self-study reportnca.kvcc.edu/selfstudy-feb2006-web.pdf · 2014-10-13 · core component 1e ......

SELF-STUDY REPORT

KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Kalamazoo, Michigan

Board of Trustees

A. Christian Schauer Chairman

T. Kenneth Young Anna Whitten Treasurer Secretary

Robert Kent Vice Chairman

Susan L. Miller Jeffrey E. Patton Trustee Trustee

Mary T. Gustas Trustee

Marilyn J. Schlack, President

February, 2006

SELF-STUDY REPORT

KALAMAZOO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION Kalamazoo, Michigan

Board of Trustees

Jeffery S. Eckert Chairman

Dawnanne Corbit

Vice Chairman

Charles D. Wattles Larry Lueth Treasurer Secretary

Ed Bernard Ann Carter Bill Hoenes Trustee Trustee Trustee Ford Kieft III Albert Little Michele Marquardt Trustee Trustee Trustee Catherine Metzler Jerry Miller Ron Molitor Trustee Trustee Trustee Richard Olivanti John Paul James Weber Trustee Trustee Trustee

Anna Whitten Trustee

February, 2006

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT One benefit of the self-study process is that it allows us to focus on the role of Kalamazoo Valley Community College as a dynamic and vital member of the community. This has been accomplished through consideration of institutional accomplishments over the last decade and an examination of strengths and weaknesses. As such, it will serve as a tool for helping connect the past with the future. This self-study also allows us the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of the many individuals who have directly and indirectly helped enhance the quality of student and family lives as well as the quality of community life. These contributions are detailed throughout this self-study and reflect well upon the commitment of employees and strong leadership from our board of trustees. The effectiveness of these contributions is reflected in both broad community support and the pride of college employees. As evidenced in the breadth of perspective and the attention to detail, this self-study process was based on broad involvement of the college community. I especially appreciate the efforts of the many individuals who contributed their substantial efforts to the process. I am very proud of the institutional and community successes that this process has documented and am confident that Kalamazoo Valley Community College is well poised to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Marilyn J. Schlack President Kalamazoo Valley Community College

Table of Contents

Overview ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 CRITERION ONE: MISSION AND INTEGRITY .........................................................................................17

Core Component 1a ...........................................................................................................................................19 Core Component 1b ...........................................................................................................................................20 Core Component 1c............................................................................................................................................23 Core Component 1d ...........................................................................................................................................24 Core Component 1e ........................................................................................................................................... 27

CRITERION TWO: PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE ................................................................................31 Core Component 2a ...........................................................................................................................................31 Core Component 2b ...........................................................................................................................................36 Core Component 2c............................................................................................................................................48 Core Component 2d ........................................................................................................................................... 51

CRITERION THREE: STUDENT LEARNING AND EFFECTIVE TRAINING ...................................57 Core Component 3a ...........................................................................................................................................57 Core Component 3b ...........................................................................................................................................59 Core Component 3c............................................................................................................................................64 Core Component 3d ........................................................................................................................................... 75

CRITERION FOUR: ACQUISITION, DISCOVERY AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE ...81 Core Component 4a ...........................................................................................................................................81 Core Component 4b ...........................................................................................................................................88 Core Component 4c............................................................................................................................................98 Core Component 4d ......................................................................................................................................... 108

CRITERION FIVE: ENGAGEMENT AND SERVICE.................................................................................. 113 Core Component 5a ......................................................................................................................................... 113 Core Component 5b ......................................................................................................................................... 116 Core Component 5c.......................................................................................................................................... 118 Core Component 5d ......................................................................................................................................... 123

Overview Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) was established by the district electorate in 1966. In September of 1968, the college opened to its inaugural class of 1,519 students. Currently, credit enrollments are approximately 11,000 students each semester. KVCC is a comprehensive, public, two-year college. The college offers almost 50 certificate programs, with a similar number of programs resulting in an associate of applied science degree. These programs include business careers, health careers, human and public service careers, and technical and industrial careers. The college also provides a quality experience for transfer students, offering the associate of arts degree in education and liberal arts, and the associate of science degree in pre-science and pre-engineering. As a highly regarded member of the community, KVCC has exercised a positive influence upon the welfare of its citizens and the infrastructure of the local workforce. As the many components of this self-study document will evidence, the success of this influence has been driven by an efficient organizational structure and quality decision-making. The Facilities The last decade has been marked by substantial changes in Kalamazoo and the surrounding region. Corporate mergers and plant closings have altered both the characteristics of the region and needs of the college’s constituents. Adapting to these changes has brought about significant changes in college facilities.

Texas Township Campus (TTC): The Texas Township Campus, totaling approximately 532,000 square feet, was designed by Aldon Dow, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. The TTC is housed on 187 acres of rolling woodland west of Kalamazoo. This campus is just off I-94 at the I-94/US 131 interchange. Much has changed since the last NCA team visit. Extensive renovation and upgrades to large portions of the facility have been completed, including the library, nursing and dental hygiene classrooms and labs, chemistry labs, bookstore, and the cafeteria. The Advanced Technology Center, a showcase for cutting-edge developments in design and manufacturing technologies has been upgraded as well. The newest addition to the TTC is the Student Commons. At 56,700 square feet, the Student Commons contains meeting and study rooms, a lyceum theatre, lounge, coffee shop, and a state-of-the-art wellness and fitness center

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Arcadia Commons Campus (ACC): Located in downtown Kalamazoo, the ACC is made up of Anna Whitten Hall, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, and the Center for New Media. This campus is part of a community/business/ education partnership, which has renovated and revitalized a significant portion of the historic downtown area. In addition to occupational and general studies instruction, the Arcadia Commons Campus provides an array of non-credit seminars and workshops, and coordinates KVCC's off-campus offerings. The hub of the campus is the 63,000 square foot Anna Whitten Hall, the primary classroom facility. Built in 1994, the structure was given its present name in February 2005 to recognize the contributions to KVCC and the community of the college’s longest serving board member. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum became part of the KVCC family in 1991 and in 1996 moved into a new 68,000 square foot facility, designed by noted museum architect E. Verner Johnson. This new facility was funded by a $19.6 million private capital campaign. Over 11,000 donations, ranging from $10 to $4.5 million were contributed to build and furnish the new museum. Museum operations are supported by a dedicated millage approved by voters in 1991. This public museum of history, culture, science and technology contains an interactive planetarium and theater, a "mini-museum" for preschoolers, hands-on exhibits, the Challenger Learning Center, the new Mary Jane Stryker Theater, as well as permanent and traveling exhibits. The museum provides a unique learning environment for students of Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and the general public and serves as a major cultural anchor for the downtown. The most recent addition to the Arcadia Commons Campus is the Center for New Media (CNM). It is the result of a unique partnership between the college and the community. Opening its doors to students in the Fall Semester 2004, the CNM provides unique, cutting-edge instruction in animation, video game design, graphic design, visual communication, website design and construction, and E-business. The Groves: Under development since 1998, this education, business, and technology park sits on 248 acres of Texas Township near one of the area's busiest business corridors and is anchored by the 70,000 square foot, $11 million KVCC Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC). The facility was funded by $6 million in local donations, coupled with $5 million in state funding. Driven by the needs of regional business and industry, M-TEC delivers training that meets national standards practices

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and technical quality for enterprises of all sizes using subject matter experts. Training is offered in management skills, technical skills, manufacturing, information technology, certification study programs, and construction trades, to name a few. Training can be provided at the M-TEC or on-site and can be customized to meet the specific needs of the enterprise. M-TEC also provides incubator space for six emerging businesses. Currently, the Groves is home to three residents, including the Dana Corporation – Heavy Vehicle Technology Center and the Bronson Lifestyle Improvement and Research Center, in addition to M-TEC.

Growth The last ten years have witnessed more than just physical change at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. During this time, credit hours grew from 70,888 in Fall Semester 1995 to an expected 90,000 in Fall Semester 2005. This growth has occurred in the face of decreases in state-level funding and an intense emphasis on effectively managing the impact of increasing costs. At the core of this effort is affordability as evidenced by a long-term pattern of affordable tuition at KVCC. Student Profile As a district-based community college, KVCC draws two-thirds of its students locally as in-district students. This area includes the majority of Kalamazoo County, as well as small portions of the four adjoining counties. Slightly more than one-half of KVCC students are female, as is the case with higher education in general. While less than one-third of students are new to KVCC each fall, the majority of students have been enrolled the prior semester. The diversity of the KVCC student population is reasonably consistent with that of Kalamazoo County as a whole. Two-thirds of KVCC students are younger than 25 years, however, all age groups are well represented. Further, among those having selected a specific program, slightly more than one-half are enrolled in transfer programs. Accreditation History In 1967, the Executive Board of the North Central Association recommended approval of Kalamazoo Valley Community College for participation in federal financial-aid programs. The college submitted a status study in May 1968, and the NCA Executive Board authorized a diagnostic examination for the summer of 1968 with the on-site review occurring in December 1969. Following the on-site review, the college formed a self-study committee whose main task was responding to the suggestions resulting from the review. The committee’s assignment was broadened during the 1970-71

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academic year to include college-wide evaluation and involvement. The results of this self-study were considered by an NCA visiting team in November of 1971. Based on the team’s recommendations, the college received full accreditation in 1972. The next evaluation was scheduled for the 1975-76 academic year. A second self-study was submitted to the NCA in December of 1975, resulting in continuing accreditation with the next review scheduled for 1985-86. The college again received accreditation, with the next review scheduled for 1995-96. Following accreditation as a result of the 1995-96 review; the next review was scheduled for 2005-06, with the on-site visit scheduled for February 2006. The following report is the result of the college’s self-study and preparation for the NCA visiting team. Purposes of the Self-Study The completion of this self-study will serve two purposes. First, it will offer the opportunity to reflect upon how the college has pursued its Mission beyond traditional concepts of higher education, both instructionally and administratively. Second, it will place changes over the last decade into the evaluative context of the newly revised Criteria for Accreditation. Organization and Structure for the Self Study This self-study began in the fall of 2004 when President Marilyn J. Schlack appointed Stephen Cannell, Director of Planning, Research and Assessment, as the self-study coordinator and established a Steering Committee whose members would direct the self-study subcommittees. The work plan for conducting the self-study was organized around the Criteria for Accreditation. Five subcommittees were organized to address the NCA criteria. All but one of these subcommittees was co-chaired by two members of the steering committee, a vice president and a long-term faculty leader, and given the responsibility for addressing one of the criteria.

Criterion 1: Mission and Integrity The examination of this criterion was led by Mike Collins, Vice President for College Relations. He was instrumental in the development of our current Mission, Vision and Values statements. Other committee members were selected from a broad range of areas across the college.

Criterion 2: Preparing for the Future The leadership of this committee drew upon two individuals. Terry Hutchins, Vice President for Information Technologies, and Frances Kubicek, Business Instructor were appointed. In addition to full-time

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instructional responsibilities, the faculty co-chair also coordinates the portion of the planning process dealing with environmental scanning. The vice presidential co-chair is responsible for all technology across the college. As with Criterion 1, other committee members were selected from a broad range of areas across the college.

Criterion 3: Student Learning and Effective Teaching Providing leadership for this committee was William Lay, Vice President for Academic Services. His faculty co-chair, Allan Moss, Chair of the Respiratory Care Department, has experience in both instructional development and planning. Remaining committee members were drawn mainly from the ranks of instruction and instructional support and included all instructional deans.

Criterion 4: Acquisition, Discovery, and Application of Knowledge Nancy Woods, Vice President for Extended Learning, and Wanda Scott, Chair of the Dental Hygiene Department, were appointed to chair this committee. Rounding out the committee are individuals representing a broad range of instructional responsibilities as well as some administrative areas.

Criterion 5: Engagement and Service The Vice President for Human Resources, Sandy Bohnet, was joined by Geoffrey Crosslin, the Business Program Coordinator as chairs of this committee. Remaining committee members represented perhaps the most diverse group of individuals across the college.

Additionally, two other subcommittees were organized: the Institutional Resources Committee and the Writing Committee.

Institutional Resources Patricia Niewoonder, Assistant to the President and Planning Coordinator Keith Platte, Director of Instructional Computing Writing and Editing Stephen Cannell, Director of Planning, Research and Assessment R. J. Adams, English Instructor

Evaluation Methodologies There are two major sources of information that are used to make informed, data-based, decisions. First, as an organization focused upon providing educational services, a great deal of the information managed by the college

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is necessary to support college operations. This information includes a wealth of financial information as well as the information necessary to track the delivery of instruction. Secondary uses of this information allow the college to manage system outputs such as students served, credit hours generated, unit costs, etc. Second, a substantial amount of information is collected that is focused both directly and indirectly upon the process of learning. This ranges from direct measurement of learning outcomes to employment in fields related to instruction. At Kalamazoo Valley Community College, both operational and learning focused information is used to support decision making at different levels. However, in recent years, an emphasis on outcomes assessment has led to a more integrated and streamlined approach to this decision making. This integration is clear as one examines the connection between the instructional program review processes and program assessment processes in place at the college. It is also evident as one examines one of the more unique aspects of the college planning process, institution-wide assessment. Designed around an assessment model of outcomes, measures and standards, institution-wide assessment examines critical functions of the college relative to their purposes and considers to what extent these purposes are being accomplished. This assessment process is central to planning at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and provided a strong base for completing the self-study. Concerns from the 1996 NCA Report Findings (10/07/05) Mission

1. The comprehensive Mission Statement does not contain specific outcome statements that interface with the plan to document student academic achievement.

The current KVCC Mission Statement references academic achievement through assessment. Specifically, assessment is seen as a tool to assist students in achieving their educational goals. Through assessment, learning experiences are refined to support students’ success.

Internal Governance

2. KVCC needs to review the process by which councils and committees are formed and by which these entities communicate their recommendations. In some instances, it appears that new groups

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are formed and whose functions overlap with the function of existing groups.

The Institutional Effectiveness Council (IEC) formed a sub-committee called the “Committee on Councils” that was charged with reviewing the charge, membership, and responsibilities of each council on an annual basis and to bring forward recommendations to the IEC. Through the work of the Committee on Councils, all institution-wide councils have been reviewed and assessed; roles and functions of councils with over-lapping functions were merged with other councils, some councils that were not meeting or fulfilling their functions were recommended for discontinuance, and others were formed.

The Committee on Councils also had the charge of updating the institution’s Governance/Communications manual, which was subsequently endorsed by the IEC. The manual includes a list of all councils, their specific charges and guidelines for committee/council processes.

Budget, Finance, Personnel and Facilities

3. Although the greater portion of personnel records have been computerized, the system needs to be expanded to include information about the credentials of full- and part-time faculty that can be updated on a daily basis.

A complete set of academic credentials for all full- and part-time faculty are currently maintained in the Human Resources component of the Banner administrative software system.

4. A lack of consistency exists in degree requirements in advertisements

for full- and part-time faculty positions.

Qualifications, including degree requirements, for full- and part-time faculty positions are consistent.

5. Although the college has a commitment to affirmative action, more

progress is needed in faculty hires, especially at the Arcadia Commons Campus, where minority faculty would greatly enhance the diversity outreach.

The college has a strong commitment to affirmative action. It is an institutional commitment, however, and not a commitment by

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http://home.kvcc.edu/board/binder1.pdf

campus or location. A historical review of our affirmative action plans will reflect our efforts over the past several years.

Institutional Research

6. The college has not developed and integrated a systematic information system that provides the results of research projects to the college community in support of planning, enrollment management, and student academic achievement analysis.

Over the last ten years, the college has broadened the exposure of the college community to planning related information. The Office of Planning, Research and Assessment website presents the results of the various surveys conducted annually. These include the KVCC Graduate Survey, Employer Survey, and the Student Opinion/Non-returning Student Survey. The summary and detailed results of the annual environmental scanning process are also made available. Additionally, a substantial portion of the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment website is represented by the results of the institution-wide assessment process. These are also presented in summary and detailed formats.

7. Documents reviewed indicate that higher return rates are needed for

graduate and employer surveys as well as for the Program Review in Occupational Education surveys.

KVCC expends considerable resources in the maintenance of acceptable response rates. These resources include using a personalized and high-quality survey instrument to survey graduates, multiple mailings of surveys, and personal follow-up calls to non-responders. As surveys of graduates and their employers are designed to collect post-graduation and employee performance information, it is important to allow adequate time for employment to be obtained and employee performance demonstrated. This development time, combined with time necessary to collect data via multiple mailings and phone follow-up, often leads to an inability to contact graduates. At KVCC, response rates to our graduate survey have been approximately 50 percent. Responses to the employer survey often exceed 70 percent. In recent years, graduate response rates seem to have been affected by identity theft concerns while there has been an increase in responses from employers citing perceived legal constraints tied to providing employee information.

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8. The results of course-instructor evaluations by students and graduate and employer follow-up studies are not compiled and communicated to the faculty in a timely fashion, which results in faculty receiving dated feedback about their instruction, courses, programs, curricula, etc. This feedback cycle needs to be accelerated to ensure the timely flow of information back to the faculty for implementation purposes.

KVCC now uses Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA), a nationally-normed course/instructor evaluation system from Kansas State University (KSU). Students generally complete the feedback forms during the 12th week of the 16-week semester. The forms are boxed and shipped to KSU, where they are processed and instructor reports are generated. The bulk of the instructor feedback reports are put into instructor mailboxes on the morning after grades are due at the end of each term. Graduate studies and employer follow-up surveys are conducted following each semester and summer term by the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment. Results are distributed to the academic deans and shared college-wide on the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment website.

Academic Programs

9. Instructor competency requirements for teaching transfer courses are inconsistent.

The academic deans have reviewed instructor competencies for all courses. Subsequently, all syllabi have been reviewed and updated with consistent instructor competency requirements. This work was done in concert with the Office of Human Resources. When job postings for instructors are prepared, identical competencies are required for courses, whether they are to be taught by full-time or part-time faculty.

10. The advertising for faculty in transfer areas seems to suggest that

academic credentials required for part-time positions differ from those required for full-time positions.

Academic credentials are consistent for full- and part-time faculty positions.

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11. There is no evidence that information gathered from the Program Review in Occupational Education evaluation or graduate and employer surveys are consistently used for program improvement.

Each PROE report requires an action plan to be developed addressing identified weaknesses. Deans and faculty are then responsible for carrying out the action plan. Advisory Committees have operating instructions to review PROE results, graduate and employer surveys and address any deficiency.

12. Not enough occupational faculty take advantage of the funds

available for discipline-based professional development opportunities. Discipline-based faculty development expectations need to be more closely tied to tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review to encourage faculty to stay more current in their occupational fields.

Each year the college is required to spend at least 90 percent of funds allocated by the state for occupational development. In recent years, the college has actually expended 100 percent. Also, the college has inaugurated a faculty development program over the four years of term appointment prior to tenure. This program requires certain development activities. The college does not have rank for faculty; hence, there is no “promotion.”

13. Although arrangements for the replacement of instructional

equipment and computers are being made, no long-range written plan with specific timelines is in place. Such a plan would greatly facilitate the replacement process, eliminate crisis situations, and result in wiser expenditure of funds.

The Information Technology Advisory Council (ITAC) has developed the “Kalamazoo Valley Community College Evolving Technology Plan, Voice, Data and Video.” Appendices A & B of this plan are detailed spreadsheets of existing instructional technology with recommendations of when the equipment should be replaced. These documents are used annually during the budget process.

14. Although some occupational programs continue to have low student

enrollment, no written institutional process for program deactivation is in place. Likewise, no process is available to consider the addition of new occupational programs under development.

There is a new program process in place. See G:\Budget Worksheets\Fiscal Year 2005-2006 New Program Request form.

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Also, funding is available to support new programs through Innovative Thinking Grants. Further, there is a recently-developed “trigger report” activated by the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment, which can lead to more in-depth review as deemed necessary; this process could deactivate a program. If the in-depth review indicates a need to deactivate, that decision would be made on a case-by-case basis, as was done with plastics and carpentry. It is unlikely that we will have a “standardized” process for actual program deactivation, which could be detrimental to good decision making if tied to something that applies one time but not another.

Developmental Education

15. It does not appear that students in developmental courses are pre- and post-tested but are placed in those courses directly from ASSET.

KVCC now uses COMPASS as the standard basic-skill-assessment tool for entering students. Placement into developmental courses is mandatory for all students whose COMPASS scores show them to possess below-college-level skills in reading, writing, and math. Some reading instructors have students additionally take the Nelson Denny reading assessment – both at the beginning of the course and at the end; however, this is not a standard college requirement.

16. There is a lack of information regarding developmental courses and

students to permit the evaluation of the program.

Over the past several years, a variety of studies have been conducted examining student success in developmental courses. These have addressed issues ranging from the effects of mandatory placement in developmental courses to the long-term persistence of students enrolling in developmental courses. Additional studies have considered student success in self-paced developmental instruction as well the success of students starting late in these courses.

Currently, a more comprehensive strategy is being formulated that is based on an examination of key need, resource and operational questions.

Continuing Education

17. Some support services on the Arcadia Commons Campus are duplications of services on the Texas Township Campus. Some

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additional support services are needed on the Arcadia Commons Campus, such as responsive information dissemination, student activities, and printing services.

KVCC endeavors to ensure that the Arcadia Commons Campus is a “full-service” campus, especially in regard to student support services. Printing services are too costly in terms of equipment and staff to duplicate and will remain at the Texas Township Campus. Faculty have electronic access and quick turn around time from printing services, regardless of class location.

In regard to student activities, Arcadia has offered a variety over the past ten years including: Student Hospitality Room, Employment Agency Expo, Community Agency Expo, Poetry Slam, and Mid-Semester Reality Check. A wide variety of cultural events are held in conjunction with the Arcadia Committee on Cultural Understanding and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. These events include: MLK Programs every January, Dia de los Muertos "Day of the Dead Celebration", Women’s History Month Activities, exhibit of slavery artifacts with speakers, underground railroad presentations, and suicide and depression presentation. Students are involved with the Kalamazoo Animation Festival International and with an informal animation student club.

Learning Resources

18. Computer Services appears to be substantially understaffed to carry out its Mission as defined in the strategic plan and to maintain, in the face of expansion, the level of service to the college community that they have provided in the past.

Computer Services (Information Technologies) has acquired additional staff over the past ten years as requirements for supporting technologies has changed. Current staffing tables are available for review.

College Outreach

19. While the new enrollment management plan is very ambitious and outlines large enrollment goals for the next two years, the provision made for evaluating progress on the established goals does not appear until year two.

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The goal of the current Enrollment Services Communication Plan is to convert prospective students into admitted students, admitted students into enrolled students and enrolled students into degree or certificate students. Measurement of this goal is accomplished by analysis of the number of prospects, the number of admitted students and the number of enrolled students. Data on these variables is maintained in the Marketing and Enrollment Services Office, the Office of Admissions, Registration and Records, and the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment.

Student Services and Athletics

20. The recent reorganization of Student Services has resulted in a complex reporting structure that may lead to unclear lines of responsibilities.

Those Student Service functions, which are centralized in nature, have now been reorganized under the umbrella of College Relations. These include the areas of Marketing and Enrollment Services, Financial Aid and Admissions, Records and Registration. Counseling, as a decentralized activity, has now been placed within the instructional areas at each of the KVCC campuses. These resulting changes have improved the recognition of lines of responsibilities by our internal and external clients, enhanced communication within the institution, allowed us to share financial and human resources across functional areas and better identified individual accountabilities.

Planning

21. A “master” timeline for the planning process needs to be readily available and communicated to the college community.

Review and oversight of the planning process is a major function of the Institutional Effectiveness Council. This council is comprised of the majority of administrators and representatives from areas tied to current initiatives. Reporting schedules, including budget procedures, are reviewed and accepted by this council. Council members then share this information with their respective constituencies through established channels.

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22. The planning process consists of a number of activities and initiatives that need to be better integrated to ensure an overall systematic approach.

The current KVCC planning process integrates the elements of environmental scanning, institution-wide assessment, issues identification, and priority setting into an annual process. While these elements have been in place at various points for many years, their integration into a cohesive structure is only moving into its fourth year. Environmental scanning builds from year to year both in terms of broad perspective as well as tracking of general trends. Scanning serves to support the comprehensive institution-wide assessment process and also drives the identification of specific issues to be considered for direct action. Institution-wide assessment provides a dual perspective on issue identification and operational oversight. All of these elements of the KVCC planning process mutually support the annual process of priority setting.

23. The Program Review in Occupational Education provides an

appropriate evaluation process for career programs, but the process is hampered by the lack of follow-up outside of the three-year review cycle.

Currently, the PROE process is only a portion of a larger process by which curriculum is reviewed on an ongoing basis. Program performance measures and standards have been developed and are implemented annually. All health career programs report annually on outcomes. The last two nursing reports, for example, show how instruction was revised, resulting in higher certification scores. Technical programs have developed annual assessment plans of student outcomes, based typically on national or industry standards. In addition, courses and programs undergo a thorough review prior to their initial offering and before substantive changes are made to existing courses or programs. This review includes input and approval by faculty, department chairs, deans, and the Course and Curriculum Council, which recommends all new curricular changes to the president who offers a recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

24. The system in place for evaluating part-time faculty does not appear

to be completed as described for all part-time faculty.

As explained in item 25, the evaluation process for part-time faculty is quite structured.

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The College as a Whole

25. Policies for hiring and maintaining part-time faculty are not comprehensive and include minimal academic credentials and periodic evaluation.

The requirements are the same for full- and part-time faculty. The evaluation plan for part-time faculty is quite structured.

a. Chairs and coordinators have the responsibility for ensuring that each part-time faculty member is evaluated at least once per academic year. Chairs, coordinators, directors and deans share responsibility for ensuring that a copy of student IDEA ratings for each section taught and a copy of a written evaluation based on at least one classroom observation is sent to the Office of Human Resources for inclusion in the part-time faculty member’s personnel file.

b. A new part-time faculty member is evaluated a minimum of two times during the first year of teaching. If evaluations, based on classroom observations and/or student IDEA ratings indicate weaknesses or deficiencies during the first semester of teaching, the part-time faculty member will be evaluated more than once during his/her second semester of teaching.

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CRITERION ONE: MISSION AND INTEGRITY Kalamazoo Valley Community College is organized around providing a comprehensive array of services to its students and community. This focus is reflected in the formal Mission and implemented through its enabling components.

Mission Statement

We are committed to enriching the lives of our students and communities through quality educational programs and services.

To accomplish these ends, we will:

• Support student goal achievement through access to learning experiences and assessment.

• Support a balance between a comprehensive curricular base and innovations in education, personal development and technology by strategically utilizing resources.

• Provide curriculum and supportive services relevant to the needs of individuals, enterprise and government.

• Maintain a learning environment built upon the inclusivity of ideas of all cultures and ethnic backgrounds.

• Support economic vitality and stability through development of a skilled local workforce.

• Integrate the components of campus-based instruction, M-TEC and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum to support student and community needs.

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Vision of the Board of Trustees

Over the next decade, Kalamazoo Valley Community College will be a leader in providing highly regarded relevant and affordable services.

VALUES

The following Institutional values shall guide all policies and practices of the Kalamazoo Valley Community College District:

Caring & Respect Foster a safe, dynamic learning environment

Demonstrate positive regard for self and others Give and receive praise graciously

Honor civility, service, collegiality, and social justice

Integrity Do the right things for the right reasons

Ensure interactions are driven by our vision, mission and values Be responsible, accountable and ethical

Excellence and Quality

Embrace change as an opportunity Pursue excellence and innovation

Value learning and develop an environment of intellectual inquiry Share new ideas and expand the boundaries of knowledge

Humor and Well-Being

(Too much fun is just enough at KVCC) Nurture creativity, humor, and enjoyment of work and learning

Promote a healthy environment for mind, body and spirit

Teamwork and Stewardship Work together to achieve our vision, mission and goals

Commit to finding solutions Manage and protect our resources -- human, fiscal and environmental

Develop and foster community relationships based on mutual trust

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Core Component 1a The organization’s mission documents are clear and articulate publicly the organization’s commitments. The college Mission, Vision and Values have been adopted by the Board of Trustees as core board policies. These policies clearly and formally delineate a perspective of institutional purpose, expectations for the future and guiding principles. As board policy is the primary vehicle for college governance and oversight, the centrality of Mission documents is clear. The college Mission speaks directly to its broad range of constituents. Clearly, the core constituent group is students, focusing on the provision of a range of learning experiences and supportive services. In addition, the Mission also addresses meeting the needs of business and government as well as the local workforce. The provision of instruction appropriate to the needs of its students illustrates the high quality of academic standards that are central to KVCC. Of particular note is the Mission component that speaks to a comprehensive curriculum base balanced by varieties of innovation including instruction, technology and personal development. At KVCC a broad range of student goals and needs are addressed through their learning experiences. In fact, the Mission assumes a strong connection between student and learning goals. At the course level, learning objectives are clearly spelled out. On a regular basis, the college Mission documents are reviewed and revised by a representative group of faculty, staff and administrators; followed by a thorough review by the Board of Trustees. These reviews are highlighted by active discussions and an openness of perspectives that serve to drive a well-considered product. This is evidenced by both the quality of the Mission documents as well as the frequency of evaluation and revision. These Mission documents are made available to the public in a variety of ways. These include the Student Handbook, postings throughout the college, and on the college website and, most importantly, a variety of publications distributed to students.

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Core Component 1bIn its mission documents, the organization recognizes the diversity of its learners, other constituencies, and the greater society it serves. Fundamental to the KVCC environment is the idea of inclusiveness and how that is reflected in the college Mission. One way that inclusiveness is incorporated into the Mission is the component that states: “Maintain a learning environment built upon the inclusivity of ideas of all cultures and ethnic backgrounds.” This statement considers the organization as a whole and the learning environment specifically from an ethnic and cultural perspective. The concept of inclusiveness, however, isn’t limited to ethnic and cultural inclusivity. The KVCC value directly addressing caring and respect states: “Demonstrate positive regard for self and others” (and) “Honor civility, service, collegiality, and social justice.” These statements serve to highlight respect for the individual that permeates the KVCC Mission and culture. The following are examples of strategies that address inclusivity from an operational perspective: Inclusivity Statement: “KVCC believes that inclusivity encompasses, but is not limited to race, color, gender, weight, height, marital status, disability, national origin, handicap, gender identification, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation, economic circumstance, physical or mental ability, physical or mental characteristic, or philosophy and does not discriminate on the aforementioned or any other characteristic protected by law.” Non-discrimination Clause: “Kalamazoo Valley Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, handicap, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation, or belief in its educational programs, activities, admissions, or employment as required by Title VI of the Higher Education Amendments, Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.” Marketing Materials: Marketing initiatives at the institution have proactively addressed student diversity. For example, ads in Spanish have been published in the Community Voice and the New/Nueva Opinion, two weekly newspapers that reach Hispanic populations to the east and west of Kalamazoo County. Also, photographs in publications depict diversity of age, race, gender, ethnicity, etc.

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Student Demographics: Demographics of Enrolled Students Report, prepared by the Office of Admissions, Records and Registration. Employee Demographics: The Full-time Staff Demographics Report, prepared by the Office of Human Resources. Texas Township Campus (TTC) Diversity Committee: The TTC Diversity Committee sponsored two major events during 2003-04: an annual Diversity Conference and a talent show that was combined with the Student Commons activity of choosing a king and queen of KVCC. The committee also supported the Edison Neighborhood Diversity Celebration and sponsored employees and students attending the Grand Rapids Diversity Conference. The Third Annual Diversity Conference, “Diversity: What’s In It For Me?” included multiple sessions, lunchtime entertainment, and was free. The conference was “sold out” three days prior to the event with a total of 225 registrants. Attendees included students from KVCC and high schools in addition to those from local organizations. Evaluations indicated the conference met or exceeded expectations and all sessions received high ratings. Minutes from the TTC Diversity Committee meetings are posted on the college website. Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding (ACCU): The Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding was established in fall 2003 to offer a diversity component at the Arcadia Commons Campus, which includes Anna Whitten Hall, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, and the Center for New Media. Unique about the ACCU is that all staff and faculty members are part of the committee. Its cultural program/activities are open to the public and students, and faculty members incorporate cultural events into classroom activities. Some examples of activities sponsored by the ACC Diversity Committee are: Dia de los Muertos Fiesta, Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration, and the movie “What’s Cooking?” – a look at multiculturalism in Los Angeles. International Studies Program: International Studies is a degree program transferable to a four-year college or university. Students enrolled in the International Studies Program are required to select courses with the G (global) designation. In addition to the basic course learning objectives in these courses, students also broaden their knowledge of the geography and cultures of countries. Midwest Institute for International Studies: The institute was established in 1992 by a Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education to serve as a regional consortium of two-year colleges for expanding or strengthening international and intercultural education in 21 Midwest colleges. During the

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three-year (1992-95) funding period, the institute organized and implemented a variety of curriculum and professional development activities that assisted faculty in developing international curriculum modules and revising general education and technical courses. Since 1995, the Midwest Institute has been self-funded. It stages a major annual conference, a two-day fall conference, a two-week summer workshop, and regional gatherings hosted by member colleges. Transitional Studies: Transitional education provides a comprehensive approach to instruction in pre-college level courses at KVCC with curricula and assessment initiatives focused on providing information, skills, and strategies that assist new or non-traditional students in making transitions successfully. Below-100-level courses are offered in math, reading, writing, chemistry, and computer information systems. Additionally, courses that further enhance learning for the beginning or under-prepared students are Career Decision Making (TRS 100), Intermediate Reading (TRS 102), Improved Spelling (TRS 103), College Success Strategies (TRS 105), and Critical Thinking (TRS 106). Special course offerings: KVCC offers a certificate of achievement in American Sign Language giving students a basic knowledge of this form of communication. Courses in deaf culture and the deaf in literature are also part of the college’s offerings. English as a Second Language is available to students and deals with the basics of listening, reading, writing, and grammar. Special needs services: KVCC’s Office of Special Services assists identified students on both campuses who have learning disabilities, chronic illnesses, psychiatric disabilities, physical mobility, development disabilities, blind/visual impairment, and deaf/hearing impairment. Students receive a variety of services that includes advising, advocacy, adaptive equipment, software training, alternative testing, and mobility assistance, note taking assistance, taped textbooks, assistance with organization and study skills, life skills counseling, and enhanced tutoring. The Focus Program: This is a collaborative effort between KVCC and Western Michigan University (WMU) designed to increase the number of minority students who successfully complete an associate degree and transfer to complete a baccalaureate degree. The Focus Program serves both traditional and non-traditional students by providing services and/or referrals that include academic monitoring, academic and career counseling, tutoring, self-help workshops and financial aid counseling.

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Brother2Brother Program: In fall 2002, KVCC launched the Brother2Brother (B2B) Program because of the low enrollment and low graduation rate of African American males. B2B offers hands-on involvement among participants. Classroom progress is closely monitored. It also features a highly structured connection with peer-group discussions and dialogues over dinner with African American males who have successful careers, professions, and businesses in Kalamazoo County. Student Commons: The Student Commons annually sponsors Women’s History Month and Black History Month activities. It hosts many diversity-related activities that are sponsored by other college organizations, such as the annual Diversity Conference. Kalamazoo Valley Museum (KVM) exhibits and activities: The museum offers changing exhibits, child and adult programming and a publication (Museography) that often focus on cultures and issues of diversity. The KVM prints its program brochures in Spanish, has Braille labels, and assistive listening devices in the planetarium, and offers sign language, interpreters, and Spanish/English audio tour recordings. Museum staff participate in the planning and implementation of Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding activities. Core Component 1cUnderstanding of and support for the mission pervade the organization. On a daily basis, interactions among students, faculty, staff, and administration reflect an understanding of the KVCC Mission. On a more operational basis, Mission support is driven by participation in the process whereby the Mission is developed. Periodically, a committee is formed to review the KVCC Mission. Its members come from all levels of faculty, staff and administration. The format is open-ended, with ideas accepted from and built upon by all members. The product is then reviewed and endorsed by the Institutional Effectiveness Council followed by comments solicited college-wide. Following review by the president, the final step is submission to the Board of Trustees for review and formal acceptance. The most recent review and modification of the KVCC Mission was adopted October 12, 2004. The Mission related nature of decision making at KVCC is best illustrated by looking at recent major initiatives. These include a strong multi-dimensional emphasis on workforce development such as Michigan High Throughput

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Screening Center (HTS) and Radio Frequency Identification Technology Center (RFID), coordinated through the KVCC Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC). The Mission’s focus on inclusivity and diversity is directly supported through the work of the long-standing TCC Diversity Council and the Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding and their sponsorship of a conference each year. Integration of KVCC into the regional community is an ongoing effort. The most recent example of this effort is the Center for New Media at the ACC. The center provides cutting-edge instruction in all aspects of graphic arts, animation, video game design, web development and Internet-related business processes. One in the same, planning and budgeting priorities are driven by a highly participatory planning process. At all stages of the planning process, from the review of assessment reports to board planning, the KVCC Mission is seen as central to the processes. Institutional priorities, including the expansion of student learning and service opportunities as well as economic development, are directly tied to the KVCC Mission. Operational priorities are addressed by one or more academic or administrative subunits of the college. These are developed through the same processes that lead to the development of institutional priorities and as such are linked strongly to the KVCC Mission. Central components of the KVCC Mission are reflected in the Mission documents of each of the college’s campuses. A strong emphasis on access as well as balanced and comprehensive curricular offerings are addressed in each of these documents. At M-TEC, the vitality and stability of regional economic development is a core focus. Core Component 1dThe organization’s governance and administrative structures promote effective leadership and support collaborative processes that enable the organization to fulfill its mission. In fulfillment of the KVCC Mission, the Board of Trustees has established the following board policies formally addressing governance:

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“The Board of Trustees will govern KVCC in accordance with the Constitution and the Community College Act of the State of Michigan. The board will always act in the best interest of the institution and the community as a whole. The board is committed to excellence, ensuring that the educational programs and other services of the institution shall be of high quality and available to all people.” (Governance Commitments - Board Policy 101) “The board will govern KVCC with an emphasis on outward vision rather than an internal preoccupation, encouragement of diversity in viewpoints, strategic leadership rather than individual decisions, clear distinction of board and presidential roles, consensus rather than individual decisions, and proactivity rather than reactivity.” (Governance Styles - Board Policy 102) “The following institutional values shall guide all policies and practices of the Kalamazoo Valley Community College District: Caring and Respect, Integrity, Excellence and Quality, Humor and Well-Being, and Teamwork and Stewardship.” (Values – Board Policy 402) The relationship between the Board of Trustees and the operating organization is clearly spelled in the following Board - Staff Relationship Policies: “All board authority delegated to staff is delegated through the president so that all authority and accountability of staff – as far as the board is concerned – is considered to be the authority and accountability of the president.” (Delegation to the President – Board Policy 200) “The president is the chief executive officer of the institution. The president is the board’s single official link with the operating organization. The president is accountable to the board acting as a body. The board will instruct the president through written policies delegating implementation to the president. The president’s performance will be considered synonymous with the organizational performance of the institution as a whole.” (President’s Job Description – Board Policy 201) “Monitoring executive performance is synonymous with monitoring organizational performance against board policies on Ends and on Executive Limitations. The board will monitor performance in a manner as to have systematic assurance of policy compliance, including accomplishment of Ends.” (Monitoring President Performance – Board Policy 202) Operational responsibilities are specified and promulgated through a variety of publications. These include: Board Policy Manual, Cabinet Member

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Operating Policies, Governance and Communications Manual, Employee Handbook, Faculty Instructional Manual and Student Handbook. The greatest asset the college brings to bear in meeting its Mission is its employees. During the employee application/selection process, materials are reviewed by the employment coordinator to ensure that individuals meet the posted job qualifications. The field of applicants is narrowed to a small group of candidates whose backgrounds appear to indicate the closest match to the needs of the position. Those individuals are contacted by the employment coordinator to schedule a screening interview. The curriculum and associated processes are core to the college Mission. Responsibility for the coherence of the curriculum and the integrity of academic processes is shared by faculty and academic leaders through the several councils, committees, policies and procedures. The first of these methods falls in the area of course proposals. Faculty members are encouraged to develop new courses that meet student needs. New and innovative courses are also developed to address changing programmatic requirements, or to help the institution fulfill its Mission. Faculty members interested in developing or modifying a course discuss the proposal with their department chair. The process for curriculum development for new/revised credit programs and courses can be found on the KVCC “G” drive, “acadserv” folder, and “curriculum” subfolder. A new course must be approved by the Board of Trustees before it can be taught or listed in any publication. (Cabinet Member-Operating Policy - CMOP 1020) Equally important is the process of curriculum review and revision. Central to this is the idea that KVCC is committed to providing: quality career and technical programs and courses that reflect the current needs of employers and industry standards; quality transfer programs and courses applicable to a baccalaureate degree; and personal enrichment courses and programs that are designed to fulfill the educational goals of students. To that end, programs of study are evaluated based upon a prescribed schedule developed by the vice president of academic services. Student evaluations of faculty are also important to curricular and academic processes. Conducted in a minimum of one-half of each faculty member’s sections each semester is the Individual Development and Evaluation Assessment (IDEA) that allows students to provide course evaluation feedback. The purpose of the IDEA reports is three-fold: to help with personal growth as an instructor, to provide evidence of teaching effectiveness, and to provide opportunities to improve student learning.

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Two standing councils support the review of curricular and academic processes. The Course and Curriculum Council, has the responsibility for reviewing all proposed credit courses and programs, and changes in credit courses and programs, as forwarded from appropriate groups. The Instructional Development Advisory Council (IDAC) has a major responsibility for coordinating and planning the faculty development and instructional development activities. The goal is to carry out the Mission by encouraging creativity and innovation in the educational process through varied learning strategies and instructional tools. At the individual level, each department chair leads, coordinates, and represents the faculty and staff of the unit. Primary duties include: scheduling, staffing recommendations, and supervising classes; resolving student and faculty issues; developing student-centered curriculum; assessing learning outcomes; budgeting; and acting as a liaison with other units of the institution. The chair is typically appointed for a three-year term by the dean on consultation with the faculty, and may be reappointed. Department chairs meet as a group on a regular basis to discuss instructional matters. The KVCC Governance/Communications Manual highlights the strong and mutually supportive relationship between communication and governance. Governance involves not only supervisor/subordinate relationships and defined working groups, but also special groups of people who come together to solve a common problem, to move the college forward in a particular direction, or to ensure consistent and effective decisions. The Board of Trustees is committed to process and performance review to ensure effective, Mission related, governance. To this end, the board receives reports assessing the effectiveness of various functional areas of the college as well as board policy audits for selected areas. The trustees regularly engage in discussions of board performance at scheduled meetings. Core Component 1e The organization upholds and protects its integrity. From the establishment of Mission related priorities to responding to student grievances, organizational integrity at KVCC is reflected across the institution. The Board of Trustees is structured and operates in a way that reflects a high degree of integrity. It has a formal “Model of Governance” and has

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established board policies in four distinct areas: 1) Board Governance Policies 2) Board-Staff Relationship Policies 3) Executive Limitations Policies and 4) Ends Policies. The college also has a clear perspective on pertinent laws and regulations. Financial management, employment, and taxing laws and regulations are all directly addressed by the college. Administrators are assisted with compliance by retained legal counsel and various professional organizations. The Michigan Community College Act, the state’s primary enabling legislation for Michigan community colleges, sets forth clear operational guidelines supported by annual funding legislation. Institutional policy is codified through the use of the Cabinet Member Operating Policy (CMOP). It is required for all administrative personnel to attend training in the existence and use of CMOPs. Its components are numbered by category, published and made available to any requestor. They are also available on the KVCC Valley Information Portal (VIP). The issuance of any new CMOP is e-mailed campus-wide to all internal constituencies. Additionally, approximately 40 percent of the KVCC Student Handbook is a section entitled “Student Rights and Responsibilities.” This handbook is available to all students in both printed format and online through the VIP. Co-curricular and auxiliary activities are monitored by councils and committees that meet regularly to discuss, determine and make recommendations for carrying out the Mission. Each council has a statement of purpose, membership criteria, roles and functions and minimum number of required meetings. KVCC has well established procedures to ensure fair and equitable relations with external constituents. All contracts are reviewed from a financial and legal perspective. Standard contracts are reviewed at the point of development. Contractual obligations that deviate from the standard, approved contractual language must go through a review process by both financial and legal departments to ensure correctness and fairness to all parties involved in that contract. The purchasing process requires either verbal or written quotations based on defined dollar limits clearly stated on the college purchase requisition form. All large scale construction projects must conform to a bid process to ensure fairness among companies seeking the contract. These projects must also be approved by the Board of Trustees. The content and method by which information is released to the public also reflect upon institutional integrity. All marketing and advertising materials

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are reviewed through a centralized marketing and public relations department to ensure the appropriateness of the content and the method of distribution of these materials. Examples of regularly released public documents include CareerSource, the Student Handbook, Programs of Study, and Museography. The Digest (internal newsletter) is distributed weekly. Course information and policy statements are included on the college website. In situations where disagreements progress to the point of requiring a formal response, it is important to have established procedures to accommodate this situation. From the student perspective, procedural guidelines regarding grievances against a faculty or staff person are clearly outlined in the Student Handbook under the section entitled “Student Appeal Process.” Faculty grievance procedures are found in the KVCC/Kalamazoo Valley Community College Faculty Association (KVCCFA) agreement located on the college Intranet. For other employees, the personnel adjustment procedure can be found in the handbook on the internal Human Resources website.

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CRITERION TWO: PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE The organization’s allocation of resources and its processes for evaluation and planning demonstrate its capacity to fulfill its Mission, improve the quality of its education, and respond to future challenges and opportunities. Core Component 2a The organization realistically prepares for a future shaped by multiple societal and economic trends. KVCC's planning processes and documents reflect a broad-based perspective on college needs and capacities through an annual scanning, assessment, and planning cycle resulting in the development of priorities, plans, and objectives. This process is supported by departmental level operational plans and includes the consideration of fiscal constraints, human resource implications and organizational support. Board Policy 4121 requires thorough assessment of the physical characteristics of the college. The resulting document, the Facilities Master Plan, incorporates input from outside consultants and college personnel, and data from peer institutions. It is a planning and evaluative document that identifies how the college can improve and update its facilities to satisfy current demands and meet future needs. For example, the 1998 Facilities Master Plan laid out the roadmap to build The Student Commons and a new dental hygiene clinic, improve the parking lots, and renovate the library and cafeteria. Later Facility Master plans improved emergency and security procedures. The Information Technology Plan is a regularly consulted planning document. It is used for inventorying current information technology and infrastructure capacities for voice, data and video. The dynamic nature of technology is reflected in the document’s forecast of equipment replacement. It also helps plan for upgrades. KVCC has been aware of the core role played by course scheduling in the management of college resources. The college began studying the process of course scheduling in 2000 and retained the Clarus Corporation to examine the scheduling process. The goals of the Clarus study were to document the course scheduling process, including participants, decision points, course availability, and trends by discipline. This resulted in a streamlined process,

1 http://home.kvcc.edu/board/BP412.htm

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http://home.kvcc.edu/board/BP412.htm

established standards for course cancellation, and increased capacity for ongoing monitoring. The course-monitoring portion was enhanced by the purchase of the ClassTracks service from Clarus. The effects of these initiatives are reflected in changes in course utilization rates. Comparing enrollment data from Fall 1999 to Fall 2004 reveals an increase in utilization rates from 68.3 to 86.1 percent across the college.

KVCC Classroom Utilization

85.6%86.1%85.5%80.7%79.6%68.3%

010,00020,00030,00040,00050,00060,00070,00080,000

Fall1999

Fall2000

Fall2001

Fall2002

Fall2003

Fall2004

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Fall 1999 - Fall 2004

Seats AvailableSeats UsedUtilization Rate

Fall

1999Fall

2000Fall

2001Fall

2002Fall

2003Fall

2004Seats Available 68,998 55,814 56,035 60,307 60,636 66,956 Seats Used 47,102 44,431 45,193 51,539 52,229 57,314 Utilization Rate 68.3% 79.6% 80.7% 85.5% 86.1% 85.6%

Effective planning requires that emerging issues and opportunities be incorporated into the process. This is addressed in several ways at KVCC. The college has a record of long-term institution-wide scanning teams that study emerging trends in technology and science, community demographics, economics and politics, workforce development/emerging business, society and culture, and educational strategies. Recent scan team reports are online at http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/kvcc_planning.htm.

The college also addresses emerging issues and opportunities through external and internal advisory groups. Academic advisory committees, comprised of practitioners and others involved in program-targeted industries, track input about emerging trends in those industries as well as

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http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/kvcc_planning.htm

in the community. Internally, the Instructional Development Advisory Council (IDAC) was established to support classroom instructors and aid them in understanding and adapting to changes in technology, the student body, instructional methodology and multicultural issues. At the policy level, Board Policy, the Board’s Commitment to Excellence and Cabinet Member Operating Policies clearly give direction concerning KVCC’s role in promoting a multicultural society. For example, the “KVCC Board of Trustees’ Commitment to Excellence”2 includes as part of the “Employers and Economy” section: “develop strategic plans for global awareness and competence that respond to the needs of learners/visitors, businesses, and institutions; and increase and expand programs for global understanding, including language and culture, that help connect the various cultures in our communities.” Operationally, the Office of Human Resources’ hiring practices and plans spell out a commitment to hiring a diverse employee pool. Those practices include non-discrimination policies on job postings, displaying the fair-employment standards on public bulletin boards, and posting and following non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies. The college also reviews multiculturalism through an annual assessment of diversity of faculty and staff.3

To prepare students for an increasingly globalized future, KVCC supports programs such as the International Student Club4 and International Night. The Midwest Institute for International Studies, an externally funded program based at KVCC, encourages the incorporation of an international perspective into curriculum.5 The college identifies those courses that address multiculturalism in its class schedule. For example, in the winter 2004 class schedule, there were 230 sections of classes offered in a wide variety of disciplines from accounting to wellness and physical education that had the “G” (Global) designation. This designation indicates that “in addition to basic course-learning objectives, students will broaden their knowledge of the geography and cultures of different countries.” On average, between 14 and 20 percent of classes offered in a semester have the global designation. A substantial portion of the KVCC planning process is devoted to environmental scanning. The scanning process has broad participation and includes employees from the museum, Michigan Technical Education Center

2 home.kvcc.edu/board/commitment.htm3 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/4 puma.kvcc.edu/international5 home.kvcc.edu/diversity_and_international_education.htm

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http://home.kvcc.edu/board/commitment.htm

http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/Planning%200405/pdfs/Diversity%20of%20Faculty%20and%20Staff%200405.pdf

http://puma.kvcc.edu/international

http://home.kvcc.edu/diversity_and_international_education.htm

(M-TEC), and both campuses. Reports are prepared annually and posted on the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment website. These reports are used by the college to support the establishment of priorities and institution-wide assessment.

Several college initiatives were prompted by environmental scanning. In the late 1990s, coping with student stress and the mind-body-spirit connection were shown to relate to student success. Studies on these topics supported plans for The Student Commons and the Wellness and Fitness Center. They also supported a wellness program for employees that has become a national model according to the Centers for Disease Control. Environmental scanning identified community healthcare needs and led to renovation and relocation of the dental hygiene clinic. Environmental scanning helped identify gaps in educational offerings in animation and video game development. KVCC was able to develop courses quickly in this field, which is experiencing wide-spread growth. The organizational environment of KVCC supports innovation, change and risk-taking. The extent of the college’s support is reflected in the following initiatives:

• KVCC solicited community support to build and house one of Michigan’s 18 M-TEC facilities.6

• The Student Commons, new dental hygiene clinic, renovation of the Texas Township Campus library, food-service area, and continuous improvements to classrooms.

• The Groves,7 education, business and technology park is so different in concept that a new zoning classification was developed by Texas Township.

• The Valley Information Portal (VIP), an online initiative that paved the way for improved e-services for students including web enrollment (over 90 percent of registration for classes is web-based traffic), and single sign-on account access.

• The Kalamazoo Valley Museum was built in 1996 and administered as part of KVCC. Updates to the museum, include the renovated Stryker Theater.

• The Center for New Media on the Arcadia Commons Campus is nurtured by downtown Kalamazoo partnerships and collaborations.

• The Student Designated Technology Fund was established by the KVCC Board of Trustees in fall of 1997 to identify funds to put new technology in the hands of students. Three dollars of each credit hour of tuition paid to KVCC is directed to this fund.

6 http://mtec.kvcc.edu/7 http://thegroves.kvcc.edu/index.html

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http://mtec.kvcc.edu/

http://thegroves.kvcc.edu/index.html

• The KVCC president invests in innovation ranging from the traditional classroom setting to the college’s Michigan High Throughput Screening Center at the M-TEC.

• The college hosts the Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) that features juried competitions, seminars, and public screenings every two years.

• The college also demonstrates innovation and change in lower technology ideas like promoting employee wellness initiatives to reduce health care costs and adjusting work schedules to reduce utilities consumption.

KVCC draws strongly upon its history as a way of defining its enduring role in the lives of former students and in the community at large. For example, KVCC completed a documentary of the college in 2002 entitled "Success Has a Thousand Parents: A Living History Celebrating Kalamazoo Valley Community College" featuring current and past employees and former students. The production captured the stories and history of the institution’s development. On a broader perspective, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum8 serves as the region’s authority and repository for Southwest Michigan history. Personalizing the relationship between the college and community, KVCC honored a member of the Board of Trustees, Anna Whitten, in spring of 2005, by naming the Arcadia Commons Campus classroom building “Anna Whitten Hall.” Whitten is KVCC’s longest serving board member and its secretary throughout those years.

Additionally, KVCC’s plans for construction and renovation of facilities consider the architectural aspects that are in harmony with existing or neighboring structures. Architecturally, the Arcadia Commons Campus buildings have taken design cues from nearby downtown Kalamazoo landmark buildings such as the 1872 Lawrence & Chapin Foundry, 1913 Masonic Temple and the 1939 Shakespeare Company office building. At the Texas Township Campus, the building has grown in all directions, but has maintained the all-under-one-roof convenience of the original prairie-style design. At KVCC, decision-making is based upon John Carver's concept of policy governance, and emphasizes vision, values, and empowerment of both the Board of Trustees and people who work at the institution. This model of governance allows the board to focus on the business of governance:

8 http://kvm.kvcc.edu/

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http://kvm.kvcc.edu/

creating, sustaining, and fulfilling the vision of the institution, while setting broad parameters under which the chief executive officer operates. The role of the president is well defined by the Board of Trustees in the Board Governance Polices, the Board-Staff Relationship Policies and in the Executive Limitation Polices.9

Cabinet Member Operating Policies (CMOP) “define the limitations, expectations, and regulations for the day-to-day operations of Kalamazoo Valley Community College. As such, every member of the college community is responsible for compliance with these policies as they pertain to everyday working conditions”.10

Quarterly reports from units provide feedback on goal achievements and progress on objectives. Core Component 2b The organization’s resource base supports its educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future. The college manages its human resources to provide the highest quality instruction and services available. From fall 1995 to fall 2004, KVCC’s student credit enrollments increased from 9,896 students to 10,845 (9.6 percent). Over the same time period, KVCC’s faculty workforce grew by 24.1 percent. This growth in full-time and part-time faculty clearly illustrates KVCC’s commitment to instruction. Over the same time period of 1994 to 2004, the number of staff also increased institution-wide. Increase in part-time staff substantially (112.0 percent) outpaced modest increases in full-time staff (11.9 percent).

9 http://home.kvcc.edu/board/defboard.htm10 http://home.kvcc.edu/operatingpolicies/CMOP%20Index.htm

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http://home.kvcc.edu/board/defboard.htm

http://home.kvcc.edu/operatingpolicies/CMOP%20Index.htm

374 464

9,896 10,845

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

Total Faculty Credit Enrollment

Faculty / Enrollment

Growth in Faculty Workforce & Credit Hours

19952004

Total Employees

Credit Enrollment

1995 374 9,896 2004 464 10,845

%

Change 24.1% 9.6%

0100200300400500600700800900

1000

TotalEmployees

FT Faculty PT Faculty FT Staff PT Staff

1995 - 2004

Growth in Institutional Workforce

19952004

Total

EmployeesFT

FacultyPT

Faculty FT Staff PT Staff1995 726 105 269 219 133 2004 991 127 337 245 282

% Change 36.5% 21.0% 25.3% 11.9% 112.0%

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The college recruits employees with the background, knowledge, experience and education necessary to provide quality programs and services. Several recruitment strategies are utilized to attract a qualified and diverse applicant pool. All positions are posted on KVCC’s website.11 Faculty postings are sent to Michigan community colleges and four-year colleges and universities. Staff openings are filled from the regional labor market. Administrative and full-time faculty positions are also advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The vice president for human resources is responsible for the implementation of the college’s affirmative action plan.

KVCC strongly supports faculty development. In addition to promoting individual attendance at external faculty-development events, the college orchestrates a range of internal activities. The Instructional Development Advisory Council (IDAC), Learning Technologies Department opportunities and sabbaticals provide a broad range of opportunities for full-time faculty to continue their professional development. Part-time faculty development is accomplished through pre-semester, in-service programs and, beginning in January 2005, a comprehensive orientation program. In 2001 the evaluation process for tenure track faculty was redesigned. This process sets guidelines for objective evaluation of faculty and provides for external peer review of faculty portfolios. Investment in staff development is a priority at KVCC. Workshops are available on the both campuses on such topics as customer services, safety, and diversity. In 1995, the director of staff development and student employment was hired to manage all aspects of training. Records of training can be found online.12

KVCC’s physical resources are planned and maintained to support its Mission. Each year, the Five Year Master Plan is updated. Since the last North Central Association visit, resources and capacity for instructional activities have been added or increased:

• Upgrade of the chemistry laboratory • Student Commons • Cafeteria renovation • Texas Township Library renovation and the addition of computer-

equipped classrooms • Renovation of student space at Anna Whitten Hall • Wellness and Fitness Center • Additional classrooms • Upgrades of nursing classrooms and clinics

11 http://puma.kvcc.edu/humanresources12 http://home.kvcc.edu/hr/

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http://puma.kvcc.edu/humanresources

http://home.kvcc.edu/hr/

• New facilities for dental hygiene • The M-TEC for workforce training, and economic development ventures • M-TEC incubator space • Flexible classroom space in the Advanced Technology Center • The Center for New Media moving into an updated and restored

historic building in downtown Kalamazoo • Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s conversion of the Interactive Learning Hall

into the Mary Jane Stryker Theatre to host movies, concerts and dialogues

Projects being considered by the state of Michigan as part of the capital outlay process include construction of biotechnical and scientific laboratories, additional classrooms and faculty offices. KVCC maintains buildings and infrastructure through its preventative maintenance program including capital replacement based on equipment life expectancy. This allows for minimal disruption of services and effective budget allocation. Classroom space is well managed. Using the Clarus ClassTracks system, along with well developed guidelines for instructional scheduling, instructional administrators are able to maintain high utilization rates. In addition to physical spaces, KVCC also participates in the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative (MCCVLC) and offers 41 online courses. The addition of online courses and hybrid courses (having attributes of both classroom and online activities) has expanded the capacity for credit offerings without additional physical space requirements.

The college is funded through three primary sources: tuition and fees, property taxes, and state aid. The board’s commitment to affordable education is evident; KVCC’s tuition (and fees) is one of the lowest in Michigan (State of Michigan – ACS reports).

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Tuition & Fees Summary for: Fall 200513

Primary Method In- District Tuition

College 14 for Charging TuitionCharge/Credit

Hour Charge/Contact

Hour

Alpena Contact Hour Only $0.00 $72.00

Bay de Noc Contact Hour Only $0.00 $64.50

Mott Contact Hour Only $0.00 $75.80

Delta Credit Hour Only $72.50 $0.00

Glen Oaks Contact Hour Only $64.00 $60.00

Henry Ford Credit Hour Only $57.00 $0.00

Kalamazoo Valley Credit Hour Only $55.00 $0.00

Kellogg Credit Hour Only $62.00 $0.00

Kirtland Credit Hour Only $66.85 $0.00

Lake Michigan Credit (Both) $72.50 $72.50

Lansing (Both) $0.00 $65.00

Macomb Credit Hour Only $61.00 $0.00

Montcalm Credit Hour Only $64.00 $64.00

North Central Michigan Credit Hour Only $64.00 $0.00

Northwestern Michigan Contact Hour Only $0.00 $68.80

Oakland Credit Hour Only $55.15 $0.00

St. Clair County Credit Hour Only $0.00 $68.50

Schoolcraft Credit Hour Only $65.00 $0.00

Southwestern Michigan Credit Hour Only $67.75 $0.00

Wayne County Credit Hour Only $55.50 $0.00

West Shore Credit (Both) $0.00 $65.00

State Average $63.02 $67.61

13 Source: Michigan Community College NETwork http://www.michigancc.net/data/tuition (09/14/2005) 14 Note: Data not reported by Gogebic, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Mid-Michigan, Monroe, Muskegon and Washtenaw.

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http://www.michigancc.net/data/tuition

Tuition & Fees Summary for: Fall 200515

Total In-District

Mandatory Fees

Per Total Mandatory

Fees

College 16 Contact/Credit

Hour Fees Per Semester

Alpena $16.00 $26.00

Bay de Noc $7.25 $32.25

Mott $4.40 $55.45

Delta $5.50 $35.50

Glen Oaks $13.00 $43.00

Henry Ford $11.00 $47.00

Kalamazoo Valley $0.00 $0.00

Kellogg $5.00 $5.00

Kirtland $8.00 $23.00

Lake Michigan $12.00 $12.00

Lansing $0.00 $35.00

Macomb $0.00 $0.00

Montcalm $5.50 $5.50

North Central Michigan $0.00 $127.50

Northwestern Michigan $10.33 $26.33

Oakland $0.00 $35.00

St. Clair County $3.50 $33.50

Schoolcraft $2.00 $37.00

Southwestern Michigan $15.00 $15.00

Wayne County $5.00 $60.00

West Shore $4.00 $28.50

State Average $6.07 $32.50

Although the regional economy has been changing through the attrition and addition of several major employers, the property tax base has remained stable. Several initiatives have been started, through state and local efforts, to maintain, support and grow business and industry in Southwest Michigan. The efforts of Western Michigan University, Southwest Michigan First, as the region’s main economic development agency, and KVCC have led to business start-ups that will diversify the economic base. The M-TEC incubators and retraining services have been pivotal in economic development. State aid has decreased substantially over the past two years as Michigan’s economy weathered revenue shortfalls. To ensure stability and continuity of programming, the board established fund balance (reserve) requirements for operating funds. A 10 percent minimum has been established for these

15 Source: Michigan Community College NETwork http://www.michigancc.net/data/tuition (09/14/2005) 16 Note: Data not reported by Gogebic, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Mid-Michigan, Monroe, Muskegon and Washtenaw.

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http://www.michigancc.net/data/tuition

reserves.17 These reserves provide a safety net during exigencies or interruptions in funding sources. Reserves for replacement of equipment and modification of facilities have been in place for decades. Although the board has not established a minimum, current reserves are adequate to support academic programs for several years. The Center for New Media at the Arcadia Commons Campus has provided a unique opportunity to partner with local business. This partnership has provided a home for a growing program and allows the college to utilize financial resources for academic programs instead of debt retirement due to external fund-raising. New initiatives and partnerships, through the M-TEC’s Michigan High Throughput Screening Center will provide opportunities for partnerships with other educational institutions via the Core Technology Alliance and businesses as well as create opportunities for education/training. The connection between resource management and the provision of educational quality is clear. A college-wide perspective on resource management is available in the Resource Management Assessment Report.18 The report shows that KVCC ranks near the top in using its resources for instruction and instructional activities when compared to other Michigan community colleges.

17 http://home.kvcc.edu/board/18 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/

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http://home.kvcc.edu/board/

http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%50.00%

Instruction Public Serv ice InstructionalSupport

Student Serv ices GeneralAdministration

Facility Serv ices

KVCC Trends in Allocation of Resources

1998-991999-002000-012001-022002-03

Year Instruction Information Technology

Public Service

Instructional Support

Student Services

General Administration

Facility Services

1999-00 49.93% 0.28% 14.45% 12.58% 13.32% 9.44%

2000-01 49.75% 0.43% 13.96% 12.08% 12.99% 10.79%

2001-02 47.58% 0.88% 15.73% 10.65% 13.63% 11.53%

2002-03 50.62% 0.67% 13.63% 10.03% 13.37% 11.68%

2003-04 48.21% 7.71% 0.59% 11.39% 9.85% 12.04% 10.21%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%50.00%

Instruction Public Serv ice InstructionalSupport

Student Serv ices GeneralAdministration

Facility Serv ices

Other Michigan Colleges Trends in Allocation of Resources

1998-991999-002000-012001-022002-03

Year Instruction Public

Service Instructional

Support Student Services

General Administration

Facility Services

1998-99 46.80% 0.70% 14.50% 12.40% 13.80% 11.80%

1999-00 46.10% 0.70% 14.80% 12.70% 13.90% 11.80%

2000-01 45.70% 0.70% 15.60% 12.20% 13.40% 12.30%

2001-02 45.00% 0.70% 15.70% 11.90% 15.10% 11.70%

2002-03 45.00% 0.70% 16.10% 11.90% 14.10% 12.20%

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As with all educational institutions, human resources represents the greatest budgetary challenge. To meet this challenge, manpower requests submitted during the budget process are reviewed carefully. Each vacated position is analyzed to determine whether the need for the position remains or whether there are other areas of greater need. These requests are reviewed to determine whether the related program is growing, if the local job market supports the need for the program, and financial resources are available for current and future expenses related to the position. When a new program is launched, adjunct faculty may be utilized until the program can be evaluated. To provide better services to students without adding staff, job share positions have been explored when full-time positions have been vacated due to termination or attrition. This option has been found to provide enhanced coverage in certain positions. Recognizing the importance of human resources, the college places a premium on establishing an effective process for recruiting faculty and staff. The process of recruiting faculty was closely examined in 1999 when the vice president for academic services, along with a task force, sought to determine “what skills and competencies are required for faculty at the community college in 1999 and beyond.” This group issued a report in January 2000 on the “Faculty of the Future”. One recommendation was that new faculty must possess knowledge of emerging technology and its applications as well as expertise in areas such as discipline/content, field experience, instructional design and pedagogy, flexible instructional strategies, knowledge of learning styles, referral skills, interpersonal skills, mentoring skills, and other skills required in assisting learners to meet their goals.

Given the investment that the college makes in its faculty, ongoing professional development is vital. Several avenues for faculty development have been implemented:

• IDAC provides for professional development for faculty in instructional design and technology, course management, college issues, personal and professional growth.

• In 2000, the KVCC Learning Technologies Department was added to provide leadership in new teaching strategies. Funding for Technology Innovation Grants encouraged faculty exploration of teaching methods utilizing technology and developing online course initiatives.

• Professional Development Plans (PDP) are part of the faculty contract with the college and provide a framework for full-time faculty to enhance skills and advance on the salary schedule.

• The orientation for part-time faculty is a comprehensive program for new and returning part-time instructors covering issues related to KVCC and teaching in a community college environment.

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Students need to be able to understand the global forces that affect their lives, and faculty must be able to assist students in developing that understanding. Opportunities to expand that understanding are available to faculty and students through diversity events and through participation with academic professional organizations. KVCC’s commitment to quality is also reflected in its investments in technologies. In January 1997, the board designated $3 per credit hour of tuition to be set aside for purchasing new and updated technology for student use. These funds have been used for updating computer labs and adding new classroom/labs such as the Center for New Media and the Valley Information Portal (VIP). These funds have also provided funding for upgrading technology in technical programs. Funding from the Student Technology Fund has ranged from $501,000 to $401,000 from 2000 to 2004, with spending largely dependent upon replacement schedules. Overall, spending on technology from all sources (Auxiliary, Perkins, Replacement, New, and Student Designated Technology) has ranged from $1,698,000 to $919,000 from 2000 to 2004. The year of greatest expenditures was tied to implementation of the SCT Banner ERP system. Mobile laptop computer centers (Computers on Wheels or COWs) have been purchased to increase classroom flexibility. Computer use in the classroom is not restricted to hard-wired rooms of 25 computers. Instead, faculty may request computers as needed, and the COWs may be moved in and out. In this wireless environment, all classrooms may be used as computer classrooms. Overall, there are more than 1,000 computers used by students, and an additional 400 computers support office and service activities of faculty and staff. The college is and has been a leader in deploying cutting-edge technologies. Examples of this include:

• 1996 - published first web pages at www.kvcc.edu. • 1996 - provided (approximately 9,000) e-mail accounts for students,

faculty and staff. • 1997 - started using a wireless network in chemistry labs. • 1998 - offered first web based, online course. • January 2000 - completed a 15-month implementation of SCT Banner

(enterprise software). SCT has recognized KVCC on its website for accomplishing the implementation in 15 months – most colleges take three to five years to implement the modules.19

• April 2000 - implemented SCT Banner web services for students, faculty and staff.

19 http://sct.com/Education/clients/c_cs_Kalamazoo.html.

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http://www.kvcc.edu/

http://sct.com/Education/clients/c_cs_Kalamazoo.html

• 2001 - implemented student/staff ID card using proximity technology. • 2002 - began SCT document imaging to provide financial, admissions,

records, registration, financial aid, human resources, and specific program information to be stored and shared in a secure environment. Systems are backed up and stored off-site for additional security.

• 2003 – implemented the VIP system to allow a single log-in access to web-based resources.

In addition to 41 online courses, KVCC also offers ten hybrid courses that combine both online and traditional classroom or lab activities. These hybrids provide flexibility to students in requiring on-campus attendance for hands-on exercises only. The flexibility afforded students through online and hybrid courses allows for additional capacity without requiring investment in brick-and-mortar facilities. The KVCC libraries make effective use of technologies, including online databases, printed materials, and audio-visual resources. Web access is available through http://puma.kvcc.edu/library and provides students at both campuses access to library resources. Through the on-site libraries, students have 90,000 books, 280 periodicals, specialized equipment (ADA), and customer-friendly staff to meet their needs. Ensuring that personalized service is available to students, trained librarians are available 65 to 70 hours a week. As library resources moved from a printed to an online format, the college recognized the need for expertise and hired an access and systems librarian to manage online resources. With information readily available on the Internet, the need to organize and provide access to credible resources will continue to be critical to educational quality. The libraries also support the training of employees. For example, a computer classroom located in the TTC library is used for training in Banner, safety, and the handling of hazardous materials. In all, internal survey results rate student satisfaction of KVCC’s information technology resources 91 percent. Internal surveys mirror the results of graduate follow-up surveys. Although the college prides itself in the use of technology, it has not forgotten the human element of technology implementation. The high-tech - high-touch approach is complemented by substantial learning support. These include:

• In 2003, a plan was developed to ensure student/counselor intervention when certain warning signs were triggered. The purpose

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http://puma.kvcc.edu/library

is to try to mediate student issues to keep the student in class and able to complete coursework.

• Testing services are available at both campuses. • Tutoring services are available at both campuses. In 2000, KVCC

began the process of having tutors certified through College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). There are three certification levels. All tutors must become certified at a Level 1 during the first semester they are hired. Level 2 and Masters Level are optional for later semesters.

While the primary focus is on providing a quality educational experience, all KVCC facilities show the care and attention of premier facilities services personnel. The original “temporary” campus built in the late 1960s still houses a Child Development Center for pre-schoolers. It is difficult to tell that the original campus, in Texas Township, was built in the early 1970s as it appears as new as the buildings at the Arcadia Commons Campus. The KVCC Foundation is another resource the college has developed to ensure educational quality. The foundation provides scholarships and grants in excess of $250,000 annually. Foundation scholarships provide support to those who may not otherwise qualify for federal/state assistance. Through a formal program review process, instructional programs are reviewed annually. The challenge for reviewing the extensive array of instructional programs was to focus administrative and analytic resources on areas that required the greatest attention. To accomplish this, specific trigger measures are used to identify programs that require an in-depth review. These triggers include credit hours, full-time equivalents (fte), credit hours per fte, expenditures, cost per credit hour, cost per contact hour, program enrollment, average grade, and course withdrawal. Instructional administrators address the identified triggers using the methods that best lend themselves to understanding the reasons behind the triggers. While in many cases triggers occurred for minor reasons, the efforts saved by not examining all programs in-depth allowed time to develop a comprehensive understanding of potential problem areas. Recognizing that the budget process is on an annual cycle and that good ideas may not always fall within that cycle, the board designated funds to be used by the president for developing and implementing innovative ideas and programs. Each Innovative Thinking Grant proposed is presented to the cabinet for consideration. If the idea/program is found to have merit, it may be funded for one year with up to two years of renewal. These grants are reviewed quarterly, allowing constant evaluation of the results. At the end of the grant, activities/programs found to be filling a need are continued if

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they can be supported in general operations. Those activities/programs failing to operate as expected may be discontinued at any time during the innovation period. The college manages its resources with the future in mind. At a time when state resources are shrinking (Michigan community colleges have experienced a funding loss of 11.25 percent since 2001-2002.), the college has moved additional property tax support from building-plant reserves to operations. Past savings have built sufficient reserves for plant replacement (including equipment), renovations, and modifications. Since KVCC does not have significant debt obligations (capital leases are the only debt at this time), it is in an excellent position to bond for any necessary additions. Core Component 2c The organization’s ongoing evaluation and assessment processes provide reliable evidence of institutional effectiveness that clearly informs strategies for continuous improvement. One of the more unique aspects of the college’s planning process is institution-wide assessment. Designed around an assessment model of outcomes, measures and standards, it examines the critical functions of the college relative to their purposes and considers to what extent these purposes are being accomplished. This assessment process is central to planning at KVCC and provides a strong base for the self-study. The assessment reports are presented to the KVCC Board of Trustees either at its monthly meetings, when interaction with the preparers is available, or as written documents. Along with the work of the environmental scanning teams, the Planning Committee, the Institutional Effectiveness Council, and the president’s cabinet, the board uses the assessment reports to develop institutional priorities such as those created for 2004-2005.20

Assessment reports include such administrative topics as resource management, technology, facilities, and faculty and staff development. Assessment reports also cover academic topics such as program review, accreditation, continuing education, general education, and client satisfaction. The assessment reports, in addition to being available to the KVCC Board of Trustees, are also used for administrative decision-making and budget planning.

20 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/institutional_priorities%202004-2005.htm

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http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/institutional_priorities%202004-2005.htm

Beyond the assessment reports, other examples of institutional effectiveness maintained on a regular basis through the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment are the graduate follow-up surveys, employer follow-up surveys, and student opinion surveys. The results of these surveys are available to college personnel through the KVCC Intranet.21

The Graduate Follow-up Surveys gather feedback regarding graduates’ academic and service experiences. Data concerning achievement of educational goals, transferability of courses to other institutions, and the relationship of their KVCC education to employment are evaluated. The Employer Follow-up Survey provides important information concerning the preparedness of graduates for the workplace. General employment issues such as accepting responsibility, attitude, and initiative are evaluated. Employment skills such as technical knowledge, quality of work, and organizational ability are evaluated as well. Graduates’ training, job placement, and advancement are examined and compared to those employees not receiving KVCC training. The opinions and perceptions of currently enrolled students are seen in the Student Opinion Surveys. The surveys provide student background information (age, G.P.A., enrollment status, etc.), reasons students select KVCC (location, cost, college reputation, etc.), a rating of services and programs, and ratings of college environment (academic and service-related quality). Results are later divided to allow comparison between students who re-enroll the following semester and those not re-enrolling. To support the college operationally, KVCC utilizes Sungard SCT’s Banner 2000 ERP system. Stored within this system is information regarding all aspects of the college, including, but not limited to, student enrollment and academic performance, human resource usage and organization, financial management and planning, and such services as counseling and financial aid. In addition to reports that are built into the system, college personnel can extract data from the system to prepare reports unique to KVCC. Information for mandated federal and state reports is generated from the database system by many areas of the college. Other reports, such as the Michigan Activities Classification Structure Data Book (comparable data for the 28 Michigan community colleges), provide information that can be evaluated in comparison with similar institutions. Many of the tables contained in the Data Book are available on the Internet.22 21 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/survey%20data.htm22 www.michigancc.net

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http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/survey%20data.htm

http://www.michigancc.net/

One of the primary purposes of the college’s planning process is to establish operational and institutional priorities. Activities designed to support the accomplishment of these priorities are tracked on a quarterly basis through the “Goals, Initiative and Priorities” reports that are prepared by assigned cabinet members. These reports are reviewed by the full cabinet. Several other forms of review are in place to support organizational improvement. In addition to the academic program review process, administrative departments use information from the college-wide Student Opinion Survey and Graduate Survey, as well as their own internal surveys, to determine student needs and satisfaction. For example, the Office of Admissions, Registration and Records drew information from these surveys that highlighted the need to monitor students’ experiences relative to departmental services. This brought about changes such as offering registration and grade reporting via the web. Other departments using surveys to evaluate the effectiveness and guide the improvement of services are counseling, financial aid, the libraries, the bookstore, and the computer labs. A recent web-based survey evaluated the quality and accessibility of the information on the college website for both current and prospective students. Student evaluations of faculty are important to the academic area. Entitled “Individual Development and Evaluation Assessment” (IDEA), they provide help with personal growth of the faculty, evaluation of teaching effectiveness, and opportunities to improve student learning. Although internal reviews of academic and administrative subunits are commonly used, the college also relies on external input. Examples of this include occupational education program reviews, financial audits, federal financial aid reviews, and suggestions from advisory committees. The annual independent audit focuses on the verifiability and reliability of financial information for the college as well as internal controls throughout the college. Both the financial audit and the required A133 Compliance Audit have remained unqualified for an extensive period of time. Interaction with and feedback from the auditors assists the college in making improvements. The Office of Financial Aid is not only audited for A133 compliance, but is also subject to program reviews by the United States Department of Education for funding under federal student aid programs, Michigan Guaranty Agency for the Federal Family Education Loan programs, the Michigan Postsecondary Services - Community College Services Unit for Carl

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D. Perkins Special Populations and the Veterans Administration for such benefit programs as Chapters 30, 1606 and 35. Also providing valuable external feedback are the college’s advisory committees that offer valuable insights into program curricula and bring a real-world perspective on occupations related to academic programs. Continued accreditation of programs by external organizations provides feedback as well as recommendations for changes needed to continue accreditation.

Evaluation and assessment are strongly supported by the college through involvement of a broad range of individuals in the planning process. This is demonstrated through its organization and decision-making process as outlined in the Governance Manual.23

The KVCC Office of Planning, Research and Assessment “is focused on support of the decision-making processes related to effective management of instructional and non-instructional college resources.” The many and varied responsibilities of this office are outlined online.24 Other areas supporting evaluation and assessment are the Learning Technologies Department for the evaluation of online classes and academic support staff who distribute, collect, and follow up the in-class faculty evaluations. Core Component 2d All levels of planning align with the organization’s mission, thereby enhancing its capacity to fulfill that mission. The Mission of the college and its strategic priorities guide KVCC’s coordinated planning processes. The college-wide planning process includes environmental scanning reports and a series of institution-wide assessment reports. These reports, along with input from the president’s cabinet and the Institutional Effectiveness Council, provide the framework for institutional priorities established by the board of trustees and operational priorities established by cabinet. The assessment reports address 25 operational and functional areas of the college. One or more aspects of the college’s Mission is implemented within each of these the 25. 23 http://home.kvcc.edu/board/binder1.pdf24 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/faq.htm.

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http://home.kvcc.edu/board/binder1.pdf

http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/faq.htm

The first three components in the college’s Mission statement are to: 1. Support student achievement through access to learning experiences

and assessment; 2. Support a balance between a comprehensive curricular base and

innovations in education, personal development and technology by strategically utilizing resources; and

3. Provide curriculum and supportive services relevant to the needs of individuals, enterprise and government.

These components are addressed in assessment reports that deal with Entry Testing/Course Placement, Articulation, General Education, Learning Technologies, Graduation Rates, Retention, Client Satisfaction, and Program Review. These components are also addressed in scanning reports that deal with Social and Cultural Trends, Economics and Politics, Educational Strategies, and Science and Technology. These planning documents are available online.25

The remaining three components in the college’s Mission statement are to:

4. Maintain a learning environment built upon the inclusivity of ideas of all cultures and ethnic backgrounds;

5. Support economic vitality and stability through development of a skilled local workforce; and

6. Integrate the components of campus-based instruction, M-TEC and the Kalamazoo Valley Museum to support student and community needs.

These components are addressed in assessment reports that deal with certification, community partnerships, diversity of faculty and staff, museum, non-credit offerings, and placement. The scanning reports covering social and cultural trends, community demographics, economics and politics, emerging markets/trends, and workforce development also address these components. Both the assessment and scanning reports are available at the website listed above. While budgeting occurs throughout the process, the strongest link to planning takes place at the level of operational and institutional priorities. Requests to fund specific activities that support priorities are submitted as capital and operational budgets are developed. Recent examples include:

• The creation of the Learning Technologies Department to assist faculty in using instructional technology in the teaching-learning process. This initiative was supported in faculty and staff development reports.

• The development of The Groves, the college’s education, business and technology park. It includes the KVCC M-TEC that serves as a training

25 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/2004-2005%20Scanning.htm

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http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/2004-2005%20Scanning.htm

resource for regional business and industry.26 This initiative was supported in scanning reports on workforce development and emerging markets.

• Scanning reports identified a shortage of health workers in Allegan County. This has resulted in the establishment of training opportunities supported by state dollars.

• The construction of The Student Commons area and its Wellness and Fitness Center to promote students’ development of mind-body-spirit connections. These endeavors were supported by scanning reports regarding social and cultural trends and educational strategies.

• The partnering with local business to build the Center for New Media to meet growing career opportunities in areas such as animation and graphic design. This initiative was also supported by scanning reports concerning emerging markets and educational strategies.

Flexibility is a defining characteristic of the KVCC planning process. The most recent refinement to institution-wide assessment has been improved alignment with capital and operational budgeting. As the process was developed, the primary emphasis was placed upon providing the Board of Trustees with planning information for its mid-July planning sessions. To meet this deadline, all assessment and scanning reports are submitted by May. While this schedule met the board’s planning needs, this information reached administrators too late for use in out-year budget development that takes place from December through May. To meet both the board and administrators’ needs, assessment reports were divided into two groups based on the likelihood of more immediate budgetary impact. The deadline for reports more likely to have immediate budget impacts was changed to November. The college’s planning process of annual scanning and assessment allows for changing priorities. Recent state budget cuts have led to the re-assessment of all programs and the utilization of resources. The cutbacks have not affected the quality of educational services because of solid budgetary practices based on strategic planning. The assessment and scanning reports monitor changes that may lead to shifts in priorities. In addition, the individual scanning reports are compiled into a “Top Ten Scanning Trends.” This has helped the college identify and anticipate environmental changes such as the:

• Long-term nature of substantial financial cuts in state appropriations;

26 http://thegroves.kvcc.edu

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http://thegroves.kvcc.edu/

• Growing need for health care providers; • Growth in electronic game and simulation applications that will provide

more entry-level employment opportunities; • Emergence of bioinformatics, the application of information technology

practices to biological processes, as one of the 25 fastest growing occupations in the country.

The growing need for health care providers is being addressed by offering programs and courses in health careers at off-campus locations. The growth in electronic game and simulation activities guided the establishment of the Center for New Media, which provides instruction for all aspects of digital design and web development. The growth in bioinformatics as an occupation will be addressed through KVCC’s membership in the Core Technology Alliance (CTA) a coalition of major life-science research initiatives. Members of the Core Technology Alliance include the Van Andel Research Institute, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. The college’s M-TEC is home for the Michigan High Throughput Screening Center that provides computerized, high-speed and automated procedures that accelerate the drug-discovery process. This facility will provide opportunities for training, internships and certifications for KVCC students as well as a service for emerging bio-science enterprises. Integrating the components of the college’s planning process is vital. The key is establishing linkages across scanning and assessment as well as linkages across years. Linking scanning and assessment is done both formally and informally. On an informal basis, efforts are made to provide ongoing scanning information to assessment teams, the Institutional Effectiveness Council, and the cabinet on a regular basis. Formally, scanning reports are posted on the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment website. Summary information is distributed via hardcopy to the Institutional Effectiveness Council and cabinet. Integration of scanning and assessment activities is also accomplished through team memberships that span more than one year. Because most members of the assessment teams are drawn from one or two functional areas of the college, team chairs have traditionally been associated with those areas. This not only provides a continuity of perspective, but also grounds that perspective with an operational understanding. For the most part, the scanning process has evolved to a co-chair arrangement - a faculty member shares leadership responsibilities with an administrator or staff member. As testament to the efficacy of this process, several chairs have asked to remain in their positions beyond the expected two years. This has

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resulted in a focused perspective on college products and services that is often difficult to establish with entirely new leadership. Together, these processes have supported an awareness of the complex relationships that exist between the college and the world in which it exists. Awareness of these relationships is illustrated by the following:

• The Kalamazoo Valley Museum has booked nationally touring exhibits and partnered with community members to celebrate diverse cultures and inform the public about their rich heritage.

• KVCC supports internationalizing the curriculum through its affiliation with the Midwest Institute for International Studies, which offers an annual conference on the topic. There is also an International Student Club.

• KVCC’s strong commitment to the relationship between technology and learning led to a $3 per credit hour increase in tuition designated for technology projects to meet student needs. The college established the Learning Technologies Department to meet the needs of faculty and staff.

• KVCC includes “A Global Perspective” as one of eight graduation competencies expected of students. It states: “Maintain a learning environment built upon inclusivity of ideas of all cultures and ethnic backgrounds.”

The college’s planning processes emphasize the involvement of a spectrum of both internal and external constituents. The environmental scanning teams include approximately 50 members of the college community. The 22 members of the planning committee summarize the assessment reports. The Institutional Effectiveness Council includes 32 members and the president’s nine-member cabinet. In addition, there are more than 200 members of the community who serve on advisory boards for academic/vocational programs.

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CRITERION THREE: STUDENT LEARNING AND EFFECTIVE TRAINING At Kalamazoo Valley Community College, assessment takes place at both the institutional and instructional levels. Institution-wide assessment is the highly participatory process by which functional and operational areas of the college are examined through a format that specifies purpose, outcomes, measures and findings. This is integrated with environmental scanning and strategic issue identification under the umbrella of institutional planning. Instructional assessment is focused on the refinement of learning experiences in support of student success. Core Component 3a The organization’s goals for student learning outcomes are clearly stated for each educational program and make effective assessment possible. The college utilizes several approaches for examining learning outcomes. Program level learning outcomes are examined directly through an established formal assessment plan. Utilizing a format consistent with the institution-wide assessment process, instructional programs specify their statements of purpose, learning outcomes, measures, and standards. This format has served the college well by emphasizing a basic and focused set of principles that have been in place college-wide for several years. At this point, direct assessment of program level learning outcomes is centered mainly on occupational programs, with the number of programs with assessment plans increasing each semester. The development of each plan is supported by a solid and measurable curriculum that lends itself well to assessment. General education plays a central role at KVCC. General education learning goals (outcomes)27 have been identified for each course and are formalized in course syllabi. Various types of measurement exist. Student perceptual evidence, graduate follow-up surveys, employer follow-up surveys, the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) survey tool, and more definitive data in some programs and disciplines are utilized. Many students enter with self-defined goals. This is measured via graduate follow up surveys.28

An important institutional benchmark for the college is the students' belief they have accomplished their goals. Based on the most recent data (2003- 27 http://home.kvcc.edu/facultymanual/facultymanual/nn4/facultymanual_13.htm28 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/survey%20data.htm

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2004 graduates), 92 percent of the graduates (422 of 457) stated they had met their goals. The national database of IDEA Surveys at the IDEA Center at Kansas State University has been compared against KVCC students’ beliefs regarding general education outcomes. Areas such as math and composition engage in validation activities, including portfolio work and entry score validity. They also have piloted and/or sustained efforts aimed at individual courses. Mathematics has instituted mandatory prerequisite enforcement and validated entry scores through ACT. As a result, overall success in mathematics is increasing. Since implementation, scores have increased by more than four percent. A new effort, aimed at focusing learning at the course level, has resulted in identifying the purpose of a course and the measurement of the success of each section in meeting that purpose. This remains a pilot effort with increasing levels of participation.

Other validation activities include the work of the KVCC Communication Arts Department (CAD) that performs an annual portfolio assessment. This is accomplished by full- and part-time instructors providing a random sampling of papers from students and courses. The papers are submitted at semester’s end to a panel of CAD instructors and are reviewed according to quality standards. A key measurement is to determine the match between instructor ratings and ratings by the panel. Historically, there has been a high proportion of matches between course grades and portfolio evaluations. For 2004/05, matches exceeded 85 percent. In assembling measurement data, the college has tried to achieve a balance of direct and indirect data. There are large amounts of perceptual data completed by students, graduates and employers. Direct measurements include graduate performance on state and/or national board exams, course success rates, and pre-post course comparisons. The Office of Planning, Research and Assessment conducts many surveys of KVCC constituents. Many of the larger surveys are available on the college’s intranet site. Smaller scale projects are distributed to appropriate parties and are often tabulated into larger reports that are distributed to the Board of Trustees, and Institutional Effectiveness Council. These, too, are placed on the intranet for wide access. Health career programs are required to complete annual reports that reflect graduation rates, board-exam performance, and placement. As a part of this process, they are required to submit action plans that address identified weaknesses.

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Health career faculty are the KVCC pioneers in assessment and are very involved in assessing student learning outcomes. Faculty in other occupational programs are developing skills in this evolving process. Other faculty are in various stages of recognizing learning outcomes measurement and the associated benefits. Core Component 3b The Organization Values and Supports Effective Teaching KVCC has a clear understanding that the key to effective learning is effective teaching. This includes teaching that is not only built upon a mastery of the curricular subject matter, but is also offered in a manner that recognizes the uniqueness of students. KVCC offers many examples of teaching-oriented curriculum involvement that include the creation of an institutional syllabus, advisory boards that assist in updating instructional content, faculty oversight of textbook selection, and faculty judgment in teaching methods. The Chairs Committee, Committee on Instructional Matters, and Course and Curriculum Council are staffed by both faculty and administrators to oversee the creation and deletion of courses, as well as implementation of strategic changes to courses. In addition, faculty play a significant role in acquisition of class materials that promote effective teaching. Curriculum Each course at KVCC has what is termed an “institutional syllabus.” This is created by experienced senior faculty and with other instructors who have content expertise. It is reviewed by department members, and signed off by the department chair, academic dean, and the vice president for academic services. All syllabi are routinely reviewed and updated by the same group to ensure accuracy and relevancy over time. Syllabi are kept in the Office of Academic Scheduling as well as on the G:drive29 and contain a detailed explanation of each course. Viewing an institutional syllabus, one will find a detailed description of the course, enumeration of the major objectives, instructor competencies needed to teach the course, instructor degree requirements, experience requirements (if any) needed for successful instruction, and references to textbooks and other course materials.

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Full-time faculty are encouraged to review these documents and part-time faculty are given a copy of the institutional syllabus for their courses upon hiring to assist them in providing quality instruction. In support of program relevance, many academic areas are closely connected to external advisory groups of professionals and experts in their fields who meet at regular intervals with KVCC faculty. They review curriculum, textbooks, and the overall direction of the program to ensure that instruction is keeping up with the needs of the field. In many fields, changes occur quite rapidly and the advisory groups help keep KVCC’s faculty on the cutting edge of professional standards. Faculty at KVCC make textbook selections based on expertise and experience. In most cases, faculty use the same textbook across multiple sections to enhance instructional consistency. Many faculty have developed separate course packets, notebooks or other written materials that are relevant to their particular course. This process allows instructors to develop varied learning strategies, yet still adhere to standards specified in the institutional syllabus. To manage curricular changes, the Chairs Committee and Course and Curriculum Council approve course updates and new offerings. KVCC has in place structured methods of reviewing course changes that place a high premium on the professional judgment of faculty. These procedures are as follows:

• New Course – The syllabus for a new course is designed by qualified faculty with recommendations from colleagues. The syllabus is reviewed by the department chair and the appropriate academic dean. The new syllabus is then examined by the Department Chairs Committee at the Texas Township Campus or the Committee on Instructional Matters (CIM) at the Arcadia Commons Campus. After these steps, the course syllabus is forwarded to the Course and Curriculum Council, whose members are the academic deans, director of counseling, faculty representatives from the CIM, the Department Chairs Committee, the vice president for extended learning, and the vice president for academic services. After this review, a recommendation is sent to the president for review and recommendation to the KVCC Board of Trustees.

• Course Changes – Revisions or minor changes to a course are made by faculty, and follow selected steps in the above process, as does the overall deletion of a course from the college catalog.

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KVCC faculty are encouraged to use various teaching styles and methods of instructional delivery. It is the responsibility of each faculty member to determine the instructional strategy that best meets the needs of the students. Faculty employ many techniques and technologies in the classroom, including: group work, video or computer, off-campus/site-specific exploration, and the lecture-discussion method. As with textbook selection, KVCC faculty have broad involvement in purchasing class materials and other supplies that lead to more effective teaching. Faculty Development Professional development of faculty takes a variety of forms, all designed to assist instructors in designing and implementing new and effective delivery methods to reach all styles of learners. Professional development funds are available for faculty to attend conferences and workshops, research new teaching styles and strategies, and bring new ideas and technologies into the classroom. KVCC’s staffed Teaching Learning Center offers professional development and training in the use of new technologies. KVCC also offers varied methods of instructional delivery through off-site courses, web-based courses, and hybrid courses. KVCC faculty have access to professional development30 funds to pursue excellence in teaching. Each of the academic deans has a professional development budget available to support faculty attendance at workshops and conferences or to purchase professional journals. Vocational program faculty seeking professional development may apply for Perkins “Fast Track” funding through a Michigan Department of Labor and Economics grant. The academic deans have data available on the types of activities funded. In addition, the Office of Learning Technology offers “Learning Technology Innovation Grant” that encourage faculty to create new methods of instructional delivery, update course materials, or add technology to assist in meeting the needs of students. Staff and faculty development funds have ranged from 2.26 to 3.33 percent of fringes and salaries over the 1999-2004 fiscal years. A considerable amount of this training was delivered to faculty. In addition to funding external development, KVCC provides in-house technical training to faculty, such as Microsoft Office, Educator, and the Worldwide Instructional Design System (WIDS) program. A monthly

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calendar of training promotes a wide range of opportunities for faculty. Examples of workshops include:

• The use of PowerPoint for instructional delivery • The Educator course management system • Presentations on design and delivery of instruction organized by the

college’s Instructional Development Advisory Committee (IDAC) Other KVCC services dedicated to providing assistance to faculty members include:

• The Learning Technologies Department • Professional development plans • The Teaching Learning Center and its training sessions • Information Technology staff and support • Office Support Services • WIDS

These development opportunities and support services allow KVCC to offer a variety of instructional delivery methods:

• Traditional classrooms at the Texas Township Campus and the Arcadia Commons Campus

• Off campus sites in such surrounding communities as Mattawan, Allegan, Otsego, and other areas

• A full schedule of weekend courses to meet the needs of those whose work schedules don’t allow for traditionally scheduled education

• 41 web courses, and ten hybrid courses as of the fall of 2005 New Faculty KVCC seeks to identify qualified prospective instructors during the hiring process. Candidates for full-time employment are asked about teaching strategies, technology use, and their perspectives on the philosophy of community colleges. They are required to give a teaching demonstration to a panel of tenured faculty. Most disciplines at KVCC now require prior teaching experience at a community college and a master’s in the appropriate field. New faculty go through a four-year term appointment process,31 including a Community College Teaching Seminar in their first year. This professional development seminar meets weekly throughout the first two semesters of employment. The seminar provides an introduction to the college and instructional design, a peer group for professional and social interaction, and development of a professional portfolio. The seminar also promotes academic reading and discussion, learning the culture of the college, and

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developing a class assignment schedule for the instructor’s primary teaching assignment. Faculty Evaluation To measure quality and development efforts, KVCC has in place an organized system for evaluating teacher effectiveness. The process begins during the hiring procedure with a job description that lists specific requirements – typically a master’s degree and past community college experience, or related job experience in a vocational field. Evaluation is done each year and includes student input. Upon successful completion of this probationary period, faculty earn “continuing appointment” after which evaluation occurs every three years. Upon hiring, full-time faculty members will be reviewed annually, including ratings by students in each class. In years one and three, they are evaluated by their academic dean. In years two and four, they complete and submit a teaching portfolio, which is reviewed by external experts in the field who are compensated for their work. The portfolio also addresses strengths and weaknesses, college contributions, progress in improving teaching, and student evaluations.

Following successful completion of the Term Appointment, KVCC faculty members who achieve continuing appointment are held to similar standards as above, with review every three years. Documentation is required, but there is no seminar for continuing appointment faculty. Effectiveness of part-time faculty is assessed through observation and student evaluation. They are evaluated every semester during their first year of teaching and then annually thereafter. Classroom observation by the academic dean follows a standard form. The evaluation includes professional demeanor, teaching strategies, effectiveness of the strategies, remarks on the use of class time, perceived instructor/student relations, and an analysis of strengths, weaknesses and suggestions for improvements. For term appointees, this observation is conducted during years one and three and once every three years for returning appointees. To gather student perceptions, all full- and part-time KVCC instructors are required to offer students a chance to evaluate each course taken. The IDEA process allows students to comment on:

• Overall Measures of Teaching Effectiveness – providing the teacher with a global assessment of his/her effectiveness.

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• Student Ratings of Progress on Relevant Objectives – allows the student to self-report on objectives that have been identified as relevant by the instructor

• Course content Professional Growth Other forms of faculty development include:

• Learning Technologies Department grants for special faculty initiatives • Sabbatical leaves for research and teaching enhancement • IDAC Seminar Days twice a year that enhance sharing ideas related to

teaching • An active and diverse International Studies Program that fosters cross-

cultural awareness among a variety of disciplines • Programs in the Student Commons that bring in nationally known

figures who challenge faculty to develop creative supplementary activities

Professional affiliation and association is supported by:

• Attending professional conferences and meetings • Membership in professional organizations • Subscriptions to professional journals and publications • Wireless networking capability campus-wide • Support to learn and improve skills in new technologies

To examine the degree to which faculty are involved with their respective professional organizations, in the winter 2005 semester they were surveyed regarding memberships. The survey item “Do you belong to a professional organization related to your instructional discipline?” garnered 49 responses from faculty members. A majority of these respondents, 82 percent, indicated they were members of a professional organization related to their instructional discipline. Those who indicated they were members of a professional organization were asked whether they were active in the professional organization; 44 faculty members responded to this item, over half of whom stated that they were active. Core Component 3c The organization creates effective learning environments. Central to the processes surrounding effective learning and teaching is the effectiveness of college learning environments. These include a broad range of integrated instructional and supportive services designed to support students and instructional activities.

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As with decisions college-wide, every effort is made to incorporate data based criteria into decisions involving the curricular aspects of the learning environment. Varying by program, student performance information in the form of certification tests, evaluations, assessment plans and advisory input are used to inform modifications aimed at maximizing student success. Use of these types of information has gained a firm foothold at KVCC, with its impact growing each semester. Learning Environment The college examines the effectiveness of learning environments through occupational advisory committees and Program Review in Occupational Education (PROE) (see CMOP 1070). Each board approved occupational program is served by an advisory committee of industry professionals who meet at least twice a year with academic departments to examine the effectiveness of the curriculum based on community needs. If curriculum changes are recommended, faculty, the department chair, and the dean review them. If these recommended changes are deemed appropriate, the changes move on to the Chairs Committee and/or Committee on Instructional Matters for endorsement, then to the Course and Curriculum Council, then to the president for review and recommendation to the Board of Trustees. PROE is a process that is conducted every five years in such occupational areas as health, business, and applied technology. Perceptions about the program under review are collected from students, faculty and administrators, and advisory committees in the form of surveys. These surveys are combined with the results of graduate and employer surveys. The program under review then develops a “Program Action Plan” based upon the results of the surveys. The results are used for program improvement. While vocational/technical programs are evaluated formally, general education courses are reviewed by departments – some by committees, some by discipline coordinators or individual instructors. Prerequisites, success rates, and enrollments are part of this informal appraisal. A college-approved syllabus for every course defines learning objectives, while a shared class assignment schedule helps assure consistency among courses with multiple sections. Additionally, department chairs and coordinators monitor and mentor part-time and new full-time instructors. Since these classes typically transfer to a four-year institution, they must meet the standards of those institutions. The college transfer officer in the counseling office meets with university officials annually to determine transferability.

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Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) surveys are student evaluations conducted near the end of each semester in every course. This tool is a means for students to provide feedback about instructor performance. The results, in part, are ultimately used for measuring instructor performance as a component of the ongoing evaluation of faculty. Student Skills A critical component of enabling students to succeed is to help them identify their individual skills and preferences and then appropriately build upon these. Coming to KVCC, students initially take the computer-based COMPASS, a program which assesses the levels of their basic skills in reading, writing, and math. Then, working with the college’s counseling staff, students enroll in classes for which they have the skills to succeed. For students whose basic skills need strengthening, transitional-level classes are available in reading, writing, math, and study skills. The college also uses the online Visual, Auditory, Read, Write, and Kinesthetic (VARK) Skills Assessment Manager as a tool for students to identify and understand their preferred learning styles. Tutors in the Learning Center are trained to help students apply study strategies that best fit the learning preferences identified. In all Business Computer Applications (BUS 103) classes, Skills Assessment Manager (SAM) is used to measure student skills with pre and post tests. The results of the tests are compiled and shared among instructors and academic administrators; and the results are also used to modify and improve instruction. PLATO Pathways is another computer package available to students. PLATO Pathways can be used to assess student skill levels, to review old skills, and to study and practice new skills in writing, math, and science areas. A pilot program is underway in transitional English and reading to apply PLATO as an adjunct to classroom instruction. For students interested in exploring career options, numerous assessments are available through the Career Assessment Center. Customer Satisfaction The college assesses student services primarily through surveys. Student surveys are conducted at least once a year in areas such as admissions, records and registration, the libraries, and financial aid. The results are compared to previous findings and a “Client Satisfaction” report is developed. It is also used to allow the appropriate vice president to identify

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improvement areas. Last year’s report highlighted the need for an improved web presence and look. As a result, significant improvements were made to the Admissions, Records and Registration portion of the website. These surveys also provided insight into the use of certain resources. Touchtone registration and grade mailers were eliminated because of the large number of students using the web for such tasks. The Wellness and Fitness Center conducts a satisfaction survey twice a year to make corrective measures and to better serve students, faculty and staff. The libraries provide easy access to online databases, print materials and audio-visual resources. The libraries receive feedback through college-wide student surveys conducted twice a year, through instructional sessions on how to use the library, web usability assessments, and by tracking library instructional usage statistics each month. Feedback from these sources has also been used to update book collections, move the testing service at ACC that was previously operated in the library to a separate dedicated room, improve training of circulation desk employees, and increase student awareness of wireless capabilities. The testing and tutoring centers conduct an annual customer satisfaction survey to solicit student feedback on whether their needs are being met. A computer based survey is also conducted during the fall and winter semesters. These results are shared with the appropriate employees, and strategies for improvement are formed and implemented. Diversity KVCC has a long standing commitment to fostering diversity in the learning environment and respect for all members of the college community. The following programs provide evidence that the college provides an environment that is supportive of all learners. The TTC and ACC diversity committees provide leadership within the college to define, refine and shape the institutional and cultural climate on issues related to diversity in all its dimensions. It has done this in the following ways:

• providing diversity resources in the Learning Center • creating historical exhibits • scheduling fine arts performances such as the 2003 Talent Show • supporting cultural festivals and celebrations in the community such as

the Edison Neighborhood Diversity Celebration • scheduling speakers to address diversity issues • providing a forum for reading groups • sponsoring employees and students to attend diversity conferences

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• inviting the local high schools and both public and nonprofit organizations to the annual KVCC Diversity Conference

The Commons Advisory Group is involved in planning activities that help provide a diverse learning environment. This involves a variety of activities, including:

• engaging students in learning experiences which nurture mind, body and spirit

• overseeing an employee fitness program that provides for wellness screening

• providing trained personnel for the Wellness and Fitness Center that serves students, faculty and their spouses

• providing space for both scheduled and unscheduled student use in the Lyceum, Forum and Commons theatre

• establishing a college-wide theme for the academic years 2003/2004 “Eye on the Environment,” 2004/2005 “Civility and Ethics” to promote holistic learning

The Retiree Opportunities for Action and Development (ROAD) program provides senior citizens with an opportunity to participate in classes and activities. Special Services, the Learning Centers, and the Testing Centers provide one-on-one or group tutoring in math, reading, and writing from remedial to the highest level courses.

• Students with disabilities are provided enhanced tutoring, advising, advocacy, adaptive equipment, interpreter services, audio textbooks, modified test administration, and special note-taking services. Special accommodations and other services to students with non-diagnosed learning difficulties are available.

• Workshops cover study and organizational skills. • Testing determines placement for students with special needs. • Makeup exams are administered. • Assistance in self-paced courses is available. • A certificate program in tutoring enables students to increase their

effectiveness through exposure to diversity, ethnicity, civility, English as a Second Language (ESL), and other areas.

The Focus Program is a collaborative effort between KVCC and Western Michigan University (WMU) designed to increase the number of KVCC students who successfully earn an associate degree and transfer to WMU to complete a baccalaureate degree. It provides an environment that supports all learners and respects the diversity they bring through:

• academic monitoring of students in the program

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• academic and career counseling • establishing a means to determine course placement and career

testing • financial aid counseling • time management and study skills seminars and workshops • networking with students, instructors, and community leaders to

provide support when needed • campus visitation with WMU • honoring students who are successful in the program at an

achievement luncheon • tutorial assistance and referrals

Brother2Brother provides opportunities for African American male students to reach their educational objectives. Brother2Brother creates an environment that supports all learners and respects the diversity they bring as evidenced by:

• peer-group discussions and “dialogues” with African America males who have successful careers, professions, and businesses in Kalamazoo County

• promoting active involvement in each student’s development as a responsible citizen

• providing a means where students can learn to deal with adversity and resolving conflicts

• providing a means where students can plot a course of action that will guide them in choosing a career

• offering earlier orientation and registration sessions • priority scheduling of classes • providing career-search programs and career-assessment surveys for

placement into occupational/professional tracks • peer tutoring and support • continual assessment of academic progress through the “Student Early

Alert System” • offering success-building workshops at different times of the day to fit

academic and work schedules • bringing in speakers to address such issues as: the value of a college

education, personal finances, health issues, the importance of religion in the black community, the value of career planning, networking, and effective parenting

• working with Kalamazoo Public Schools, Vine Alternative High School, Kalamazoo Area Academic Achievement Program, the Douglass Community Association, and the Northside Ministerial Alliance in the recruitment of African American males.

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International students attending the college are provided counseling, registration information and federal forms for obtaining admission. They can become involved in the International Students Club and participate in special events such as International Night and special conferences. Events are scheduled at Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The KVCC Honors Program balances advanced course work, including an online portfolio, with service to the community through volunteer and service learning activities. Students in the Honors Program, who receive a full tuition scholarship through the KVCC Foundation, develop leadership skills through their academics and college activities. The college’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter has similar activities and objectives. Many student clubs and associations, organized through the Student Commons, support all learners, foster volunteer and fund-raising activities, and help create a diverse environment:

• International Students Club • Dental Hygiene • Cone 10 (ceramics) • Phi Theta Kappa • Student Nurses Association • Tennis Club • Rockhill Free Theater • Fellowship of Christian Athletes • KVCC Community Chorus • Association of Information Technology Professionals – student chapter • Service Learning Club • Kendo/Fencing Club • Gay/Straight Alliance • KVCC Campus Band • Supported Education program at ACC • Fitness Club • Dance Club

Student Preparation To support success in college-level courses, some courses require prerequisites for enrollment. Transitional courses are available for students to build basic skills and to increase their confidence. COMPASS (from ACT) testing gives students placement information and helps them make enrollment decisions. The KVCC Class Schedule booklet identifies course prerequisites. The college provides varied semester starting dates and lengths of classes to accommodate student schedules.

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Academic advising at KVCC centers on not only providing accurate program information, but also ensuring a match between course entry skills and student preparation. The college has several advising systems that focus on student learning and the mastery of skills required for academic success:

• Counselors provide direction for students on courses/programs upon entering the college and throughout their experience. They are responsible for guiding and directing students into specific courses of interest based on meeting prerequisite expectations.

• COMPASS testing is required for all students entering college for the first time. The results are shared with students and are used to appropriately place students in various courses.

• Transitional Study Courses (TRS) are offered to students whose scores on the standardized test (reading, writing, math) are below the level deemed necessary to succeed in college.

• Peer Tutor Training (TRS 110) is a class for students to apply what they have learned by tutoring other students. Students in this class will help transitional studies students engage in active learning, become independent learners, and maintain personal motivation.

• Prerequisite course requirements have been established as an additional tool for students to achieve academic success. Specific prerequisite course work generally must be completed before a student is able to progress to the next sequential course.

• Curriculum, Advising, and Program Planning (CAPP) is an electronic system for students to identify courses necessary to complete a specific program of study. Students use this system to create their personal program plan.

• The Skills Assessment Manager (SAM) is a computer program that provides pre- and post-tests mapped to the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) core-level exams for Word, Excel and Access. All sections of BUS 103 are required to administer the exams. The pre-test results provide instructors with critical information on what skill sets students have already mastered. The post-test provides data on student mastery of the MOS skill set.

• The Center for New Media (CNM) has a “Declare Day” for students to meet with program advisers, identify their major, and develop a specific program plan in such new-media fields as animation, web programming and eBusiness.

• The nursing faculty meet with pre-nursing students on a monthly basis to share information regarding the program.

Instructional Delivery Additionally, the college has several programs that support the learning experience regardless of the location of the student. Many of these

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programs support learning throughout the student’s contact with the college and also interface with other systems in place.

• Educator/Online courses - Educator/Online courses are available for students interested in an alternative educational experience. During the fall 2005 semester, 41 courses were offered via the web in business, economics, English, foreign languages, medical terminology, music, and philosophy disciplines. In a web course, all instructional material is delivered online. Class meetings are generally held for the initial session.

• Hybrid courses - Hybrid courses combine the web experience with a traditional classroom environment. Hybrid courses move a significant part of course learning online and, as a result, reduce the amount of classroom seat-time. Both web and hybrid courses contribute to student development as they provide students with the opportunity to participate in courses in the comfort of their home or at a local site.

• Off-campus programs - Off-campus programs are an outcome of developed partnerships between the college and public school systems in five neighboring communities outside of the KVCC district. Classes are offered at public facilities in the community and students can register, order books, and access various other services via the web. During the fall and winter semesters, as many as 30 classes are offered at the five different locations. Classes to be offered are determined in cooperation with local school officials.

Technology Use The learning environment at KVCC is enhanced by technologies that provide students with unique opportunities, and allow the extension of these opportunities to a large number of students through operating efficiencies. Examples include:

• The college provides open and staffed computer labs at both campuses.

• The library at the Texas Township Campus has 24 computers on the floor, an additional 25 computers in a classroom, and one roaming laptop. At the Arcadia Commons Campus library there are 14 computers available.

• The college provides computer-equipped classrooms at both campuses, and the M-TEC. The Arcadia Commons and Texas Township facilities are equipped with high-end scanning and color printing.

• Technologies to enhance student learning include interactive television, wireless zones, Valley Information Portal, Educator, PLATO, media carts, ceiling-mounted projectors, wireless computers on wheels, SAM, computer classrooms, “On the Edge Technology Courses” (digital photography, animation and motion graphics),

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voice/data/video systems, state-of-the-art dental hygiene clinic, and the Wellness and Fitness Center, the Office Technology Lab, and the availability of audio-visual equipment delivery for classroom use (digital cameras, VCR/TV, DVD/TV, computers, etc.).

Quality of Instructional Delivery The college has implemented systems to review its educational strategies, activities, processes, and technologies. These include:

• Department chairs or discipline coordinators perform classroom observations on all new and seasoned part-time faculty to insure that the instructor is providing quality instruction. The classroom observations address the different learning styles of students as well as ensuring that the objectives of the course are being met.

• A tenure track faculty review process provides structured learning and development strategies for the first four years of teaching before becoming a “continuing appointment” faculty. New faculty are required to attend classes and prepare reports/evaluations/portfolios of their teaching methods and style as well as discuss classroom situations.

• A continuing appointment evaluation process that occurs over a three-year period. Faculty are required to review their professional development, goals and objectives, student evaluations, classroom evaluations, and a personal evaluation. Through this process, faculty continue to grow professionally and are able to bring new and better techniques to the classroom to enhance the learning experience. Where necessary, concerns are discussed individually with affected faculty and improvement strategies are formulated.

• Online surveys gather feedback from all students taking a class in a computer classroom and students using the computer labs. The survey findings determine if computer resources are available for the students from the student perspective. Students are also asked to provide input regarding ways which KVCC can better support the use of computers by students.

• The curriculum review process ensures that new and/or revised curricula have been thoroughly reviewed, that there is a need and that a particular curriculum doesn’t already exist elsewhere at the college. The steps in the review process include:

– Faculty and department/discipline – Advisory committee as appropriate – Chairs Committee or Committee on Instructional Matters – Course and Curriculum Council – Recommendation to the board

• Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) forms provide data to compare the faculty to both a national and a college

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baseline to determine the student’s perception of the teaching/learning environment. The results are part of the review process that every full-time continuing appointment faculty member must have on file.

• Administering a pre-test and post-test in some vocational programs to determine the level of knowledge students achieved during the semester. Since the test questions are based on course objectives, achievement by students can be measured and validated each semester.

• Periodically reviewing college policies and procedures to validate that they are still viable and appropriate.

• Annual graduate and employer surveys to ensure that students are developing the skills necessary for the jobs they hold. The student and employer surveys validate each curriculum and provide input on how it needs to be revised to better serve future graduates and employers.

• The Program Review in Occupational Education (PROE) surveys gather input from advisory committee members, students and faculty on their perceptions of occupational programs. They are used to improve areas perceived to be weak or to build upon program strengths.

• The Instructional Development Advisory Council (IDAC) provides direct and indirect impact on the instructional process through faculty seminars. Feedback from faculty is solicited for future seminar activities.

• Reviewing vocational curricula directly tied to specific programs annually or as required for accreditation purposes. These reports are shared with the appropriate faculty as well as the program’s advisory committee. Outcomes are assessed for improvement opportunities as well as areas for celebration.

• Advisory committees validating the offerings of all vocational programs. The participation of industry experts ensures that the vocational programs offer what employers need. All new programs and changes must be endorsed by the appropriate advisory committee before they can continue through the approval process.

• An annual student opinion survey coordinated by the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment. This survey is for students currently enrolled in classes at the college and focuses on a specific division each year (business, technology, liberal arts, health and sciences). The survey requests feedback regarding “College Impressions” (reasons for selecting KVCC), “College Services,” and the “College Environment”.

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Core Component 3d The organization’s learning resources support student learning and effective teaching. In the broadest sense, the entire college is a resource designed to support learning. However, some resources are directly related to the process of both teaching and learning. Libraries KVCC’s libraries provide easy access to online databases, print materials, and audio-visual resources. Students seeking a quiet place to focus on their studies, a place to meet classmates for group work, a fast Internet connection or assistance with research enjoy easy access at either the Texas Township Campus library or the Arcadia Commons Campus library. Both libraries inventory materials with the goal of expanding and enhancing the classroom experience and meeting the needs of students. Materials are purchased based on recommendations from faculty, staff, students and librarians. The libraries have a well organized website that offers information about them and provides access to thousands of online magazines and electronic books. Students and staff can access subscription databases from off campus by logging into the VIP. Student I.D. cards facilitate access to library resources and record usage. At least one librarian is available for students 65 of the 70 hours that the libraries are open each week. The libraries work with the Human Resources training staff, the Learning Technologies staff, and the Instructional Development Advisory Council (IDAC) to offer relevant and regular library training for full- and part-time employees. Tutoring Services KVCC’s Learning Centers provide tutoring in subjects appropriate for each campus including; math, reading, writing, science, accounting, computers, business, foreign languages, economics, study skills, and test taking. Tutoring is available on a walk-in or appointment basis. One-on-one and group-tutoring services are available. The centers also provide assistance to students who are enrolled in self-paced courses and who have special learning needs. The Special Services Office is designed to meet the individual needs of students with physical, psychiatric, emotional, or learning disabilities. The Learning Centers also provide testing services for students who have missed examinations or need to remediate work. They also offer testing for prior learning (CLEP), DANTES Subject Standardized Testing (DSST), and

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testing for other colleges and universities that require on-site proctoring. The centers’ hours are liberal with qualified staff on hand at all times. Students using the Learning Centers’ tutoring services complete contact cards that provide information for tracking and reporting purposes. Technology KVCC’s computer labs provide instructors and students with convenient access to the latest technologies. Lab hours are liberal. A system for scanning student I.D. cards helps the staff track the frequency and volume of lab use. From this data, the lab determines the services needed and hours of operation. The Learning Technologies Department helps faculty and staff develop competencies with technologies that improve teaching and learning at KVCC. For instance, it provides consultation to faculty and staff who are using Educator, PowerPoint, VIP, and other teaching/learning support systems. KVCC’s science laboratories are accessible to biology, chemistry, geology, and physics students during supervised times. Labs for health care and occupational programs provide equipment and supplies necessary for student practice and competency evaluations. Clinical affiliation agreements with area health care providers permit students to apply classroom skills in a real-world setting. KVCC’s libraries and computer centers offer complementary resources to health care labs and clinics. A pilot project is currently under development where web technology will be deployed for support of both student and faculty development. Students enrolled in Center for New Media and the Honors Program, as well as newly hired tenure-track faculty, will be using electronic web portfolios to document their professional development. Learning Communities The college has also organized and supports several student-centered learning communities.

• The International Studies Program has worked with full-time and part-time faculty to infuse 75 courses with international or intercultural perspectives. The program sponsors lectures, workshops, and conferences on international/intercultural topics each academic year. KVCC and outside funding have afforded faculty and students the opportunity to travel abroad for projects or study. Each year the program sponsors an “International Festival” that is open to the public.

• The Honors Program offers special challenges and opportunities to academically talented and highly motivated students. Honors students make a commitment to intellectual life through small, intensive

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courses and other learning experiences. The program also fosters service learning through collaborative relationships between the college and community organizations.

• The Student Commons engages students in learning activities that nurture mind, body and spirit. Within this holistic center of student learning is the college’s Wellness and Fitness Center for employees and students. State-of-the-art training and equipment are available for healthy lifestyle choices. Students and staff participate in band and choir performances, exhibits, debates, poetry readings, and presentations/dialogues with such speakers such as environmental writer Barry Lopez, ethics scholar P.M. Forni and short-story author Stuart Dybek.

• Currently under development are three learning community activities supported by KVCC Innovative Thinking Grants. The first of these, “The New School,” is designed to provide a liberal arts experience using an interdisciplinary approach to teaching, studying, and learning. It will emphasize independent study, research, field experiences, and group colloquia sessions. A second activity is aimed at supporting student involved in the study of elementary education. In this activity, an emphasis will be placed on career preparation and career decision-making. A third activity is built on a multi-disciplinary approach to instructional programming. It is anticipated that this approach will develop supportive relationships that parallel effective work settings.

Assessment of Library and Technology Support The value and quality of learning resources are clearly related to their support of learning and teaching. At KVCC this is assessed in several ways. KVCC’s libraries evaluate their services and learning efficacy through student surveys each fall and winter semester, campus-wide student surveys, librarian instructional session feedback surveys, web usability assessments, and evaluations of usage statistics each month. Every year the Learning Centers conduct a student satisfaction survey. Results show students have a high level of satisfaction with the centers’ services. The Computer Labs conduct annual student satisfaction surveys to improve services. The Learning Technologies Department also conducts surveys and collects other types of data to evaluate the value of its services to the learning community. IDAC surveys the faculty periodically to assess training needs, particularly in the area of technology. IDAC evaluates “Faculty Seminar Days” sessions

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using Zoomerang surveys. The results are shared with faculty, staff, and administrators in developing future programs. KVCC evaluates laboratory resources for the sciences annually, specifically, the quantity and quality of consumable supplies and capital equipment. Equipment is upgraded or replaced when appropriate. The effectiveness of laboratory instruction is reflected in student evaluations of lab courses. Health care students, faculty, and clinicians evaluate the effectiveness of labs and clinics as each course or clinical rotation is completed. Students evaluate instructors who teach international/intercultural courses or who incorporate international/intercultural material into their courses. The director of the KVCC International Studies program provides feedback to instructors to improve/enhance their expertise in this area. Honors Program students provide extensive feedback to the director regarding relevant coursework and their “honors” experiences. Service projects undertaken by Honors Program students are evaluated by host organizations. The Student Commons uses the Simplex System to generate usage reports about its facilities and programs. Surveys measure customer satisfaction. Students in wellness classes are asked about programming and the Student Commons as a useful learning resource. Annual surveys are conducted for Office Support and Faculty Reception Services and results are extremely favorable. For word processing services, quality control forms are completed for each project. Delivery of Support Services In addition to the availability of technologies, it is vital that students, faculty and staff have the skills necessary to use these technologies effectively. While KVCC takes pride in its technological resources, this is one area where its “high-tech/high-touch” balance is critical. KVCC’s libraries train students and staff to access the “library without walls,” particularly online resources via the Internet. The Learning Center provides support to students using the tutorial software PLATO. Tutors assist students with logging on, running the programs, and printing results. Given the frequency of software changes, staff at the computer labs are afforded many opportunities to update their skills and knowledge, and assist students, faculty, and staff with their computer needs. “Supporting faculty and staff in using technology effectively” is the primary mission of the Learning Technologies Department. This is accomplished

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through one-on-one consultation, workshops, and seminars offered in collaboration with the Office of Human Resources and IDAC. Science laboratories utilize technology via computers, networked exercises, and subject-specific equipment. For instance, chemistry students learn to use spectro-photometers and chromatographs. Health care students also use resources provided by the computer labs to carry out their assignments. Labs and clinics expose students to state-of-the-art technologies in the field. Nursing students use computerized charting systems, capillary blood-glucose monitors, automatic blood pressure devices, and pulse oximeters. The International Studies Program has allocated funds, largely from federal grants, to purchase an extensive collection of resources that include video, documentaries, CD-ROMs, and online support materials. The Student Commons is technologically advanced. Health assessments can be generated for staff and students using computers in the Student Commons that is a wireless zone for Internet access. Office Support staff assist faculty with computerized tests, the design and set-up for electronic gradebooks, and other technological aspects of the teaching process. An accredited reference librarian is a member of the library staff. In 1998, KVCC’s libraries added a position to manage online resources efficiently. KVCC has assigned an administrator to direct the International Studies Program. The director has motivated many faculty members to participate in the program as a part of their professional commitment to the college. KVCC provides a full-time faculty member with partial release time to direct the Honors Program. The Student Commons is led by a full-time director. The Fitness and Wellness Center has 25 part-time employees. Wellness faculty members are instrumental in delivering course instruction. The college has established partnerships, both internal and external, that support student learning. Examples include:

• KVCC’s libraries work closely with faculty in delivering instruction. Librarians present the research orientations for College Writing (ENG 110) classes. As mentioned earlier, the libraries work closely with college units and committees to train faculty and staff to effectively utilize library resources and their counterparts via the Inter-Library Loan process.

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• Learning Center tutors work closely with the full-time faculty. Tutors introduce themselves to faculty and visit the classes for which they tutor. The computer labs’ courses and services are developed with faculty and advisory committees.

• Science faculty and lab staff gather information from professionals to keep KVCC facilities abreast of current standards and technologies as well as to assess community needs. For example, the Chemical Technology Advisory Committee visits hospital laboratories. KVCC’s health care programs regularly collaborate with health care providers. The nursing program recently entered into a partnership with a hospital to fund part-time clinical instructors as part of a state grant to increase the number of trained health care workers in Michigan.

• KVCC’s International Studies Program has promoted partnerships with other community colleges, K-12 schools, community associations, and regional/national organizations to promote international/intercultural education. It has been a pioneer and catalyst for regional, national and international collaborative projects. KVCC has served as a lead college in forming two statewide associations, the Michigan Community College for Global Education and Michigan International Development Education Outreach Network. KVCC serves as the headquarters of a regional consortium of community colleges, the Midwest Institute for International Studies.

• The Honors Program has negotiated articulation agreements with honors colleges at a number of universities and four-year schools. The program also partners with community groups in providing service learning opportunities.

• The Student Commons is led by a full-time director, with assistants who oversee student organizations and the Fitness and Wellness Center. It collaborates with faculty in many disciplines to offer a variety of courses, programming, and training. The college’s employee wellness program is coordinated through the Student Commons with the help of the Office of Human Resources. The Police Academy conducts its fitness training through the college’s wellness center.

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CRITERION FOUR: ACQUISITION, DISCOVERY AND APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE Kalamazoo Valley Community College is committed to acquiring and using knowledge. The college consistently supports its faculty and staff, its students, and its community in the quest for information that can improve student lives, enhance the community’s economic competitiveness, and further the effectiveness of the college overall. Core Component 4a The organization demonstrates, through the actions of its board, administrators, students, faculty, and staff, that it values a life of learning. Faculty and Staff Development The college values a life of learning for both students and employees, as evidenced in its motto “A Community of Learning.” Even before the first student set foot on campus in the fall of 1968, KVCC was supporting the personal and professional development of employees. In August 1968, 47 members of the pioneer faculty attended seminars and workshops as a prelude to the college opening. In support of continuous learning for employees, Board Policy 410, Human Resource Development, requires an annual report of all continuing education and professional development activities for staff and faculty. In the board’s “Commitment to Excellence” statement, the board supports the allocation of “at least 2% of our annual operating budgets to the professional development and training of our personnel.” The college has consistently exceeded this allocation. The statement also directs the college to provide “programming, policies, and services to promote a healthful environment for learning.” In 1998 the college identified staff development as an institutional priority, and the board approved a full-time staff training coordinator position. A full array of workshops is offered to staff based on college-wide surveys, recommendations from supervisors, training required by law (Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and organizational changes such as the introduction of new hardware, software, policies, and processes. These workshops are provided free to KVCC personnel. Topics, dates, times, and locations are posted on the college’s intranet.32 In addition to

32 http://home.kvcc.edu/hr/

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professional development opportunities, a variety of personal development activities are also offered. The following table provides a history of employee training activity conducted under the auspices of the Office of Human Resources:

Five year Training & Development History

2003 - 04 2002 - 03 2001 - 02 2000 - 01 1999 - 00 Contact Hours 3,661 5,181 4,082 3,634 1,950 Participants 1904 1957 1613 1242 776 Workshops 279 176 158 154 79 Topics 139 90 73 79 27 Expenditures $710,166 $718,799 $887,308 $603,116 $592,729 % of Wages & Fringe Benefits

2.3% 2.3% 3.3% 2.5% 2.6%

This table illustrates the significant increase in both the number of workshops and the number of topics offered from the fall of 1999 through 2003. Staff participation has increased as well, but the increase is not proportionate to the offerings. A review of annual reports identifies some reasons for the lack of relative attendance, including staff failing to register and conflicts with workshop times and work schedule (IDAC report 3/15/2004). The activities and dollars represented in this table are only those attributed to the Office of Human Resources and do not include faculty development funded through departments, sabbaticals, Carl Perkins (federal) training funds, the tuition reimbursement program (all employees), and the staff development fund (staff only). When these five budgets are factored in, the total amount the college devotes to faculty and staff development is in excess of $1 million annually. The faculty-based Instructional Development Advisory Council (IDAC) provides leadership for faculty development. IDAC directs its efforts toward improvements in instructional design, instructional technology, course management, and personal and professional growth. To accomplish these aims, IDAC sponsors three days of seminars in the beginning of each fall semester, two days at the beginning of each winter semester, institutes during the summers, and workshops throughout the year. (See IDAC annual reports.) In 2000, the Learning Technologies Department was created to provide leadership for the implementation of new teaching strategies with sound

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instructional design principles, and to specifically work with faculty in exploring and incorporating instructional technologies into the teaching-learning process. The staff provides workshops and individualized assistance to faculty in the effective use of learning technologies, both in and out of the classroom. In 2001, a new process for the development and evaluation of term-appointment (tenure track) faculty was implemented. The process includes a year-long seminar in community college teaching, student input via the IDEA student rating system, phased-in college service and professional development, paid external peer review of teaching portfolios, monitoring of essential faculty responsibilities, and classroom observation of teaching. The college offers a broad array of enrichment opportunities for faculty, staff and students including presentations from scholars and artists. Recent examples are included in this chapter. The Office of Institutional Safety conducts the annual Safety Conference that offers workshops to satisfy compliance training requirements for all staff, as well as sessions dealing with general issues of health, diet, fitness, retirement and financial planning. All employees may attend for free, and the conference is open to the general public and area employers for modest fees. Additional compliance training is offered via CD-ROM based materials that were developed under the college’s Innovative Thinking Grant program. Most of this training deals with Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) issues and awareness, and was prepared for facility services and laboratory staff. Health and fitness activities and workshops are sponsored by the wellness committees on both campuses for all employees. Use of the Texas Township Campus fitness center has been offered to employee spouses for a nominal fee, and dependents can also take advantage of the twice-yearly wellness screenings. The screenings are voluntary, free to all full-time employees, and include cholesterol, pulmonary-function and body-composition checks. In addition to on-campus and off-campus development activities, the college also provides a variety of avenues for ongoing individual development. One launched in the 2004-05 academic year is the “Investing in Your Future” plan in which tuition for employees is paid “up front” by the college and does not need to be reimbursed if the employee receives at least a 2.0 grade. There is also a tuition reimbursement plan that offers a 100 percent reimbursement to full-time employees (regardless of final grade) and a 50 percent reimbursement to employee dependents. Up to four faculty

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sabbaticals are granted each year, and the college covers the full cost of courses prescribed by departments for incumbent faculty and staff. Students and the Community The college’s commitment to lifelong learning for all residents of its service area can best be seen in the following excerpts from the board’s “Commitment to Excellence” statement:

• Civic Role and Responsibilities – provide learners/visitors with an array of experiences to help

them gain civic awareness and skills that enhance their participation in a democracy

– support the arts in our communities, foster partnerships that support cultural events, and strengthen programming when the institution serves as the community’s cultural focus

• Support Services – ensure that our learner-centered support systems provide

attentive advising, services, and follow-up for all students – embrace remedial education as an access point to higher

education and increased opportunities and make remedial courses mandatory for all learners who need them

– provide re-entry and disadvantaged learners, including those in remedial programs, the same priority and support as all other learners

• Continuous Learning – provide strategies for continuous learning and develop programs

for every age level – have strategies in place that alert students, alumni, and

community members to new learning opportunities and to financial assistance sources available to continuous learners

• Finance – the chief executive officer does and will continue to advocate for

funding flexibility to support expanding programs that are not based solely on full-time equivalent criteria

These board-directed goals are implemented in a variety of ways. One is through both the Innovative Thinking and Innovative Technology grants. These grants are awarded to faculty and staff who have ideas for developing innovative learning strategies, programs, or techniques. Another is the design and applied use of the college’s facilities. The Student Commons at the Texas Township Campus was designed with the knowledge that effective learning may take place outside of the traditional classroom. Unmediated learning was the watchword for the development of this space and its programming. The Center for New Media

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at the Arcadia Commons Campus was designed with “think spaces” for students to gather and work on individual or group projects. Unique to KVCC is the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which provides non-traditional learning experiences for KVCC students and staff, the general public, and children in Southwest Michigan schools. The college offers an array of off-campus and life-long learning opportunities for the local and surrounding communities. Retiree Opportunities for Action and Development (ROAD) is a program allowing senior citizens to enroll in credit courses with no tuition charge. On the other end of the spectrum, the college actively participates in Michigan’s Post Secondary Enrollment Options Act for high school students, popularly known as dual enrollment. The KVCC M-TEC supports learning both at community workplaces and at the M-TEC, providing both customized and routine training for employers. Partnerships with area industry, other institutions of higher education, and labor provide the means for collaboration in the search for and application of knowledge. Participation in the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative33 allows students to take courses available at community colleges across the state. Through the Interinstitutional Student Exchange Program (ISEP), KVCC students can enroll in courses at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, and Davenport University. Students are thus able to take courses not available at their home institution, and do so at the tuition rate of their home institution. Another way that the college demonstrates its commitment to intellectual inquiry, creativity and social responsibility is through public recognition of the achievements of faculty and students. The internal publication, The Digest, consistently highlights faculty, staff and student achievements. Most of the articles in The Digest also serve as press releases. The CareerSource magazine devotes articles in each edition to stories of students who have overcome adversity, expressed individual creativity, found career success, and attained academic honors. Faculty members and administrators are also profiled for their professional and personal achievements. Public events that demonstrate student and faculty achievements are held annually. These include student art shows, a celebration of student writing in both developmental and college-level writing courses, and programs that

33 http://www.mccvlc.org/

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showcase individual student work in such programs as automotive technology, computer-aided drafting, computer and web programming, and business. The college also participates in community festivals and activities where the works, achievements and abilities of students and faculty are showcased. Students are encouraged to participate in regional, state, and national competitions. In recent years, student teams have participated in the “Sputum Bowl” (respiratory therapy), the Association of Information Technology Professionals’ annual student competitions (computer programming, web design/programming), the Cartoon Challenge (animation), and a “Debugging” contest for automotive technology students. Faculty Inquiry and Creativity The college demonstrates that it values a life of learning through support of creative and scholarly work by faculty and students. While, as a community college, research is not part of the Mission, KVCC supports intellectual inquiry as well as the artistic and written arts. Already mentioned is the fact that the college supports up to four sabbatical leaves annually. Sabbatical reports are shared with fellow faculty. Kandia Balachandran, a math and physics instructor, completed a 2004 sabbatical in which he enrolled in and visited classes at the Colorado School of Mines to observe teaching methods and participate in original research. Faculty in the communications arts and visual arts frequently publish or show their work. Brian Olson (English) contributed critical articles to a standard reference work on short stories that discusses the content, themes, structure and techniques of short story writing from around the world. Marion Boyer, Robert Haight, Denise Miller, and Robert Post, all English/communications faculty, and others are published poets. Photography instructors David Posther and Joe Smigiel have had their work selected for exhibits. Linda Rzoska’s (Center for New Media) art has been published in four books and a number of magazines. She served as an editor for Design Fundamentals for New Media, by James Gordon Bennett and Exploring Illustrator CS by Annesa Hartman, and has exhibited in nine shows in the past five years. Additional projects include:

• Faculty travel abroad (Africa, Vietnam, China) through the KVCC-based Midwest Institute for International Studies and faculty attendance at regional conferences

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• Publication of Meditations for Spiritual Misfits (Robert Badra, humanities)

• Collaborations on books in rhetoric and composition studies (Linda Dick, English)

• Kathy Godin (Challenger Learning Center at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum) has been a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Ambassador since 2002

• Works commissioned for “Hail Kalamazoo” and “My Music Explosion,” two community fund-raisers where artistic Checker cabs and violins, respectively, were publicly displayed and then sold at auction (Karen Matson, Center for New Media)

• Plain English for Cops by instructors Nicholas Meier (law enforcement) and R. J. Adams (English)

• Morality in Criminal Justice (Meier as co-author) The Kalamazoo Valley Museum brings another rich source of intellectual inquiry. Museum staff regularly conduct historical research. A quarterly magazine, Museography, features original research focused on the history of Southwest Michigan. Both temporary and permanent exhibits tell the story of the people, events, and industry of Southwest Michigan. Museum staff and a variety of external presenters offer lectures and demonstrations on topics of historical, cultural, and scientific interest. The museum’s collection is accessible to KVCC faculty, students, and the public for research purposes. Acquiring and Applying Knowledge to Improve the Institution Three board policies relate directly to the college’s support of life-long learning and learners. Student Success and Learning Outcomes (BP 404) speaks to the following areas: attainment of educational goals, successful completion of courses, semester-to-semester retention, and student learning assessment. Student Placement and Career Advancement (BP 406) addresses successful student placement, internships, and career preparation. Community Partnership and Cultural Enrichment (BP 409) includes variables such as the use of the college’s facilities by the community, special events held for the community, partnerships with local high schools, and volunteers. These policies demonstrate that the college, beginning with the board, is committed to improving its performance through informed decision-making. All policies are reviewed annually through an audit process. Additionally, and as described in more depth elsewhere in this report, the college has in place a series of institution-wide assessment reports. These deal with the heart of the organization and its Mission, addressing such areas as the success of transfer students, the job placement of graduates, student retention, community outreach, and faculty and staff development. These

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reports, together with environmental scanning, form the basis for the college’s planning process and show its commitment to informed improvement through self-study. Additional evidence of commitment to informed decision making includes the fact that the college’s research, evaluation and planning officer is a cabinet-level position. KVCC was one of the first community colleges in the nation to establish an institutional research office in 1974. Core Component 4b The organization demonstrates that acquisition of a breadth of knowledge and skills and the exercise of intellectual inquiry are integral to its educational programs. Integration of General Education Integration of general education into curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular programs of the institution is an important component of the college’s Mission. Upon recommendation of the faculty, the board adopted the following graduation competencies in February, 2000.34

• Effective oral and written communication skills • Ability to think critically and to solve problems • Ability to work in groups • Information, numeric and computer literacy • A highly developed sense of ethics • Respect for diversity • A global perspective • Strong personal management skills

These competencies are woven throughout the curriculum and those to be addressed in a particular course appear on every for-credit course syllabus. Specific examples of how these competencies are operationalized in the classroom were solicited from the faculty. Some of their techniques are included on the following pages. These examples are from courses outside the directly associated disciplines, showing how communication skills are addressed outside communication arts courses or how numerical and computer literacy are fostered outside the math or computer information systems classrooms.

• Effective oral and written communication skills – Requiring attendance at film screenings or live

performances/presentations with follow-up assignments – Using educational films and videos with follow-up assignments

34 http://home.kvcc.edu/hrmain/StffDev/Job_Aids/faculty_manual_final.pdf

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– Utilizing the museum, library and other campus facilities for assignments

– Using clinical sites in the community – Developing charting skills at clinical sites – Teaching the National Institute of Auto Service Excellence

communication requirements – Participating in Community Mental Health Day and follow-up

assignments – Requiring off-campus assignments and experiences such as

service learning and “Urban Plunge” projects • Ability to think critically and to solve problems

– Reaction papers following assignments in and out of the classroom

– National and state exams – Laboratory reports – Higher order thinking essay assignments – Application of critical thinking model to career decision making – Clinical rotations at family care and mental health units – Problem solving and negotiating assignments – Use of the web in ways relevant to course topics – Quizzes and tests taken online – Empirical investigation of art work in the community – Holistic health site visits and related assignments – Interviews of career incumbents at their work sites – Portfolio presentations

• Ability to work in groups – Group presentations both on- and off-campus – Group research projects – Group laboratory experiments – Peer review of written work – Role playing – Case study simulations – Clinical and internship experiences in the workplace – Weekly team assignments – Collaborative presentations – Group projects in math courses – Multi-discipline, project-based courses – Student clubs and activities such as team competitions at state

and national levels, KVCC Campus Band, athletic teams, and fund raising efforts

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• Information, numeric and computer literacy – Use of computer software programs such as PowerPoint, in non-

computer classes for presentations – Require the introductory business course to address competency

in a number of common software programs – Require the installation of Linux on home computers – Use of the web for assignments – Probability calculations in science courses – Use of computerized patient charts – Assign online quizzes – Participate in electronic forums and discussion groups – Solve computer-based problems such as medicinal dosages – Assignment of statistical and geometrical problems – Require mathematical computations for electronic art

• A highly developed sense of ethics – Create assignments that cause one to reflect on ethical behavior

such as reading “Choosing Civility” and attending author P.M. Forni’s presentations on campus

– Expose students to RN cosign – Apply ethical criteria for evaluating potential solutions to

problems – Teach how to avoid plagiarism rather than just having rules

about it – Stress the importance of ethical behavior in one’s professional

life, from auto repair to law enforcement to animation • Respect for diversity

– Providing materials and engaging in discussion related to interacting with a diverse population in work settings such as clinical assignments or police work

– Discussion of essays by ethnically diverse authors – Social interaction, both formal and informal, through

assignments in and out of the classroom – External speakers presenting various ethnicities and

backgrounds – Panels of people representing divergent viewpoints – Discussion of codes and laws dealing with human rights in

occupational programs – Group work and remixing student groups routinely – Assignments calling for reactions to diverse viewpoints, art work,

films, or other presentations • A global perspective

– Discussion of essays by ethnically diverse authors – Use of international students as a classroom resource

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– Assignments related to exhibitions and speakers from outside the United States

– Assignments showing non-Western perspectives as opportunities – A broad array of liberal arts and occupational courses with the

international studies designation, showing content reaches beyond the United States

• Strong personal management skills – Enforcing deadlines – Class attendance expectations – Require the seeking out of tutors in the Learning Center as a

resource – Assign a food log and exercise regimen – Articulate expectations for “soft” work skills in clinic, co-op and

intern assignments – Discuss personal management in individual student-advisor

conferences – Manage care for a group of patients in a hospital setting

In addition to the incorporation of graduation competencies into non-general studies courses, all degree programs include a set of required general education courses such as College Writing, political science, a second course in social science, humanities, and wellness/physical education. A faculty survey was conducted to assemble the following examples of general education competencies.35 Seventy-four faculty members responded to the survey. Respondents roughly mirrored the institution in the breakdown of disciplines. There were 29 respondents from the liberal arts, 12 from business/accounting/computer information systems, 14 from science and math, 14 from the technical programs, and five from health and wellness. Similarly, full- and part-time faculty were somewhat proportionately represented with 32 full-time and 42 part-time faculty taking part. Respondents were asked to select one course (the one they teach most often or the one they teach that is most basic to their program) and base responses upon that one course. Courses chosen reflect the disciplines of the faculty respondents: 31 courses from the liberal arts, 12 from math and science, 17 from business/accounting/computer information systems, seven from technical programs, and eight from health and wellness. In addition to the above examples, survey information pertinent to the integration of general education into the curriculum includes the following

35 http://www.zoomerang.com/reports/public_report.zgi?ID=L229YKHR9ZK9

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highlights. Respondents were asked which graduation competencies they explicitly incorporated into their class assignments. Results were:

Integration of Graduation Competencies into Curriculum Faculty Survey: Winter 2005

Competency Number Percentage Communication 56 77% Critical thinking 54 74% Group work 40 55% Numeric/computer literacy

36 49%

Ethical development 22 30% Respect for diversity 31 42% Global perspective 27 37% Personal management 30 41%

These results indicate that some graduation competencies have been integrated into curriculum to a lesser degree than others. The competency that appears least integrated, ethical development, has been the focus of recent programming in the Student Commons. This programming has included the application of ethics in both business and interpersonal settings. These results were further verified by asking for specific class assignment language that reflects the respondents’ assertions. A sampling of these follows: Health Careers: The student will become proficient in interpersonal relations and client education. Critical thinking is employed through the recognition of individual client needs and the goals they need to reach for a healthy lifestyle. Communications 101: The assignment is the persuasive ethics presentation. Students are asked to prepare and present a speech on the following topic: Ethical Living. What is your definition? How does that definition impact your thinking about the topic? How do you plan to have the audience integrate your thesis? Business Careers: Understand the issues that need to be considered as part of the market planning process and that issues that need to be considered in developing a business plan. Important components of this class are group discussion, presentation, and participation. As such, you are expected to participate and treat others in the class with courtesy and respect.

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Economics: In a few sentences, please describe how to find the indicated function and quantity -- In the short run, per capita personal income (PCPI) in the United States grows approximately linearly. Suppose that in 1990, PCPI was 17.4 and in 2000 it had grown to 26.7 (both in thousands of dollars). Use the two data points (years since 1990, PCPI) to find the linear relationship between years and PCPI, and use your linear relationship to predict the PCPI in 2005. This involves critical-thinking and communication skills. Unit 5, Objective 17 (Global Perspective): Pages 198-203 are packed with important information about how culture and language are related. Read this section attentively and be able to explain: differences between high and low context cultures, how linguistic relativism is distinguished from linguistic determinism, and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Chapter 2 Internet/International Project Accounting is numeric by nature. Addressed throughout the course will be attributes related to job-readiness skills. These will include, but not be limited to, communication skills, problem-solving skills, independent thinking, a developed sense of ethics, and a global perspective. In this essay, you will evaluate two points of view on a current issue and explain why one view is better than the other. The paper will need to use a narrative frame to set up your ethos, and the body will need to develop both points of view in detail, logos, and then explain why your side is more in keeping with a set of core values and beliefs than the other side, pathos. The essay will need to have research included and documented in MLA format. Global Perspective: After watching the Sister Wendy segment on the Paul Revere painting where he is wearing a linen shirt made of fabric woven by patriot women, what type of art rhetoric can you find in other pieces of art? You may look at paintings, sculpture, installations, music and performance art. One example is the Dred Scott installation with the guest book over the flag on the floor - what is Scott's message? And how does any specific cultural group respond to these pieces of artistic rhetoric? Health/Physical Education: Research a nutrient and provide a presentation in class evaluating the research you have found regarding its health benefits and claims for healing. This, too, involves communication and critical thinking skills. Computer and Numeric Competency (BUS 103): All students must indicate an 80 percent level of competency for word processing, database, and

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spreadsheet to pass this course. This is a skill course that places emphasis upon computer skills. Read and prepare to discuss Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in terms of communication, effective writing, and historical relevance. Assignment: Reading and writing about science: In this assignment you will investigate a topic in cell biology by reading and writing about it. This approach to learning can increase your reading and writing skills in the sciences, and improve your critical thinking ability. Diversity: Read “The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother” by James McBride. Attend a Community Reading Together event. Write a paper on the theme of the book. Quote a speaker from the Community Reading Together event. Students are graded on critical thinking (50 percent) readability/flow (30 percent) and technical merit (20 percent) Linkages Between Curricula and Co- and Extra-Curricula Activities The activities cited under each graduation competency above support inquiry, practice, creativity, and social responsibility through assignments that require exposure to and display of these qualities. Specific activities that faculty use for such assignments include:

• International studies courses and programs that include field trips, student travel, speakers. Recent visiting presenters included two visiting Fulbright Scholars and speakers from Vietnam and Senegal.

• The Student Commons series, “Eye on the Environment” and “Eye on Civility,” offered year-long forums for student investigation and participation. Along with KVCC and local speakers/events, these brought to campus Barry Lopez and Terry Tempest-Williams (environment writers/activists), P.M. Forni (ethics writer/speaker) and David Armstrong (Armstrong International, Inc., Chief Executive Officer).

• The Artists Forum, an annual series of performances and lectures bring outstanding artists and minds to the college. Recent performers and speakers include Chucho Valdez (musician), David Sedaris (novelist/satirist), Alma Guillermoprieto (political analyst), and Howard Zinn (historian).

• A wide range of events hosted by the Diversity Committee at the Texas Township Campus and the Arcadia Commons Campus Committee on Cultural Understanding, including a full-day workshop on “Diversity: What’s in it for me?”, ethnic celebrations such as Dia de los Muertos, a special exhibit of slavery artifacts, and panels of speakers such as one on the major world religions.

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• Exhibits at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and related programming. The spring 2005 nationally touring exhibit, “Liberty on the Border,” focused on slavery and the Civil War, particularly in the border states. Associated programming included Civil War re-enactors, a pre-release showing of Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, a screening of Gone with the Wind, a presentation by one of the State’s most accomplished Civil War historians, hands-on children’s programming, original research/articles in Museography and an interactive exhibit about the Great Lakes.

• Other resources at the museum include the planetarium, the Challenger Learning Center, and the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

• The “About Writing” series brought poets Thylias Moss and Jean Valentine and short story writer Stuart Dybek to campus.

• Discounted tickets for students to attend performances at Western Michigan University.

In addition to attending performances, displays, forums and discussions, students are often involved in creating, explaining, displaying and performing. Some examples of these learning activities include:

• “Chill Nite” and other activities sponsored by the Brother2Brother program for African-American males

• KVCC Campus Band performances • KVCC Community Chorus performances • Student art exhibits and art sales • Public student portfolio presentations • Service learning assignments • Urban Plunge experiences in Chicago and Philadelphia • State and national competitions in the students’ career fields • Club activities tied to the students’ occupational programs, such as

the Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Automotive Technology, and Information Technology clubs

• Gay/Straight Alliance, Cone 10 Artist, and International Club events • Display and presentation of students’ science projects in the Student

Commons • Involvement in special projects such as the restoration of a 1948

pickup truck and its conversion to alternative fuel • Cross-course projects such as one involving the preparation of a

restaurant marketing campaign. Success in Student Learning Students are surveyed annually for their perceptions of the usefulness of, and satisfaction with, their instruction in the graduation competencies. The results, taken from the winter 2003 General Education Assessment Report,

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are shown below. These figures represent the percentage of respondents who rated the goal either a four or five on a five-point scale. General Education Goal Usefulness Satisfaction

Communication 72.8% 67.7%

Critical thinking 76.0% 68.1%

Group work 68.1% 66.1%

Computer literacy 72.0% 72.9%

Ethics 67.4% 68.3%

Diversity 74.2% 69.5%

Global Perspective 67.8% 60.3%

Personal management 74.2% 73.3%

In addition to student feedback, assessment of KVCC graduates is requested from employers. Do employers find KVCC graduates to be competent not only in their fields of study, but also as citizens of the workplace? The college annually conducts surveys of those who have employed its graduates. Findings consistently show a high level of satisfaction with characteristics related to graduation competencies, as well as to specific job skills. While the entire survey may be viewed online,36 the table below summarizes some of the general education items. The ratings are an average, based on a five point scale where five equals “very good” and one equals “very poor.” There were 146 responses to this 2003-04 employer survey.

Skill Area

Average Rating

Skill Area

Average Rating

Accepting responsibility 4.5 Math skills 4.2 Punctuality 4.4 Communication skills 4.2 Personal initiative 4.3 Problem solving skills 4.1 Willingness to learn 4.6 Technical knowledge 4.2 Co-worker cooperation 4.4 Overall rating of training 4.3

36 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Surveys/Employer%20Survey/2003-2004%20employer%20survey%20data.htm

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Preparation for Continued Learning Community colleges can gauge the success of their efforts by examining how well their students perform following transfer to a four-year institution. This strategy forms another of KVCC’s institution-wide assessment reports and complete transfer assessment reports may be found online.37 As shown in those reports, KVCC students consistently perform well after transfer. There has been no significant change in the cumulative grade point average (GPA) of KVCC students upon transfer. While not all institutions provide transfer student data, several do. Western Michigan University, KVCC’s largest transfer institution, has been cooperative in sharing data. KVCC transfer students perform well at Western. In fact, the average GPA earned by former KVCC students in 2004-05 was 2.96, compared to 2.95 for the native Western student. This has been a consistent finding over several years. Performance of former KVCC students at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and other four-year institutions is similar, although the number of students is substantially less.

2.97

2.85

3.00

2.86

2.98

2.86

2.962.95

2.75

2.80

2.85

2.90

2.95

3.00

2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005

GPA 2001 - 2004

KVCC Transfer vs WMU Native Students

KVCCWMU

Institution 2001-2002

2002-2003

2003-2004

2004-2005

KVCC 2.97 3.00 2.98 2.96 WMU 2.85 2.86 2.86 2.95

37 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/Planning%200304/Planning%20pdfs%200304/Transfer_0304.pdf

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A survey of former KVCC students conducted by the counseling office included the question: “If you had to do your educational experience over again, would you start at KVCC as opposed to starting at the university?” The response was 90 percent “yes.” Students who graduated from KVCC and went on to a four-year institution are equally enthusiastic, with 431 of 437 respondents indicating they would recommend KVCC to peers. Of the 182 respondents who are continuing their education, 87 percent indicated “no problems” in the transfer process. KVCC’s self-study process and its on-going evaluation mechanisms demonstrate that:

• Students are effectively prepared for the workplace. • Students are effectively prepared for continued study at another

institution. Core Component 4c The organization assesses the usefulness of its curricula to students who will live and work in a global, diverse, and technological society Academic Program Reviews KVCC embraces assessment for determining the usefulness of its curricula to students. The results of assessments are the basis for developing action plans for improving academic programs and maintaining their strengths. PROE Survey Occupational programs at the college are reviewed every five years. Program Review in Occupational Education (PROE) is a survey of faculty, students, and members of advisory boards. The survey scale ranges from poor (1) to excellent (5), with the average being (3). Specific PROE survey components that demonstrate curricula usefulness include:

• Faculty – Use of professional/industry standards – Relevance of supportive courses – Coordination with other community agencies and education

programs • Student

– Meet your occupational needs, interests, and objectives – Provide supervised practice for developing job skills – Pertinent to occupational instruction – Current and meaningful to you

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• Advisory Committee – Based on performance objectives that represent job skills and

knowledge required for successful entry-level employment – Responsive to upgrading and retraining needs of employed

persons – Periodically reviewed and revised to keep current with changing

job practices and technology Result summaries from several programs are listed below as evidence of the usefulness of the college’s curricula to students within regular academic programs.

Automotive (2002-2003): Faculty rated most items related to program and course content from good to excellent. Faculty, students and advisory committee members viewed items related to work experience as good to excellent. Follow-up studies on students completing the automotive technology program were prepared for entry-level employment. Respiratory (2002-2003) Faculty perceptions of program and course content were most favorable, with all items rated from excellent to good. Faculty and advisory committee members rated provisions for work experience as excellent; the student rated this as good. The advisory committee saw follow-up studies that rated program completers and those leaving with marketable skills as excellent. Welding (2002-2003) Faculty were favorable, with most items receiving a rating of excellent. Provisions for work experience were positive, as demonstrated through a rating of good. Students expressed high levels of satisfaction with courses in the welding program, rating these items as excellent to good. Follow-up studies by the advisory committee were rated excellent. Dental Hygiene (2002-2003) Faculty rated the majority of items related to program and course content as excellent. Coordination with community agencies and education programs was seen as good. Students consistently rated program course content and related courses as good. Advisory committee members gave ratings of excellent to each item related to program content and quality.

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Medical Assistant Technology (2003-2004) Each component tied to program and course content was seen favorably by faculty, as demonstrated by ratings of good to excellent. Students also perceived course content and related courses as good to excellent. Content and quality of this program were viewed as excellent by advisory committee members. Mechanical Engineering Technology (2003-2004) Each group viewed items associated with program and course content positively. Faculty saw this area as good; students viewed it from good to excellent; advisory committee members considered these items as excellent. Work experience was perceived favorably by each group. Advisory members viewed this experience as excellent. Fire Science (2003-2004) Faculty rated items linked to program and course content from good to excellent. Participation in the development of the program plan, goals, competency-based performance objectives, instruction, relevance of supporting courses, and coordination with community agencies were seen as good. Students saw course content and related courses as good to excellent while advisory committee members viewed the program’s instructional content and quality as excellent. The program’s responsiveness to the upgrading and retraining needs of employed persons was seen as good.

Within academic programs, assessment data are collected in a variety of ways to drive changes in equipment and curriculum. For example, in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program, students are evaluated on their clinical performance in using technologically advanced heart monitors, transport ventilators, and computerized patient-care reports. Faculty and students evaluate the effectiveness of the new technologies. The healthcare programs are infused with data collection forms that assess student competency levels, primarily in clinical and laboratory skills. For example, in dental hygiene, two of the program’s objectives pertain to a global, diverse, and technological society:

Objective 4: To continually evaluate and procure updated modalities for the dental hygiene clinic to ensure the availability of state-of-the-art equipment and technologies for practicum experiences

Objective 7: To define multicultural competency as a quality indicator of professional practice through which an understanding of culture and its relationship to health improves the outcome of oral health intervention for a broader range of people

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The dental hygiene department has a system for assessing whether these objectives are being met. The analyzed data drive the changes that are proposed and generally adopted. As described previously, the state-of-the-art dental hygiene facility is an example of meeting the program goals. Changes in curricula begin within each department’s faculty or curriculum committee, and are based on departmental reviews and assessments. The proposed changes must be approved by either the Texas Township Campus Department Chair Committee or the Arcadia Commons Campus Committee on Instructional Matters. If the proposed change or addition affects courses offered at both campuses, consensus must be reached. Changes are then forwarded to the college’s Course and Curriculum Council. Following this review, changes go to the vice president for academic services for support. They are then submitted to the president and to the Board of Trustees. Proposed changes must show evidence of need based upon the rationale of the affected faculty and department, the assessment and endorsement of the appropriate program advisory board, the anticipated benefit to students, and the financial implications. Graduate Survey A graduate survey is mailed to students four months after their graduation. A second mailing is sent to non-responders after one month, and then a follow-up telephone call is made where necessary. With responses from approximately 50 percent, this process demonstrates the value the college places on obtaining graduate feedback. The summary of the 2003-2004 graduate surveys indicates the majority of graduates rated content of courses and intern experiences as good or very good, with 90 percent rating content and 70 percent rating internship experience in this range. Fully 87 percent indicated that KVCC training was helpful relative to their current job. Employer Survey Employers and supervisors are identified for this survey by those responding to the graduate survey. The intent is to gather employers’ perceptions of graduates’ basic work skills as well as their technical skills. The survey is mailed to employers seven months subsequent to graduation and followed by a second mailing to non-responders after one month. This process has produced an outstanding 70 percent-plus response rate. From the annual Employer Survey, the employers rate KVCC graduates on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being very good and 1 being very poor. The summary from 2003-2004 indicates overall training received an average rating of 4.3, with 88 percent rating skills as good or very good. Overall training from the years 1996-2003 ranged from a minimum of 4.1 to a maximum of 4.3. Skills that

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were assessed included math, technical knowledge, organizational ability, communication, problem solving, work quality, work quantity, manual dexterity, following instructions, and operation of equipment. Detailed information for both the graduate and employer surveys can be found online.38

Trigger Reports In addition to the PROE process, instructional programs and disciplines are reviewed annually via specific data variables. Changes in these variables may result in an in-depth review of programs. The purpose is to assess program viability. For example, an in-depth review may be triggered if a program has a decrease in cost efficiency of 10 percent or more. Other triggers would be a decline of 10 percent or more in student success as identified by grade distribution or graduation rates.39 New Programs Proposals for new programs go through a process that includes the analysis of local market requirements, budget development, instructional delivery methods, impact/relation to the institutional structure, and potential risks. Technology and Curricula At KVCC, curriculum development has resulted in an extensive use of technology. Computers are available in the hallways, the Student Commons, classrooms, and labs. Wireless computing is available almost everywhere. Even the physical structures of the facilities are technologically advanced. As mentioned, three dollars from each credit hour fee is allocated to a fund that allows KVCC to provide students with the most up-to-date technology. This fund purchases equipment or software that is used primarily by students. The current number of computers for students’ use in labs, classrooms, the Student Commons, hallways, mobile units, the testing center, libraries, and the Learning Center is:

Texas Township Campus: 717 Arcadia Commons Campus: 317 Total: 1,034

38 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/survey%20data.htm39 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/Planning%200405/pdfs/Program_Review%200405.pdf

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The number of students visiting the computer labs clearly demonstrates they are taking advantage of this convenient access to technology. In the fall of 2004, there were 52,865 visits to the computer labs at the two campuses. Technology Integration in Programs Technology is a central part of the students’ learning experiences. Recent examples include the following: The Center for New Media is the result of a desire to offer the highest quality, current, real-world instructional experience for students and professionals in the media arena. A goal is to ensure students gain the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to create effective, interesting, dynamic, and interactive new media applications. This is accomplished by offering classes in animation, digital photography, digital pre-press, e-Business, graphic design, illustration, multimedia, web design, visual communications, web programming, and writing for the web.40 The dental hygiene clinic features high-tech, training equipment unrivaled nationally. This multimedia facility, with nearly $2 million worth of state-of-the-art equipment and technology, features interactive and long-distance learning capabilities, high-tech mannequin simulators, electronic client files that will eventually make the clinic “paperless,” and digital imaging rather than X-ray films. Within this center, there are 28 computers for student and faculty use. The dental hygiene classroom is one of three distance-learning units at the college. This technically advanced instructional system is enhanced with a three-camera system per student station that has raised the bar in the clinical instruction of dental hygiene students. The automotive technology program is National Automotive Technician Education Foundation (NATEF) master-certified in automotive repair. There is a rigorous and frequent evaluation process to maintain this certification. Courses are updated each semester to meet NATEF guidelines and the ever-changing and advancing technological aspects of the automotive service industry. Technology Integration in the Curriculum The college uses a learning management system called Educator to deliver online content to students. Instructors use Educator to teach online, hybrid, and enhanced courses. In online courses, all instruction is delivered online. In hybrid courses, face-to-face classroom instruction is combined with computer-based learning. Enhanced courses use some features of the Internet or Educator, e.g. online exam/quizzes, or posting materials online.

40 http://newmedia.kvcc.edu/about_cnm.htm

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As of the winter semester 2005, there were 327 sections with 5,659 students enrolled that were using Educator. Institutional Support for Technology in the Curriculum As noted previously, the faculty are supported well in their endeavors to integrate technology into their courses. The Learning Technologies Department provides leadership, offers a wide-range of assistance, and fosters innovation in the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. In addition, Learning Technology Innovation grants are available to support the development of technology-enhanced instruction.41 Examples of Technology Integration in Individual Courses The following courses have been offered in an online format. As stated above, there were 327 sections that utilized Educator in some format in the winter semester of 2005. This indicates a substantial amount of integration taking place at a variety of levels.

• College Physics I • Engineering Physics • College Writing I • College Writing II: Literature • Introduction to Philosophy • Principles of Web Design • Business Principles/Practices • Math for Business and Industry • Business Communication • Principles of Marketing • Quality Management II • Project Management • Macroeconomics • Microeconomics • Medical Terminology

It should be repeated that the college participates in the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative in which students at any Michigan community college may enroll in any other college’s online courses. Student Use of Technology Outside of the Classroom The Valley Information Portal (VIP) is an electronic gateway to information for students, staff, and faculty. Students are able to go online through VIP and register for classes, pay tuition, check their grades, as well as access

41 http://puma.kvcc.edu/learningtech/index.asp

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CAPP, a self-counseling tool that allows students to check whether they are on the right track to graduation. Institutional Technology Advisory Council The Institutional Technology Advisory Council (ITAC) has responsibility for coordinating and planning information technology initiatives for the college. ITAC provides recommendations regarding information technologies for both administrative and academic areas that are consistent with priorities and objectives of the college and serves as a liaison with all components of the institution concerning technologies. It reviews existing operations, usage of lab/classroom facilities, computer services, media services, and telecommunications to determine future trends. In addition, ITAC develops, implements, and assesses an annual technology plan that identifies immediate and long-term information technology needs, priorities, and strategies for the college. To maximize efficiency and to avoid duplication of information technology equipment, services, and courses, ITAC considers information from budget units about purchases.42

Diversity and the Curricula KVCC acknowledges diversity in multiple ways. It is one of the general education objectives incorporated into all academic programs. KVCC participates with Western Michigan University’s Bridges Program, which is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Formally referred to as Biomedical and Behavioral Research for Underrepresented Minority Students43, this program recruits minority students from KVCC, Grand Rapids Community College, Kellogg Community College, and Lake Michigan College for lab assistantships. These assignments allow minority students to gain experience working in WMU research labs during the summer and/or with individual science faculty at their home community college during the fall and winter terms. The college has participated in this program since 1999. A preliminary report of the WMU program's outcomes can be found on their website.44 During the 2003-2004 academic year, one student worked with a KVCC biology instructor. Four students also worked at WMU during the summer of 2004. One student worked with a KVCC science instructor during the winter 2005 semester. The college’s health care programs have students participate in cultural-diversity projects. The projects may pertain to ethnic or age groups. Selected projects may be research based or experiential. Medical assistant

42 http://home.kvcc.edu/hrmain/Policy/ITplan.htm43 http://www.wmich.edu/bios/bridges/44 http://www.wmich.edu/bios/bridges/the_program.html

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technology students participate in the Head-Start Roundup each spring. Several dental hygiene students participate in Western Michigan University’s Project AGE, a collaborative learning model for providing care to diverse populations.45

Health program degrees are recognized internationally. Graduates are allowed to apply for licensure in any state and most other countries. Students are expected to master the knowledge and skills necessary for independent learning and to be prepared for life-long learning. Support for this includes the outcomes of national and regional examinations, placement ratings, results of employer surveys, and surveys conducted by college departments. The global society is addressed in many courses, not only through general education outcomes as part of multiple programs, but also as its own entity. The KVCC International Studies Program offers more than 200 internationalized course sections each semester in 18 disciplines, ranging from accounting to wellness. In the course schedules, courses with "G" designation are part of the International Program. Each year the International Studies Program sponsors 25 to 30 presentations by faculty and students who have traveled overseas for study or projects. The presentations are open to students, faculty, staff, and the community. Part of each presentation is showing and describing a country's people, natural landscape, and social-cultural issues. Attendance varies from five to as many as 60. An annual festival is organized and staged by the KVCC International Students Club. The festival has three major components: a) Exhibits from 25 to 35 countries; b) a buffet dinner of ethnic foods served in the cafeteria; and c) cultural performances of ethnic dances, music, costume showings, and poetry. Since its beginning in 1990, the festival typically sells all of the 300 tickets available. The KVCC International Studies Program and the Midwest Institute for International Studies consortium have sponsored overseas trips and collaborations in recent years with Mexico, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Vietnam, Botswana, Swaziland, South Africa, Ireland, England, and China. The college has been providing $10,000 in study-abroad scholarships, which allow five students to study or complete a project overseas.

45 http://www.wmich.edu/hhs/ProjectAGE/

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As noted elsewhere, the Texas Township Campus Diversity Committee, during its 15 years of existence, has sponsored workshops and presented cultural activities. The committee plans and conducts a major conference hosted at KVCC in the Student Commons in March of the winter semester each year. At the Arcadia Commons Campus, the Arcadia Committee on Cultural Understanding presents programs each semester that celebrate human diversity and explore the traditions of various cultures. There is continual support for student creativity and the celebration of student accomplishment and learning. Each year students enrolled in College Writing (ENG 110) and Fundamentals of English (ENG 098) are eligible to enter their writing in a literary competition and compete for $2,000 in prizes. There is also an annual competition for students enrolled in speech courses. Several hundred students compete annually. The college also funds a portion of the travel expenses for the KVCC student chapter of the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP). This funding allows more than a dozen students to participate in and compete at the AITP National Collegiate Conference each year. Student artwork is displayed in the Student Commons and at the Arcus Gallery. The college has an outstanding reputation for linking curricula/courses and extra curricular activities. For three years, faculty members have obtained grant funds to bring prominent authors to KVCC for presentations in the Student Commons. More than 1,500 students enrolled in communication courses have read an author’s work and had the opportunity of listening to and interacting with the writer. In March of 2005, students had the opportunity to hear Stuart Dybek, a Western Michigan University professor whose achievements include four O’Henry Awards, a 1998 Lannan Award, and a PEN/Bernard Malamud Prize, read from his works, to meet with him, and to discuss his short stories. The Commons Advisory Board planned and sponsored a series on “Eye on Civility and Ethics.” During the fall 2004 semester, more than 600 students read Choosing Civility: Twenty five Rules of Considerate Conduct by P.M. Forni of Johns Hopkins University. Forni visited the college for three days of presentations and discussions with students, staff, and faculty. His visit featured eight sessions, including presentations to the KVCC Board of Trustees and to the community. As part of the continuation of the “Eye on Civility and Ethics” series, Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, visited KVCC in October 2005. Faculty in several departments, including science

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and communication arts, included this book in their teaching during fall 2005. Prior to the concentration on civility, the Commons Advisory Board coordinated a two-year series of programs and workshops dealing with regional and global environmental issues. Student organizations are supported by the college. Currently, there are 14 active student organizations. The focus varies from professional to social, including groups as different as the Student Nurses Association and the Student Dance Club. Many are affiliated with outside organizations, allowing students to network and develop contacts that will last beyond graduation. Students have access to a state-of-the-art fitness center at no cost beyond the tuition and fees for their courses. Wellness and fitness services are available. Four fitness classes are routinely offered: step aerobics, yoga, Pilates, and Middle Eastern dance. They are available to students on a no-fee, drop-in basis. Core Component 4d The organization provides support to ensure that students, faculty, and staff acquire, discover and apply knowledge responsibly. Explicit Policies to Ensure Ethical Conduct Ethical behavior in all aspects of institutional life is a philosophy that permeates the culture of KVCC. In September 2004, the Board of Trustees adopted a Code of Conduct (BP 106), which is signed annually by each trustee. The board invited Dr. P.M. Forni to speak to it and lead a discussion of ethics and civility during his visit to campus in October 2004. In November 2004, the board policy on conflict of interest was updated. A conflict of interest form must be completed by each member annually. This and all board policies may be found at http://home.kvcc.edu/board/. The conflict of interest policy, including the form, is being implemented at the administrative level of the college, beginning with the president’s cabinet. The board reviews all Ends Policies throughout the year, using an audit format and looking particularly at policy compliance and risk-management issues. Board policies are further defined and implemented through Cabinet Member Operating Policies (CMOP) that are available to all faculty and staff at http://home.kvcc.edu/administration.htm. These policies speak to the

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http://home.kvcc.edu/administration.htm

responsibilities of students and employees, and assign responsibility for oversight and enforcement. The CMOPs germane to institutional ethics include:

• CMOP 3050: Intellectual Property Rights • CMOP 5010: Acceptable Use Policy for the Internet and the KVCC

Computer Network • CMOP 5020: Copyright Compliance • CMOP 2010: Conflict of Interest • CMOP 1010: Library Resources

These policies are also incorporated into other resources that are readily available to faculty, staff and students. For example, the Student Handbook includes information and enforcement steps pertaining to acceptable use of the Internet, computer resources, and intellectual property/plagiarism. The Faculty Handbook includes a segment on intellectual property rights. In addition to the standards of conduct adopted by the board structure and implemented through the cabinet, the KVCC Faculty Association has adopted a Professional Standards Code that speaks to the faculty’s responsibilities to the student and the profession, and which provides for a process for enforcement of the code. This code was adopted by the association following its development by an ethics committee in November 1999. Salient points related to students include maintenance of scholarly standards, encouraging the free pursuit of learning, grading fairly, non-discrimination, and promoting the improvement of writing, reading, and computational and critical thinking skills across the curriculum. Salient points related to the teaching profession include refusing gifts that might unduly influence, acknowledging the work of others, and promoting ethical behavior and principles of merit, responsibility and justice. Developing Skills and Attitudes Fundamental to Responsible Use of Knowledge Class time is devoted to explaining and discussing the academic process and plagiarism. Class assignment schedules delineate the plagiarism policy of the instructor, and the Student Handbook contains both the policy and the procedure followed if that policy is violated. The seriousness of plagiarism is reinforced informally by the library, when instructors bring College Writing (a required course in all programs) students there for instruction on preparing a research paper. The Writing Center, when assisting students with papers, also instructs them about the MLA and APA report formats and plagiarism.

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Relating Responsible Use of Knowledge to Practicing Social Responsibility While some of the following co-curricular and extra-curricular activities have been noted in previous sections, it is worth repeating them here to address the ties between knowledge gained in the classroom and its application outside those walls. First, the college has a sound structure in place to promote responsible use of knowledge and to encourage the practice of social responsibility as detailed in the preceding section. Second, many courses (Ethics, Great Ideas, Racial and Ethnic Relations, Contemporary Social Problems, Organizational Behavior, and Internet, Email and Front Page) address or include acceptable ethical behavior. Health career programs include an ethical component about advanced directives and “do not resuscitate” orders, as well as the importance of patient confidentiality. Several courses in communication and the social sciences infuse “service learning,” a field experience that exposes students to the value of volunteering as they actively engage in community service. A specific service learning course is required in the KVCC Honors Program curriculum that is open to all students. A suggestion from the self-study group that reviewed Core Component 4d is that additional emphasis could be placed on student volunteerism, fostering student participation in college activities and in the community. The cultivation of a sense of civic responsibility could be a future focus for the Student Commons “Eye on” series. As a commuter campus, the college faces the challenge of engaging students who must often rush from class to work to home. Finding ways to encourage and facilitate more participation is a constant quest. Specific examples of how students are encouraged to practice social responsibility are listed below:

• Honors Program: Volunteering is an essential requirement. Honors students have volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, homeless shelters, retirement homes and Saturday’s Kids, a local initiative.

• Phi Theta Kappa: Community service is a major focus for this international honors society and many volunteer opportunities are provided each year.

• KVCC Campus Band: The band presents, on average, three concerts each year as well as performing for two commencement exercises annually.

• Electronic Design Show: Open to students who are advanced in their respective new media programs, this art show is juried and open to the public.

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• Student Art Show: This juried show is open to any student. Merit awards are given by faculty members, and the show is open to the public.

• Medical Assistant Volunteers: Students in the medical assistant program participate in such co-curricular activities as the Head Start Round-up (hearing tests for pre-schoolers, assisting parents with paperwork, etc.) and a summer camp at Kalamazoo College that requires physical exams for participating schoolchildren.

• Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding: Its Mission is to ensure a comfortable social and educational environment for all students at the Arcadia Commons Campus.

• Student clubs and organizations: Each of the 15 student clubs is required to have an advisor who must follow the Advisor’s Handbook, which specifies the purpose of student activities is “to enhance the total development of the student by providing learning experiences as well as cultural, social recreational, vocational and personal growth opportunities.”

• The Eye on Ethics series has previously been noted. In summary, the college has in place well-developed and communicated policies regarding ethical conduct, intellectual property, plagiarism, and the expected social conduct of its employees and students. These policies are reinforced through the curricula as well as through co-curricular and extra-curricular assignments and activities.

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CRITERION FIVE: ENGAGEMENT AND SERVICE As a locally governed and financed institution, Kalamazoo Valley Community College has strong ties to the community. Consistent with its Mission, this implies responsiveness to local conditions and the need to build relationships based upon mutual benefit. These relationships, along with a long history of successful graduates, have positioned the college as a major contributor to the vitality of Southwest Michigan. In addition to representing the college to the Southwestern Michigan region, college representatives are involved in a variety of community-based organizations. These include quasi-governmental boards such as the Kent/Allegan Educational Advisory Group of the Workforce Development Board, Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. Advisory Board, Kalamazoo Communities in Schools Foundation Board, Kalamazoo County Safety and Justice Advisory Committee, and the Vicksburg Local Development Finance Authority. The college is also represented on various human service organizations including the Senior Companion/Foster Grandparents Program, Greater Kalamazoo Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, Michigan Prisoner Re-entry Initiative, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Poverty Reduction Initiative (Kalamazoo County), Hispanic American Council, Southwest Michigan Hispanic Network, Ecumenical Senior Center, Loaves and Fishes, and the Gospel Mission. Other community-based organizations with strong college representation include religious organizations, youth and adult sports, several rotaries, and a volunteer firefighter. Core Component 5a The organization learns from the constituencies it serves and analyzes its capacity to serve their needs and expectations. The college practices periodic environmental scanning to understand the changing needs of its constituencies and communities. Once established, scanning teams collect and assess information in the following areas:46

• Cultural Trends • Demographics • Economics and Politics • Educational Strategies • Emerging Business Markets/Trends • Technology • Workforce Development

46 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/2004-2005%20Scanning.htm

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The advisory boards for various programs also play a strong role in ensuring that the college’s constituencies are being served. These advisory boards aid in curriculum review and development. Members are drawn from the ranks of community practitioners. These individuals provide valuable regional information about potential employment, required skills, and evolving trend. This strategy also plays a role in assessing outcomes and evaluating the effectiveness of programs in providing quality workers. The college’s commitment to diversity is consistent with the constituencies it serves. This commitment is reflected in its activities and in the student organizations it fosters and supports. Examples of the college’s commitment to diversity include:

• The annual Diversity Conference • The Texas Township Campus Diversity Committee47 • The Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding • Brother2Brother Program • The Midwest Institute for International Studies48 • The International Studies Program • Kalamazoo Valley Museum exhibits about Hispanic Life, Native

Americans, and “Children of the World” Examples of student organizations include:

• International Club • Service Learning Club • Gay/Straight Alliance

The college partners with such regional organizations as Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Davenport University, the city of Kalamazoo, and the county of Kalamazoo to deliver diversity-related presentations and lectures to employees and the public. The most recent presentations include:

• Respecting Differences 2003: American Muslims • Respecting Differences 2004: The Illusion of Race

As most students are drawn from Southwest Michigan, they clearly present a composite of community needs. With this in mind, the college provides focused assistance and support, including academic counseling, special-needs counseling and services, career guidance and placement assessment, as well as work-study opportunities. To support these more traditional services, the college also provides assistance and support to students through:

47 http://puma.kvcc.edu/diversity/48 http://puma.kvcc.edu/midwest/

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• The Learning Centers, offering drop-in tutoring services in math, reading comprehension and writing at both the Texas Township and Arcadia Commons campuses. They also offer tips on study techniques and time management skills.49

• The Child Development Center offering childcare services while students are in class and/or studying.50

• The Focus Program and the Brother2Brother Program providing assistance in academic counseling, financial aid, time management, tutoring, course placement, career testing and transfer orientation for African-American males.

Additionally, the college has partnered with the Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to provide the unique Supported Education program at the Arcadia Commons Campus. The program provides services specially designed for students with mental illness and psychiatric disabilities. The college is committed to community involvement and has tailored its instructional programs to meet the needs of individuals and employers in Southwest Michigan. A variety of activities include:

• The Kalamazoo Valley Museum51 which hosts nationally touring exhibits

• Learning opportunities designed for senior citizens and community service workshops52

• Community outreach programs that address care for the aging, forums on the Civil War and the Great Lakes, readings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the origins of Kalamazoo County’s 16 townships, and public presentations about the value of ethics and civility in a democracy

• Volunteer opportunities that include the Domestic Violence Coalition, Children’s Advocacy Center, Milwood Animal Clinic, the Head Start Ready to Read Program at the Kalamazoo Public Library, Habitat for Humanity and Portage Outreach Center53

• Community fund-raising programs for the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, Greater Kalamazoo United Way, the March of Dimes, and the American Diabetes Association

• KVCC’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa participates in the Urban Plunge experience

• Earth Day54 • Summer camps for children

49 http://www.kvcc.edu/services/Learnctr/50 http://www.kvcc.edu/students/kiddie.htm51 http://kvm.kvcc.edu/52 http://puma.kvcc.edu/accweb/community_service.htm53 http://www.kvcc.edu/counsel/career/volunteer.htm54 http://foundation.kvcc.edu/Article-2-Earthday.html

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• KVCC Michigan Technical Education Center (M-TEC) that works in partnership with local and regional economic development agencies to assist businesses and sustain their vitality to grow

• The Center for New Media hosts the bi-annual Kalamazoo Animation Festival International55

• Serving as the sole community college member in the Core Technology Alliance that has the goal of placing the state of Michigan on the leading edge of biotechnology research and business development applications

• Other community interest events56 Core Component 5b The organization has the capacity and the commitment to engage with its identified constituencies and communities. The college serves an extremely broad and diverse population:

• Dual enrolled high school students • K-12 students • Home schooled students • High school graduates • Transfer students • Special needs students • Dual enrolled college students • Undereducated adults • Unemployed/underemployed adults • Military personnel • Adults seeking personal enrichment • Retirees • Individuals with four-year degrees needing career skills enhancement

While some students might be more difficult to categorize, all share one characteristic: the potential to enhance their lives through learning. Strong connections to area high schools and the support of community organizations provide the college with opportunities to interact with its constituencies. These opportunities occur both informally in the community and through more formalized procedures, such as:

• Rental of facilities • Breakfasts for high school counselors to update them about new

developments at KVCC • Advisory boards for all instructional programs

55 http://kafi.kvcc.edu/56 http://www.kvcc.edu/newsinfo/currentevents.asp

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• Registration procedures for both non-credit and credit courses, seminars, workshops and camps

• Articulation agreements with high schools and colleges • The Counselor Connection early alert system • Recruitment visits to Southwest Michigan high schools • Open-door admissions policy

Co-curricular activities also provide opportunities for interaction with external constituents. Examples of these include:

• Specialized summer camps for youths ages of 7 – 17 • Student organizations offering opportunities for students to participate

in growth and learning experiences by interacting with community groups57

• Leadership training activities through the Focus Program • Sponsorship of seven intercollegiate sports sanctioned by the National

Junior College Athletic Association58 and the Michigan Community College Athletic Association,59 which enables qualified and eligible students to participate in a wide range of competition and growth experiences with their peers at other community colleges60

• Athletes volunteering for the Kalamazoo Public Library’s Ready to Read program by visiting an elementary school in the Head Start program as volunteer readers

• Students engaging in required internships that place them in the community workforce. Programs with required internships/clinical components include: nursing, respiratory therapy, emergency medical technology, surgical technology, heating/ventilation/air conditioning, and automotive technology. However, internships may be arranged in any vocation, occupation or field of study through the KVCC Office of Student Employment Services.

• Students participating in a variety of service learning activities related to various programs, e.g., the Honors Program

To the degree possible, college resources support effective programs of service in which faculty, staff and students are participants and volunteers, including the American Heart Association Heart Walk, an annual fundraising event held on the Texas Township Campus and two American Red Cross blood drives that are held annually on the Texas Township Campus. Additionally, faculty and staff hold memberships of many area service clubs and organizations.

57 http://www.kvcc.edu/orgs/cluborg.htm58 http://www.njcaa.org59 http://www.mccaa.org60 http://puma.kvcc.edu/athletics/

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The college is also committed to effective programs of engagement, functioning as:

• A partner in the Kalamazoo County Poverty Reduction Initiative • A partner in the Kalamazoo County Coalition on Criminal Justice,

Project HOPE and the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Program • The chief organizer of the Southwest Michigan Hispanic Network, an

organization of more than 30 businesses, social-services agencies and educational institutions that work to better serve the region’s growing Hispanic population

• Both a partner and a host for the annual Hispanic Student Day • The host of the annual “Super Sunday” financial aid event and the

annual Greater Kalamazoo Area College Night. Both activities are open to high school and college students

Moreover, the college supports the Michigan National Guard Youth Challenge Academy through scholarships, contributions to the academy’s library, and providing an on-site computer course. Other projects currently in the planning stage further illustrate the community engagement. These include:

• KVCC actively partnering in the planning of a charter school for at-risk students in collaboration with K-12 public school and the intermediate school district

• KVCC participating in the planned revision of the Students Achieving Individual & Lifelong Skills (SAILS) program and the New City School of the Kalamazoo Public Schools

Core Component 5c The organization demonstrates its responsiveness to those constituencies that depend on it for service. Central to the college’s Mission is the provision of curriculum and support services relevant to the needs of individuals, enterprise and government. The college delivers a variety of products and services to constituents such as M-TEC clients, Kalamazoo Valley Museum visitors, area residents and businesses, as well as college employees. To best meet the needs of constituents, collaborative arrangements have been established with other post-secondary and secondary institutions. These include:

• Education for Employment collaborative with K-12 districts • Dual enrollment agreements with high schools • Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative • Focus Program • 2 + 2 agreements

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• Fire Science program is offered through a consortium • Police Academy • Articulation agreements with area secondary technical centers • Establishment of a part-time nursing program in Allegan

The most common 2 + 2 degree programs are in conjunction with Davenport University, Franklin College, Northwood University, Siena Heights University and Spring Arbor University. Workforce development agencies such as Michigan Works! use KVCC training programs that are short-term and skill-based. They are targeted primarily for dislocated workers needing to re-enter the workforce. The college partners with the University of Notre Dame to offer a certificate of executive management and with Virginia Tech to offer a project management institute certification program at the M-TEC. This focus on partnering is emphasized in the Board’s “Commitment to Excellence” that includes:61

• Developing partnerships and programs that prepare K-12 youth for a lifetime of learning

• Developing partnerships with universities to ease academic and personal transitions into baccalaureate and graduate-level programs

• Fortifying the college’s role in preparing K-12 teachers by strengthening its science, mathematical, engineering and technology programs

Over half of KVCC students participating in degree programs enroll for the purpose of transferring to a four-year institution. At the core of successful transfer experiences lies effective articulation. The college has developed transfer agreements in specific programs with almost every state university. As previously demonstrated, the grade point average of KVCC students attending four-year schools is as strong as, or stronger than, students native to those institutions. Good communications among the college’s counselors, faculty and university articulation liaisons continue. More than 110 four-year colleges and universities participate in the annual Greater Kalamazoo Area College Night held at the Texas Township Campus. Target audiences for this event are students currently enrolled in the college, students attending area high schools, and members of the community. On a regular basis throughout the academic year, college and university representatives are on campus talking with KVCC students. There are numerous on-campus activities and events in which students have an opportunity to interact with representatives from

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four-year institutions. These interactions include the sharing of information with students and, in some cases, completion and review of an application. From its beginning in 1966, the college has articulated with four-year institutions to develop transfer procedures and programs. Currently, transfer degrees are available in 28 areas of concentration, and the college has the capability to develop a transfer program tailored to any college or university. The most frequent transfer activity occurs between KVCC and WMU. The college is WMU’s largest feeder school. In the fall of 2003, WMU reported that more than 3,000 current students previously attended KVCC. Course equivalency guides and information about transfer programs are accessible to students and the general public through printed documents and web pages.62

Students who follow their personalized Curriculum Advising and Program Plan (CAPP) for transfer to a specified four-year institution are assured that courses completed with a grade of 2.0 or above will transfer.63

Articulation procedures ensure that student transcripts contain all earned academic credits recognized by the college. Articulation procedures also include formal credit agreements with four-year colleges and universities and informal procedures targeted toward students transferring into or from the college. The procedure also involves course-to-course equivalencies between the college and other two- and four-year institutions. The college’s transfer practices for student athletes are also important. The athletic director, along with the coaching staff, work to connect 80 to 100 student athletes with four-year school recruiters each academic year. KVCC has enjoyed an extremely positive community image for many years. The 2003-04 Marketing Assessment Report lists a clear strength of the college as having “strong and positive positioning in the community.” Program advisory boards are comprised of community and business leaders who meet regularly to ensure that the college’s programs are meeting the needs of employers. Further, the college conducts surveys of recent graduates and of local employers.64 Internally, relations between the college and its diverse constituencies are reflected in the range of sponsored groups and events that include:

• International Students Club

62 http://www.kvcc.edu/transfer/transerequiv.htm and http://www.kvcc.edu/careerguides/transfer.htm63 http://cp.kvcc.edu/graduation/Procedures.htm64 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/survey%20data.htm

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• TTC Diversity Committee and its annual diversity conference65 • Arcadia Committee for Cultural Understanding • Artist’s Forum • Cultural exhibits and events at the museum which have Spanish audio

tours and Spanish publications promoting the museum’s services and programs.66

The college commitment to the diversity of its constituents is also reflected in its graduation competencies, as outlined in Criterion 4. Graduation competencies are defined as core knowledge and fundamental skills and attributes that graduates should have to be an educated person and a life long learner. One of the eight competencies is “Respect for Diversity.”67

The November 2004 General Education Assessment Report lists its statement of purpose as ensuring graduation competencies are effective and being used. According to the winter 2003 general education survey of students, 74 percent indicated that having a healthy respect for diversity was a useful trait to have, and 69 percent were satisfied with their general education experiences surrounding “Respect for Diversity.”68

This respect is illustrated by the students who formed the Gay/Straight Alliance at KVCC in the fall of 2004. The group’s purpose statement defines the group as “a school club comprised of gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, questioning and straight students united to provide emotional support and education to confront discrimination and homophobia.” Values shared between the community and the college are also reflected in partnering activities. These activities include the Artists Forum, Agricultural Day, guest authors who discuss a variety of topics, bank conferences, the Kalamazoo Animation Festival International, American Red Cross blood drives, Toys for Tots collections, food drives, the Walk for Warmth for homeless people, area high schools’ science Olympiad, monthly Art Hop events in downtown Kalamazoo, a Children and Divorce program offered in conjunction with the courts, and a Community Agency Expo that focuses on what human services agencies have to offer. Community based business partnerships are also strong at KVCC. The May 2004 Workforce Development Assessment Report states: “In order to support community needs for a skilled workforce, the college will assist regional business and industry to compete in the global economy by being a

65 http://puma.kvcc.edu/diversity/66 http://kvm.kvcc.edu/67 http://home.kvcc.edu/hrmain/StffDev/Job_Aids/faculty_manual_final.pdf68 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/Planning%200405/pdfs/GenEd%200405.pdf

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proactive workforce development resource and by training and educating workers in core applied processes as defined by the area businesses.”69

There are many apprentice partnerships at the college. The skilled workers who come out of these programs contribute to the economic growth of Southwest Michigan. The main goal of these partnerships with companies is to develop and provide a customized instruction plan and an on-the-job training schedule to complement the companies’ specific work environments. After completing classes and work, the apprentice is fully skilled and receives a journeyman’s card or completion certificate from the Michigan Department of Labor.70

The college has partnerships with all economic development organizations including Southwest Michigan First, Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. and the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce. In the December 2004 Community Partnerships Assessment Report, the college indicates its commitment to making substantial contributions to the community. The outcomes section of the report states that KVCC will offer a broad range of activities to the community with the goal of maintaining or growing offerings each year. The college also has a goal of offering direct support to community-based organizations through the use of facilities.71

Illustrating partnering with community based, secondary education organizations, the KVCC director of admissions, records and registration works with the Kalamazoo Area Home School Association and the Catholic Home School Association of Kalamazoo to ease the transition to college and help their students identify classes that can be counted as both high school and college credit. The Kalamazoo Public Schools’ SAILS program brings high-risk students to the college for sampling of classes and a positive experience as they complete their high school degrees. In all cases, college relations with the community are based on fair and closely monitored procedures. The college documents and follows its policies and procedures concerning partnerships and contractual arrangements. One example is in the financial and business services unit where a detailed procurement policy is communicated, enforced and followed. The unit’s operating policies and procedures manual details bid proposal procedures, awarding of contracts, contract recordkeeping, procurement procedures, prohibited purchases, structure of the purchasing process, contractual 69 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/Planning%200405/pdfs/Workforce_Development%200405.pdf 70 http://puma.kvcc.edu/apprentice/71 http://home.kvcc.edu/ir/Planning/Planning%200304/Planning%20pdfs%200304/community_partnerships_0304.pdf

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arrangements, and the receiving/documenting of purchased items. Manuals for vendors clearly delineate rules for partnerships/contracts.72

Legal counsel has reviewed the college’s practices and procedures. An audit of financial and business services practices and records is done on a regular basis. The college demonstrates integrity as evidenced by updated conflict-of-interest policies at the board and cabinet levels. Board members are required to sign a conflict-of-interest disclosure statement annually to ensure that they do not enter into or pursue contractual arrangements that would result in personal or private gain. A similar conflict-of-interest policy is in place for cabinet members. Core Component 5d Internal and external constituencies value the services the organization provides. In almost all cases, both informal and formal feedback received by the college indicates positive perceptions of services provided and a genuine appreciation for its presence in the community. In 1995 and 2000, the college commissioned a market study to gain an understanding of how KVCC is perceived by its community constituents. In both studies, KVCC favorability ratings were among the highest of all area colleges and universities. The additional concepts of cost and convenience were examined in 2000, with the college receiving the highest ratings. A measure of overall quality was also built into the 2000 study. In this case, KVCC received lower ratings than the major public and private area universities, but notably higher than the large business college and the nearest community college.

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0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent Very Favorable 1995/2000

Davenport College

Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo Valley CC

Kellogg CC

Western Michigan Univ

Favorability of Area Institutions

20001995

Source: Clarus Corporation Community Scan 2000

Informally, community member participation on instructional advisory boards, as well as the Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s and the M-TEC’s advisory boards provide strong testimony to the value placed on KVCC’s role in the community. This is further supported by the positive perceptions provided by employers as they respond to surveys as employers of KVCC graduates. KVCC’s strong presence in the community is highlighted by its service and volunteer programs, involving a wide range of participants. Two of these programs are the Retiree Opportunities for Action and Development (ROAD) program and the Cougar Connection. The ROAD program provides senior citizens an opportunity to participate in classes and activities. They earn college credit through a Board of Trustees tuition scholarship. The Cougar Connection, a celebration that kicks off the academic year, draws upon businesses, students, and staff to help newly enrolled as well as returning students prepare for their studies. Among the most visible examples of the college’s value to the community are activities aimed at workforce development. The KVCC M-TEC, working with local businesses, the Michigan Economic Development Council, Michigan Works!, the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and Southwest Michigan First, offers the following activities:

• An “Entrepreneur Boot Camp” that utilizes chief executive officers as mentors, speakers and judges during the activity aimed at promoting start-up enterprises.

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• A Manufacturing Forum for small local manufacturers that facilitates networking and research on requested subject matters, training for employees, and business opportunities in Chinga.

• Economic development activities which include a business incubator at the M-TEC, sponsorship of business related seminars and participation in community initiatives.

• High Throughput Screening for emerging bio-science enterprises in the community and across the state.

The college also offers substantial opportunities for personal, community and social development to the community at large. Notable among these are the Artists Forum, where renowned artists are brought to the college for events and programs open to the public. As mentioned earlier, the college hosts an annual Diversity Conference, College Nights, an Employment Expo, financial aid workshops, Earth Day events, several art shows and sales (some open to local artists) and youth sports camps. Particularly noteworthy is the Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI), which offers a competitive showcase for cutting edge animation professionals, drawing entries from all over the world. Finally, the college offers its facilities for use by a wide variety of area businesses, civic, and service organizations.

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