Howard Community CollegeColumbia, Maryland

Zoe Irvin

Growth of the Campus since 1969

Other Instructional Sites:

High SchoolsGateway Business ParkLaurel College Center-

Regional Higher Education CenterBelmont Inn and Conference Center

Enrollments

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2006

HCC Credit Student Enrollment(Fall)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06

HCC Noncredit Enrollment(Unduplicated headcount)

Source of Funds

County30%

State15%

Tuition/fees37%

Auxiliary10%

Other8%

Student Body Household Income

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Percent of credit

students

Under$20k

$20k-$39k

$40k-$59k

$60k-$79k

$80k-$99k

$100kandover

Total household income

Credit Student Goals (%)

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

Quality Journey

Why?

Present Condition

Started Small- Single Process

CQIN Trailblazer – <1999-2001> State Reporting Process IT Disaster Recovery Process Graduation Application Process Crisis Communication Process

A way to train staff on the language and framework of the Baldrige Criteria

Moved up to CQIN Pacesetter

2002

Whole organization – used the current Baldrige Criteria - only 25 pages

State and National Quality Award Applications

2003 and 2004- Maryland Bronze Level

2005- First Baldrige Application- Consensus Round

2006- Maryland Silver Level

HCC’s Assessment PlanHCC’s Assessment Planand the Dragon’s Vital Signsand the Dragon’s Vital Signs

Institutional Effectiveness

Howard Community College is an agile, purposeful organization that nurtures innovation and inquiry, and evaluates results against valid and ambitious criteria. 

Assessment at Howard Community College is everyone's responsibility. 

To monitor its effectiveness, all levels of the organization have created meaningful measures to track.

Levels of Assessment

The Board of Trustees reviews selected indicators addressing the institutional-level goals monthly, and that information is posted for public review. ”Core Ends”

Each college unit has identified measures called "Vital Signs." 

Student learning outcomes assessment plans are in place for divisions, programs (in and out of the classroom), and courses. 

Great Assets for Continuous Quality Improvement!

A Faculty that has pioneered deliberate instructional design since day #1

Identify student learning outcomes Create multiple ways for students to learn Collect evidence (quantitative, qualitative) Analyze Refine

A Staff devoted to great service Self-directed learner initiative, Step-Up

A Board that leads by example Search for best practice, Analysis of trend data, Creation of a

safe-reporting environment

Resources…

To encourage more assessment projects Funds to use external exams and

expert panels Faculty stipends Dedicated research expertise and

supportFor professional development

funds so employees can participate in their affinity groups/explore best practices against which to benchmark their operations.

Learning Outcomes Assessment Projects (Course , Program, Division)

3 years in length Faculty leader Every academic division, every

year

Academic Affairs Support System

Carie Mellies Dr. Nidhi Srivastava Kathy Rigby, research support assistant

Linda Heinbauch, Teaching & Learning Services Office (TLS), office manager

Angela Phillips,TLS Carolyn Cain, Math & Distance/Alternative

Learning Office, office manager

Dragon’s Vital Signs

Board of Trustees Core Ends (Internet)

Functional Areas Vital Signs

Core Work Units Vital Signs

President’s Team Vital Signs (Intranet)

The Board of Trustees Core Ends

Aligned to Baldrige Educational Excellence Criteria/MHEC Indicators

LeadershipStrategic Planning

Student and Stakeholder FocusInformation and Analysis Faculty and Staff Focus

Educational and Support Process Management

Vital Signs Presentations to

the College Community Augmented Team (monthly) -

HCC’s President’s Team and the Leaders of all Constituency Groups, Diversity Representative

Entire College invited to attend

Supervisor makes a few opening comments. Unit leader presents organizational chart and

introduces team members. Unit leader presents measures and progress

towards benchmarks.

Process

The audience engages in a conversation with that unit leader to discuss the reliability, validity of those measures, and review the external comparisons that are or could be made.

Presenters and the audience are given the opportunity to comment on the format and comfort level of this event.

This is part of our formal Performance Management System…

Each spring the individual and core work unit review the progress on the vital sign measures.

That supervisor then provides an update to their supervisor so that eventually the VPs/President have a summary of the success of all the core, strategic, and teamwork produced by their area for the year.

Summaries are shared with the Board of Trustees each August.

Let’s examine some of the details

Support System

Barbara Livieratos Jean Frank Dr. Shirin Nazma Susan Hellenbrand Betsy See Rosemarie Presley Dalia Shata

Looking to the Future Design and conduct assessment projects

for all the programs and courses Host public Vital Signs presentations by

all units Refine measures Facilitate more external benchmarking Design and implement simple displays to

showcase this effort to any site visitors.

Assessment at HCC contributes to the creation of a sustainable organization by tracking progress on the real work…

To ensure the best use of our finite resources we need to continuously …

Engage in structured listening to determine stakeholder requirements,

Gather evidence to facilitate consensus around what activities to stop and which to keep doing, and

Look for best practices and develop frameworks to test if a new idea works for our students and

employees…

Questions?