1. Services Improvement Process (SIP)Ed
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Whatcom Community College

2. 2011 Accreditation Recommendation #1
“…the evaluation committee recommends that the college take immediate steps to implement a regular, comprehensive, data-driven system of assessment of achievements of its programs and services.” Ed

3. SIP Overview systematic, streamlined, meaningful data-driven
informed by student, staff, faculty feedback
replaces the work planning process
aligned with the strategic plan Ed
Are individual service area work plans that support the annual unit workplans

4. Alignment with Strategic Plan
College work plans
Administrative Services
Advancement and Foundation
Educational Services
Instruction
Presidential Services
Are individual service area work plans that support the annual unit workplans
SIP reports

5. Purpose of SIP
To provide a meaningful college system for assessing and improving the effectiveness of our services. SIP supports the following objectives and standards: WCC strategic plan objective 5.4: Continuous institutional improvement NWCCU accreditation standards: 4.A.2: Services evaluation 4.B.1: Use of data for improvement and planning Perkins Act of 2006 SEC. 113(b): Accountability and data use Ed

6. Definition of Program
WCC defines a program as all or substantially all of a body of coursework leading to a degree or certificate. AM

7. Definition of Services
Definition of Program
WCC defines a program as all or substantially all of a body of coursework leading to a degree or certificate.
Definition of Services AM
WCC defines its services as activities that support programs.

8. List of Services Advancement and Foundation Administrative Services
Communications and Marketing
Foundation
Administrative Services
Bookstore
Business and Financial
Conference, Events and Van
Copying and Mail
Facilities and Operations
Information Technology
Print, Copy, Mail, and Delivery
Educational Services
Access & Disability Support
Admissions Outreach
Athletics
Career Center
Counseling
Entry & Advising
Financial Aid
Judicial Affairs
Registration
Running Start
Student Life
Testing Services
Veterans Affairs
WorkFirst 
Instruction
eLearning
Grant Development
International Programs
Learning Center
Library
Multi-Cultural Academic Support Center
Science Prep Lab
Service-Learning
Presidential Services
Assessment and Institutional Research
Human Resources and Payroll AM

9. Last Year’s Progress
defined the service area, mission statement, organization
existing data and usage
future data needs
next steps AM
Thank services who were pilots and contributed to the direction of this new SIP
Org chart

10. New SIP report
= work plan + assessment of work plan goals Ed

11. Content of new SIP report
general service information
list of services and users
list of staff
1-3 goals
progress on each goal
summary (strengths/challenges, next steps)
administrative comments and recommendations Ed

12. General Information Date 05/31/2013 Service name
Assessment and Institutional Research
Mission statement
The Office of Assessment and Institutional Research (OAIR) supports the College’s efforts for accountability and continuous improvement.
Completed by
Anne Marie Karlberg, Tresha Dutton, and Kim Struiksma
Ed – include as many people as you can in writing up and at least reviewing this report.

13. Services/Users
Service: What major services does your service area provide?
Users: Who uses these services (e.g., students, employees, departments)?
Coordinate outcomes assessment
Faculty, staff, administrators, students
Coordinate surveys and focus groups
Generate and disseminate institutional data
Facilitate accreditation processes
Faculty, staff, administrators, students, accreditation evaluators, community members, Board of Trustees
Facilitate strategic planning processes Ed

14. Staff Position Names Director of Assessment and Institutional Research
Anne Marie Karlberg
Outcomes Assessment Coordinator
Tresha Dutton (part-time)
Research Analyst
Kim Struiksma Ed

15. Goals
Goals for
Is the goal a direct indicator, indirect indicator, or institutional data?
Select up to 3 strategic plan objectives to which each goal is connected (use the drop-down list(s) below)
Resource implications
Staff and faculty will be able to use data to inform decision-making processes.
Direct indicators (staff/faculty/student learning outcomes)
5.4. Foster an evidence-based culture of continuous improvement
2.3. Improve student learning
2.2. Improve instructional delivery
Maintain level of staff.
Faculty will revise course outcomes for courses representing 50% of course enrollments.
Institutional data (numbers, rates, etc.)
Maintain level of staff. Consider software for managing curriculum and outcomes process.
WCC staff are satisfied with the quality of services provided.
Indirect indicators (from surveys, focus groups, interviews)
AM—1-3 goals; stretch; 1 goal that’s a year to year measure; direct, indirect, institutional data
Resource implications: Any additional financial, technological (software), human, or capital resources needed to meet this goal.
Connect institutional planning to budget development process.
As if we made this a year ago, we’ve already gone through the assessment part of the process

16. Progress on Goals
Goal 2: Faculty will revise course outcomes for courses representing 50% of course enrollments.
Evaluators
Tresha Dutton and Anne Marie Karlberg
Source(s) of data
(Evidence)
Course forms reviewed by curriculum committee and the Excel spreadsheet titled “V:\Outcomes Assessment\MASTER Course And CLA-WorkPlan xlsx”.
Baseline information ( )
Course “objectives” were identified on course summary forms. These course objectives had not been updated for years and the outcomes were not written in measureable terms. AM

17. Progress on Goals (continued)
Goal 2: Faculty will revise course outcomes for courses representing 50% of course enrollments.
Summary of assessment evidence (findings)
During the fall and winter quarters, the outcomes assessment coordinator and the director of AIR facilitated several faculty workshops – called “Writing Effective Course Outcomes: No ‘Understanding,’ ‘Appreciating,’ or ‘Learning’ Allowed!” – about how to write effective course outcomes. Fifty-eight full-time faculty and 12 adjunct faculty / prof-tech coordinators attended these sessions.
During , faculty articulated course outcomes for courses representing 68% (31,509 / 46,364) of course enrollments. 57% (26,595/46,364) were formally approved through curriculum committee by June 30, % (201/694) of all courses offered at WCC have submitted course outcomes. Am

18. Progress on Goals (continued)
Goal 2: Faculty will revise course outcomes for courses representing 50% of course enrollments.
Potential causes for significant changes
Faculty were provided an increase in pay for participating in the “Writing Effective Course Outcomes workshop”.
Curriculum committee and outcomes assessment committee members joined forces to form sub-committees that processed the high volume of submitted course forms.
Past use of results for improvement NA
Next steps for improvement
In , the outcomes assessment coordinator and the director of AIR will conduct faculty workshops to train faculty to create rubrics (with a goal of 1% of courses will have a rubric developed). Faculty will revise outcomes for courses representing 75% of WCC’s enrollment or 35% of all courses offered and will include course outcomes on syllabi (75%).
Status
Completed or met/exceeded expectations Am

19. Summary: Strengths and Challenges
Summarize service strengths
(in bullets or narrative)
Faculty and staff identified the following strengths:
staff provide good directions, communication, leadership, problem-solving, resourcefulness, clear explanations, and encouragement
staff are professional, knowledgeable, and patient
staff provide user-friendly web resources, thorough data, and useful information
staff provide several professional development opportunities for faculty and staff
staff provide necessary materials for accreditation reports, grant applications, and College documents
Summarize service challenges
difficult for faculty and staff to ask for data because of so many requests and limitations of technology
data presentation and resources still in the developmental stage Ed

20. Summary: Next steps Summarize next steps for 2013-14
(in bullets or narrative)
Accessing data: OAIR will…
use the ODBC connection to update all baseline data
create “a portal where faculty can go in and enter courses, terms, topics, and query the data base based on their questions”
create a data request form to support the development of high quality data requests and the prioritization process
SIP/PIP/DIP: OAIR will…
create a standard set of data for DIP and PIP reports
refine the PIP/DIP processes based on feedback from faculty and staff
create a 5 year PIP cycle where 9 programs/disciplines are reviewed each year
Outcomes assessment: OAIR will…
At the college level, create an AAS curriculum map and pilot the information literacy CLA.
At the program level, refine prof-tech program outcomes and curriculum maps; include outcomes on syllabi. For health professions programs, develop rubrics and assess one outcome. Ed

21. Summary: Administrative Comments/Recommendations
Administrative comments: The AIR office provides consistent and high levels of support for College faculty and staff in retrieving information, writing College reports, and providing valuable training for outcomes assessment, data analysis, and program and services improvement. The AIR staff has developed an annual assessment plan, which outlines current status and future plans in a comprehensive format. The office’s  institutional research capacity has increased with the research analyst, and this has greatly increased the number of data requests that can be addressed.
Recommendations: The AIR office should continue its work in automating the data reports that need to be generated on a regular basis. Excellent progress has been made in this work, and the office should continue to work toward a long-term dashboard system that will allow access to relevant student summary data for users across campus. Ed

22. Due May 31, 2013
complete the white sections of your electronic SIP report
it to your respective VP or President
Ed- budget requests need to be earlier

23. SIP report (white sections)
general information
list of services and users
list of staff
1-3 goals
progress on each goal (evaluators, sources of data, baseline info)
summary (strengths/challenges, next steps)
administrative comments and recommendations Ed

24. Services Learning Outcomes Training Dates
Attend one of the following dates:
Monday March 18, 11 am, in CAS 121
Friday April 26, 2 pm in CAS 121 Am

25. Website Resources
Am – look at the last draft SIP document you have posted on your webpage and might be able to use info in report.

26. Questions?