The
following are general statements from the SWOT Analysis of January 1999 (they
will later be summarized and categorized in common areas):
·
The College has achieved eight
years of continued accreditation.
· The College has a manageable, working, and approved academic assessment plan.
· The College is committed to an open-enrollment policy.
· The College operated three Outreach sites at the Bad River, St. Croix and Red Cliff Reservations (recently declared degree sites by LCOOCC and approved by NCA).
· The College possesses T1 connectivity to the Internet.
· The College's student services, TRIO and Carl Perkin's Programs, reach nearly all LCOOCC students.
· The college faculty welcome Elders into their classrooms for additional insights and knowledge.
· The LCOOCC faculty wants to learn how to incorporate technology into their curriculum.
· The College is a member of Al HEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium).
· The Medical Assistant program holds national accreditation
· The GIS department maintains and fulfills contracts with both tribal and state entities.
· The reservation's Ojibwa Language Restoration and Preservation program is based at the college campus.
· The College offers several types of financial aid.
· LCOOCC is a relatively small institution, allowing for time y communication and greater teamwork.
· The College is fully supported by its Board of regents.
· The College has an alcohol and drug-free campus.
· The College has an automated student records system (UNIVERS).
· The College is establishing a new Renewable Energy & Sustainable Development Institute (RESDI).
· The College houses the tribes USDA Extension Office: LCO Extension.
· The College holds Land Grant status (1994).
· The College's Endowment Fund is close to one million dollars.
· LCOOCC has a strong relationship with the University of Wisconsin System schools, including several 2+2 articulation agreements.
· The College owns and operates a 220-acre farm utilized by the Agriculture and Natural Resources department.
· There is an overwhelming need for higher education in Indian communities.
· The College holds a positive reputation in its service areas.
· The College has acquired the core tools needed for an asynchronous learning environment.
· The College has access to WOJB (tribal public radio station) and a cable television channel.
· The College has appropriately degreed faculty, staff, and administration.
· The College is in the developmental stage of building a "Living Culture Center" to house the Native American Studies department, genealogy research, and a federal and state repository archive.
· Overall, the College has well-maintained, modern and accessible facilities.
· The College is a member of NWECS, a fiber-optic grid, networking regional schools, to deliver and receive courses over interactive television.
· The College has an approved, effective and operational administrational flow chart. Its committee structure allows for representation of all college employees.
· Recruitment at the College is always a challenge as LCOOCC has very limited public visibility.
·
Technical
trades programming needs to be expanded to meet community needs.
· Computers at the Outreach sites are insufficient for supporting growth in educational programming.
· The College has identified a need to enhance the incorporation of cultural beliefs, teachings, ceremonies, etc., into all aspects of the institution. Although, at least twice-yearly in-services are held for this purpose, it is not sufficient time to acclimate new faculty to cultural sensitivity, customs, protocols, and traditions.
· The TABE (test of adult basic education) does not serve the students or College adequately. A new placement test needs to be identified for the college.
· The College does not provide adequate computer stations for student use.
· Career services are not available to the extent needed. Current job opportunities, trends in the job market, and services to K-12 are not available.
· Few faculty know how to utilize technologies to the point that they can readily be incorporated into the classroom setting.
· Salary levels are extremely low. (Master Degree faculty on a thirty-eight week contract start at approximately $20,000.)
· The College needs more students in order to stabilize and grow academic programs.
·
Faculty and students do not have ready access to technology in the
classroom.
· The College does not have an indirect-cost allocation, and improvements to the accounting system are needed.
· The College does not have food service, student housing or child daycare available on campus.
· The College's Bookstore cannot consistently meet the needs of its students in an effective and timely manner.
· There is limited funding for professional development of the college's employees. Most professional development opportunities are grant driven.
· The current salary schedule does not reflect job performance measures.
· Relationships with the area K-i 2's are held within the administration. Few significant relationships occur with regularity between faculty and students at the various schools.
· To further establish relationships with the local K-12 schools.
· To develop and/or revise the College's remedial/developmental programming.
· To more effectively utilize the local television and radio resources.
· To more effectively recruit from the area high schools.
· To establish more technological programming to support community requests.
· To strengthen a working, cooperative partnership between UW-Extension and LCO-Extension.
· To establish more internet-based (synchronous/asynchronous) courses.
· The College has recently revised and established a stronger Business curriculum.
· Offer more seminars and workshops in addition to more evening courses.
· Further develop the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) programming, possibly into a degree program.
· Work with the K-12's in pre-college initiatives and provide career information to secondary students.
· Establish a pre- and post-test program that features a prescriptive review of student needs and successes.
· To renovate and/or construct college facilities to bring more access for students to library, cultural, and technological resources.
· Environmental challenges are becoming more complex and critical.
· There is a nationwide loss of indigenous languages.
· There is an overall trend in people trying to find organically grown, healthy foods that lead to a better physical lifestyle.
· A multidisciplinary area, computational science, is forming hybrid areas of study.
· More women than men are graduating from college.
· There is greater post-secondary competition for students.
· Internet-based telecommunications (multicasting) is creating a new niche for publishing online.
· In Sawyer County, where the college is located, there is a real estate and construction boom.
· Distance Education opportunities are increasing.
· On the reservations, the rates of domestic violence remain high (even more alarming is the rate of non-Indian men to Native-female abuse).
· LCOOCC student population is becoming more traditional in age.
· The areas served by LCOOCC are demanding more vocational and trades programs.
· Nation-wide, students are choosing more distance and Internet courses rather than courses traditionally delivered in classrooms.
· Native American culture and art is becoming a commodity (albeit romanticized in some cases).
· Supercomputing/computational resources are becoming ubiquitous amongst the mainstream.
· Native Americans are starting to return to their reservations.
· The Digital Divide is widening.
· Private industry is developing a competitive presence in higher education.
· Indigenous people are losing their cultural identity and traditional integrity.
Following is a narrative elaborating on the strengths and weaknesses of the general SWOT statements; some statements have been combined into subject areas, as they are similar in context. Following each identified weakness is a remediation strategy. Each strategy was drafted based on formative evaluations in the development of this Continuous Improvement Plan.