to determine a direction that would best accomplish accurate assessment of LCOOCC students. Several models were brought before the Assessment Committee, the full-time faculty, and the Administrative Council. The Plan ultimately established is original in its design, but reflects insight and concepts gleaned from a thorough review of assessment plans from Johnson County Community College, Kansas; University of Wisconsin -Superior, Wisconsin; Alverno College, Wisconsin; and Ozarka College, Arkansas, among others.
The Plan, almost exclusively, allows assessment processes to be unobtrusive to the student. Measurements are incorporated into the teaching curriculum. The Plan is outcome based with subsequent objectives and means of assessments that answer the question, '”What skills, aptitudes, values, and knowledge should every graduate of Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College possess?"
The faculty, in developing this Plan, individually and collectively gathered input from local businesses, area educators, a variety of accrediting agencies, and state and nationally approved curricula. In developing the LCOOCC Academic Assessment Plan, all of the Degree Programs experienced change. The business programs were reconfigured to remain up-to-date, the Native American Studies Degree incorporated new "key" assessment tools, the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department identified (and corrected for) missing curriculum components, and other programs modified curriculum to reflect changes in industry and higher education and to address the needs of the community.
Non-academic programs including the college's physical plant, student services, faculty development etc., are also part of the ongoing review process designed to assess the overall institutional effectiveness of Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College. This work has been fashioned to get all of the faculty and administration to critically evaluate college processes and programs. These efforts, through formative and summative evaluation processes contributed to the development of this Continuous Improvement Plan. Ongoing assessments continue to bring about various strategies for long-range planning in the pursuit of effective institutional effectiveness.
On October 7,1999, LCOOCC requested that NCA authorize LCOOCC to deliver entire degree programs to three Ojibwa reservations currently being served by the College in northwestern Wisconsin. A systematic planning process led the College's Board of Regents to authorize the request to better serve the Indian community of Northern Wisconsin. In May 1998 the college established an Extension Office in collaboration with University of Wisconsin - Extension. Community meetings, student surveys and "round-table" discussions articulated the educational needs and desires of the Red Cliff, Bad River, and St. Croix reservations. By developing stronger academic programs in Indian communities remote from the campus, the college can better assist in tribal educational, economic and community development. This request for status change was accepted in February of 2000. An NCA site visit, to the LCOOCC's Outreach sites will occur in the 2000-2001 academic year.
Along with the contacts established through the faculty for the Academic Assessment Plan, the college has facilitated several planning processes with various area constituents. Constituents involved include tribal economic development entities, Hayward area business leaders, local Chambers of Commerce, tribal board members, Elderly Center's clients, area Library affiliates, staff from area K-12 schools, and tribal higher education directors. Specific questions were asked as to the college's programs, operations, services, etc. These results were incorporated into the college's overall SWOT Analysis.
An additional survey Is currently being conducted of approximately 150 regional businesses in the area of technology. Its results will be used as a formative evaluation tool to improve the strategic planning of the institution.
In the fall of 1999, a focus group designed to gather student input for strategic planning was held with a broad representation of current students. From the students attending the planning session, a list of strengths and weaknesses was established. Realizing that many students may not have been able to attend the meeting, the Dean of Student Services and the college's Registrar sent out a survey to receive additional opinion. This open-ended survey resulted in pertinent information and insight that was also used in the development of this CIP.
In November of 1999, the college held an alumni banquet. The Student Services Department conducted a survey designed to solicit opinions and input about the college's programmatic, operational, and physical plant strengths and weaknesses. The Office of Research, Assessment and Program Development tabulated this information, for use in the writing of the CIP.
Realizing the need for effective K-14 programming, the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College held meetings with the local K-12 schools. These meetings affirmed various problematic issues that were to be concentrated on. Addressed were requirements of degree seeking students, establishment of career information availability, and of cultural retention efforts underway at the K-12 schools that ultimately should continue into a pattern for life-long learning. Avenues to utilize distance learning technologies and leverage staff and faculty technology training across school systems are also being explored.
The LCO Extension Office is being developed to meet identified needs throughout the various reservation communities. Results from recent meetings between the UW Extension Agencies and the LCO Extension Office are guiding program growth and development in the communities being served. Planning efforts are currently focusing on building sustainable communities, strengthening communication, utilizing distance delivery systems to enable a sharing of resources between the various extension agencies,, technology acquisition and its uses, agricultural and co-op ties, as well as partnerships in 4-H and Youth Development, Family Finance, and Food and Nutrition education.
These efforts are still in the beginning stages, and are outlined as such in this CIP. (A major Extension meeting was recently held, amongst all directors of Extension services and LCOOCC Administrators on 4-10-00.) These findings will be incorporated into the strategic planning and activities of the College.