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Strategic Plan

  1. CCRI
  2. Strategic Plan
  3. Community Engagement Resources
  4. Language Updates and Rationale

Language Updates and Rationale

Goal 1: Drive student success, experience, and completion

2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Maximize college readiness by expanding engagement with high school students and adult education students Maximize college readiness for high school students through access to dual and concurrent enrollment, academic readiness, the college application process, and FAFSA completion. There was lots of positive feedback about RI Promise and college readiness. Idea was to incorporate success strategies learned from Promise.
Assess college readiness in various ways through the use of multiple measures and Prior Learning Assessment (PLA). Assess and support college readiness for adult and English language learners in various ways including bootcamps, integration of adult education programs, and prior learning assessment. Feedback received wanted additional emphasis on the adult learner, also presented an opportunity to incorporate our adult education work here.
Deliver a holistic, student-centered system of onboarding, orientation and ongoing advising. Continue to improve orientation and onboarding so students can successfully begin class. Feedback was that original language was too wordy, updates focus on intentionality.
Continue to define and broaden efforts to improve and accelerate pathways through developmental education. Build students’ momentum through advising, academic placement, multiple measures, corequisite courses, and referral to workforce and adult education programs. Revised to reflect efforts to reduce time to completion.
Increase proactive advising, coaching, and targeted interventions to meet academic, personal, and financial student needs. We've designed programs to reduce equity gaps and want to build upon this work.
Scale caseload advising to ensure that every student has an advocate at the college. There was a lot of positive feedback about the impact of advising, recommendation is to highlight and scale it.
2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Implement guided pathways, including the establishment of meta majors. Ensure every student selects an Academic and Career Path. Lots of positive feedback about Academic and Career Paths, updated language to reflect the focus on having every student select a path. Changed term 'meta majors’ because we use Academic and Career Paths.
Create pathways that include multiple on and off ramps. Expand participation in pathways with K-12 schools, noncredit programs, and postsecondary partners that lead to graduation, transfer, and careers. Feedback received was that ‘multiple on and off ramps’ was vague and there needs to be more faculty and student awareness, edited language to be more specific.
Establish course schedules and course offerings that align with student demand and support the guided pathways structure. Increase opportunities for student exploration of Academic and Career Paths in application process, first-term courses, work-based learning experiences, and transfer and career planning. Added language to be specific about student exploration, in original language it was implied in 'on and off ramps' but wanted to highlight how students can explore paths.
Establish seamless transfer pathways for our top five transfer majors to Rhode Island College and University of Rhode Island. Drive redesigned General Education program to maximize transfer for (a minimum of) our top five transfer majors to University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College. There were questions about why only five transfer majors are listed, the reason is because this is the Office of Postsecondary Commissioner (OPC) policy, added 'a minimum of' to refect that we will work towards more. Language edited to reflect the emphasis on aligning GenEd programs and OPC policy.
2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Standardize the process of curriculum design and review to ensure quality, rigor and continuous curricular improvement. Prioritize academic program review to ensure quality, rigor, parity of outcomes, and continuous academic improvement. There were concerns about the term 'standardize' and the updated language reflects the intent to ensure learning outcomes, not to imply that all teaching should be the same.
Enhance the process for assessing student learning. Conduct annual assessment of student learning through technology-based systems. The college has made a lot of progress around enhancing the process for assessing student learning through technology systems, this tactic combines actions from two original tactics.
Develop a technology-based system to capture and analyze assessment data to inform continuous improvement of teaching practices. Provide faculty-supported professional development focused on closing equity gaps. There was feedback that faculty should be more involved with professional development, and this is happening with the creation of the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), a faculty-led PD resource among other initiatives, and wanted to highlight this here.
Implement faculty professional development program that focuses on best practices related to student engagement and active learning. Deliver high-impact teaching through various modalities that is responsive to the needs of our students. The CTE focusses on high-impact teaching, also want to highlight how we've adjusted to student need especially through the pandemic.
Foster inclusive teaching and learning environments that contain culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy. There was feedback that we want to better incorporate work to support DEI work, included tactic to address this in curriculum and pedagogy.

Goal 2: Expand partnerships and programs

2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Develop a systematic approach to understanding students' academic interests, career goals, and other non-academic needs. Empower students to identify personal, career, and economic goals. Aligned language with guided pathways framework.
Facilitate connection to employers and programs with emphasis on increased awareness of educational and employment opportunities especially for students from historically marginalized backgrounds. New tactic
Enhance institutional capacity to collect, analyze, and use labor market data to forecast workforce needs. Utilize labor market data to forecast demand, build relevant academic and workforce programming, and communicate insight with students, faculty, staff, and external audiences. Feedback received that we need to better highlight labor market information to students, faculty, and staff. Also important to highlight both academic and workforce programming as this goal relates to both.
Develop our programs in collaboration with industry and business leaders to ensure they meet current and future workforce needs. Review and strengthen curriculum by engaging college departments, advisory boards, adult education, employer partners, economic development agencies, and community organizations. Feedback about academic departments wanting to use expert advisors more, also want to include the cross-college engagement and other partners that can contribute to curriculum.
Design opportunities for more flexible programming and alternative credentials to meet student and employer needs. Increase alignment between Divisions of Academic Affairs and Workforce Partnerships to build stackable credentials that lead to program completion, advancement, and transfer. There was lots of positive feedback about coordination between academic affairs and workforce, and the development of new programs.
Align master schedules and curricular offerings with student and employment demands. Moved this strategy from Goal 1 in previous plan to streamline and reflect student and employment demands.
Build capacity to review and analyze curriculum that reflects labor market information and information about our students' needs and goals. Deliver demand-informed programs that continue to position CCRI as the leading workforce provider in the state. We have done a lot of work in this space and want to highlight our continued efforts to be the leading workforce provider.
2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Expand community partnerships to meet students' non-academic needs. Expand student services and community partnerships to remove barriers to student success by supporting financial, housing, food, childcare, transportation, mental health, and college access needs. Feedback received was to add specific language about wrap-around support.
Engage families to support community connections and deliver programs and services that champion all students’ educational and employment pursuits. New tactic
Provide students with skills to secure employment now and continue their education and growth into family-sustaining careers. Provide equitable opportunities for work-based learning, internships, and professional skills development. Incorporated focus on work-based learning and internships aligned with guided pathways framework.
Build academic, employer, and community partnerships with organizations that share our vision and strengthen our capacity across our college. Strategically engage stakeholders to promote CCRI and its value through our external relations programs. Revised to focus on external support and recognition.
Grow philanthropic resources by advancing the Foundation’s fundraising and engagement efforts to support students, alumni, faculty, staff, campuses, and college innovation. New tactic

Goal 3: Strengthen institutional effectiveness

2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Build an ongoing collegewide program devoted to enhancing collaboration and respect Provide a welcoming and inclusive environment where students, faculty, and staff can be authentic and openly learn, work, and engage. Updated language to focus on aspects of an inclusive community and learning environment.
Develop campus communities and physical spaces that enhance student experiences and promote high-quality work and serve our students. New tactic
Clarify and strengthen internal processes to ensure timely, clear communication among faculty, administration, staff and students Provide robust channels of communication to share and receive information across the college community. Feedback was that this was lengthy and lacked clarity. Updated language to focus on communication instead of process.
Advance communication, collaboration, and decision-making through shared governance. New tactic
Strengthen strategies to increase the pipeline, recruitment, and retention of diverse faculty and staff. Want to highlight efforts to have faculty and staff more representative of our student body.
2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Build a robust onboarding process for new employees that focuses on college culture, essential skills and ongoing professional development opportunities Build a comprehensive onboarding process that focuses on essential skills and college culture so faculty and staff can successfully begin work and serve students. Updated language to mirror student onboarding in Goal 1.
Provide education and training that promote shared language, behavioral norms, and concepts centered on building an inclusive and equitable culture. New tactic.
Implement a comprehensive professional development program that includes institutional and individual plans that contribute to improving the overall performance at our college Deliver professional development, trainings, and programs to meet the needs of faculty and staff. There was positive feedback about professional development already happening for faculty, with added training for staff.
Commit to providing and receiving feedback, professional development, and annual performance reviews. There were comments about having managers provide feedback to help employees develop their performance.
From the institutional to the individual level, identify goals that are clear, measurable and advance the mission of our college. Develop individual, division, and institutional goals that are aligned to the strategic plan. There were comments around desire to track performance and metrics aligned with strategic plan. In previous plan, this tactic was in strategy A, moved to B as it relates to professional development.

2018-21 Language 2022-27 Language Rationale
Utilize predictive analytics to assist in understanding our student population, their goals, and potential challenges. Use analytics to understand student needs and eliminate institutional barriers to student success. Revised to incorporate eliminating institutional barriers.
Develop a system for regularly reviewing technology and organizational operations to improve institutional efficiency and effectiveness. Regularly review organizational operations and leverage technology to ensure institutional efficiency and effectiveness. Removed language about systems to focus on task.
Develop a technology foundation that is cost-effective, secure, scalable, and responsive to the evolving needs of the organization. New tactic
Develop an annual budget process and resource allocation plan that aligns with strategic goals. Build an annual budget and sustainable financial model that supports students and aligns with strategic goals. Removed resource allocation plan because that is part of the budget.
Utilize technology for communicating organizational and individual key performance indicators. Apply data to performance metrics and regularly communicate progress towards goals. Revised to incorporate use of data and importance of regularly reporting out progress.

Question form

Do you have questions about the strategic plan or the process? Please submit questions through this form and they will be answered through direct follow up, announcement in CC Daily, or in a staff presentation.