2. Definitions - handout
HLC and the importance of accreditation
AQIP process
KCC’s constituents, mission, vision, core
value and strategic goals
Where do employees fit in? How you can help!
Wrap Up
3. A. Higher Learning Center
B. Hydraulic Lift Chair
C. Higher Learning Committee
D. Higher Learning Commission
4. Offers accreditation for degree-granting post-
secondary educational institutions in the North
Central region of the United States.
5.
6. A. When students receive course credits
B. When a college receives course credits
C. When a college receives official approval
from HLC
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
7. Federal and State Funding
Financial Aid available
Credits will transfer
Degrees/Certificates can be conferred
8. A. So student credentials will transfer
B. So we stay in business
C. So students receive Federal Financial Aid
D. None of the above
E. All of the above
10. A. All Quality is Perfect
B. Academic Quality Improvement Program
C. Academic Quality Improvement Plan
D. None of the above
11. The Academic Quality Improvement Program
(AQIP) is one of several pathways leading to
reaffirmation of accreditation with the Higher
Learning Commission
12.
13. Action Projects
3 Action Projects required
One must be related to Helping Students
Learn
Action Project Teams report monthly to HLC
committee
Annual report due to Higher Learning
Commission
14. 2003
To improve teaching/learning through a
faculty development process.
Valuing people by improving human relation
skills throughout the institution.
Improved Process for Student Evaluation of
Classes
Developing market focused recruitment
strategies targeting recent high school
graduates
Redesign advisement and registration into a
student-centered developmental process
2005
Improvement and Alignment of Instructional
Program Assessment
2006
Assessing General Educational Outcomes
Apply Continuous Quality Improvement
Strategies for Institutional Decision-Making
Improve Communication Among KCC Staff
2009
Action Project Selection Process Revision
2010
Revise the College General Education
Outcomes
Improving and Institutionalizing KCC’s
College Leadership Development Program
(LDP)
2011
Assessing effectiveness of new personnel
evaluation forms with core values
2012
Improving the process for new employee
orientation
15. Quantum Project – Improving Processes
Across the College to Support Helping
Students Learn
Redesigning developmental education
structure, curriculum, and pedagogy
Strengthening and sustaining community
Partnerships
16. A. A leather notebook used by ITS
B. A system to report our portfolio
C. A document that tells the story of the
college
D. A stunning profile of the college
17. 1. Helping Students Learn
2. Accomplishing Distinctive
Objectives
3. Understanding Students’
and Other Stakeholder’
Needs
4. Valuing People
5. Leading and
Communicating
6. Supporting Institutional
Operations
7. Measuring Effectiveness
8. Planning continuous
Improvement
9. Building Collaborative
Relationships
1. Helping Students Learn
2. Meeting Student and
Other Key Stakeholder
Needs
3. Valuing Employees
4. Planning and Leading
5. Knowledge
Management and
Resource Stewardship
6. Quality Overview
18. Systems Portfolio
Portfolio submitted every 4 years
Questions on Process, Improvements and
Results are answered in portfolio and
evaluated on maturity level
Response by HLC – Feedback report
Continuous updating of information to HLC
committee for next Systems Portfolio
19. A. College Quality Improvement
B. College Quotient Intelligence
C. Continuous Quality Improvement
D. None of the above
E. All of the above
20. Continuous Quality Improvement
College “at large” work on improvements
Report to HLC committee; Committees share
at Days of Learning;
Spotlight department improvements in
Update
21. KCC
Employees
This means You
Responsible for: Core
Values & Helping
students learn
Students
Take classes to earn
degrees or certificates
Community
Surveyed for needs and
resources to create
partnerships and
Strategic Goals
22. A. Enhancing life through quality learning.
B. Enhancing quality of life through learning.
C. Enhancing learning for quality of life.
D. Enhancing quality of life through KCC.
23. Mission – Enhancing quality of life through learning
Vision - KCC is a flexible organization where teamwork is the
expectation and student/client success the driving force. Our
shared vision is to be a leader in creatively and rapidly
responding to our community's educational needs, emphasizing
quality, affordability and effective partnerships.
Core Values
◦ Respect, Excellence, Learning, Integrity and Collaboration
Strategic Goals – 2014-2018
◦ Create a culture of completion
◦ Promote an environment of excellence and innovation
◦ Develop career pathways in target industries
◦ Take a convening leadership role to strengthen and sustain community
partnerships
◦ Redesign college foundational coursework
24.
25. A. Get involved with committees
B. Smile, say hello, or ask may I help you?
C. Share your ideas/suggestions for
improvements
D. Go the extra step to make each KCC
student’s college experience a success
E. All of the above
26. Any idea no matter how small could affect
other areas on campus or become an Action
Project.
We want to hear about them.
The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation that was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central region, of the United States. Illinois is one of the 19 states in the region.
Karen’s notes: HLC is the group which grants the school accreditation. This allows us to operate as a college
HLC is a nationwide entity
Founded in 1895
Divided into 6 regions
Illinois is part of the North Central region and is one of 19 states in that region
This map shows the states that make up the North Central Region
C. When a college receives official approval from HLC.
Accreditation is what keeps us in business
KCC will receive Federal and State funding which assists with financial aid for the students.
Three types of financial assistance make up the majority of aid provided by the federal government and the state of Illinois: grant assistance (these do not have to be repaid), loan assistance (loans must be repaid with interest) and work study assistance (provides jobs for students on or off campus; money earned is paid direct to the student)
Course credits students earn will transfer to four-year colleges or universities
Degrees and certificates earned are credible
Karen’s notes: Accreditation is what keeps the college in business.
As an accredited institution colleges receive federal and state funding to operate. These funds allow KCC to operate.
Accreditation also allows KCC to provide financial aid to students. Three types of financial assistance are available
Grant assistance (does not have to be repaid)
Student Loans (must be repaid with interest)
Work Study
Course credits will transfer to other accredited 4 year colleges or university
Degrees and certificates are credible
E. All of the above
The Higher Learning Commission awards accreditation to institutions of higher education on a 8 year cycle which includes a review of the institutions Systems Portfolio every four years and a quality check up visit.
The Systems Portfolio tells the story of the institution through questions relating to processes, results and improvements. Some of these processes could be based on AQIP Action Projects.
Karen’s notes: Think of accreditation as a circle.
It begins with the Higher Learning Commission. HLC awards accreditation to institutions of higher education on an 8 year cycle
Kankakee Community College has chosen the AQIP path to accreditation, which focuses on continuous improvement; review of processes, receiving feedback and making changes as needed. The commitment is to process improvement and ultimately to student success. NOTE: Liz will talk more about the specific of AQIP
The Systems Portfolio is the means by which we report on projects. It will be submitted to the Higher Learning Commission for feedback to be sent back to the college. The Systems Portfolio is submitted every 4 years.
B. Academic Quality Improvement Program
The AQIP Pathway
The Academic Quality Improvement program (AQIP) is one of several pathways offered by the Higher Learning Commission leading to reaffirmation of accreditation.
KCC chose AQIP because it is based on the principles of continuous quality improvement. Its processes and requirements are designed to assist institutions in achieving quality improvement, along with reaffirming the institution’s accredited status with the Commission once every AQIP cycle.
The AQIP Pathway is an 8 year cycle leading to Reaffirmation of Accreditation.
KCC is presently in Year 7 of the cycle 2014-2015–which is to attend a Strategy Forum.
On February 18-20, a team of 7 from KCC made up of administrators and faculty attended a Strategy Forum.
The Strategy Forum brings together teams from other AQIP colleges and universities in a workshop environment to help generate new strategies and tactics for institutional improvement. Teams also give and receive constructive feedback on quality systems and input on projects that may evolve in to Action Projects.
What are Action Projects?
Action projects are a process of improvement
HLC requires institutions to have a minimum of three Action Projects to be updated and reviewed each year describing the progress of the project.
(The institution may have more than three Action Projects, but three must be updated and reported each year.)
Responses to specific questions are required in the annual update. Once a project is completed another should be ready to begin.
The annual update informs HLC about:
The progress an institution is making based on each Action Project's timelines, goals, and measures.
The problems, snags, delays and challenges an institution has encountered.
Any outstanding successes and discoveries an institution has made.
One of the three projects should be related to Helping Students Learn – Category 1 of the Systems Portfolio
KCC’s new HLC committee is requesting a monthly report from each of the Action Project teams
Action Projects over time establishes a record for quality improvement activities at KCC.
Here is a list of former Action Projects. Some of them have spanned more than one year, and you may have been involved in these Action Projects.
One Action Project that spanned more than one yearw was the development of the LDP Leadership Development Program. It was a 3 year Action Project.
In Phase I – a formal system of Leadership Development was developed
In Phase II – the effectiveness of the program was assessed and quality improvements made
In Phase III – improvements were institutionalized
Of the first 2 cohorts in the program 50% were either promoted, given expanded responsibilities, labeled as emerging leaders or assigned to organizational tasks.
One was assessing effectiveness of new personnel evaluation forms with core values. The results are employees (administrators, support staff and faculty) see the Mission, Core Values and Strategic Goals on their evaluation form and are reminded to live them in their daily tasks. Training needs are developed from the evaluations.
Another was improving the process for new employee orientation. This was developed with the help of the Employee Morale Committee, a spinoff of SPOC. New employees now spend a day learning about KCC. Department directors give presentations and a tour of the campus is included. Since February 2013 there have been 13 New Employee Orientations with 82 participants.
The Quantum Project was the result of the last Strategy Forum held in November 2010. It was to be a 5-year project aimed at improving student completion rates.
Each of the four academic divisions and eight non-instructional departments set goals to assist students’ completion of a degree or certificate.
This Project is near completion and may be closed in the fall, so another would have to be opened in its place.
The other two Action Projects (Redesigning developmental education structure, curriculum and pedagogy, and Strengthening and sustaining community partnerships) are the result of the new Strategic Goals that were approved in the fall of 2013
C. A document that tells the story of the college
The tools used to tell the story of the college are AQIP categories designed to span all areas of the college.
Systems Portfolios submitted through 2014 (including KCC’s in 2013) used nine categories. Systems Portfolios submitted in 2015 and after will be using six categories.
A Systems Portfolio tells the story of the institution. It is submitted every 4 years to the Higher Learning Commission.
Specific questions are addressed in each category on Processes, Results and Improvements and Processes and Results are assessed as to the maturity levels of Reacting, Systematic, Aligned or Integrated.
Once complete the Systems Portfolio is shared with the institution’s constituents (Faculty, staff, administrators and community members) for review.
The submitted Systems Portfolio is reviewed by the HLC and the college receives a Systems Appraisal Feedback Report. The report provided advise for ongoing improvement.
Both the Systems Portfolio and Systems Appraisal Feedback Report are available on the Institutional Research webpages.
Information for the Systems Portfolio should be continuously updated. One of the goals of the HLC committee here at KCC is to be the collection site for the updated information.
C. Continuous Quality Improvement
Employees continually work to make improvements whether alone, within a department or the college as a whole.
Reports on improvements are made to the HLC committee (by way of action projects); can be shared at department meetings; at communications committee meetings; at Days of Learning.
Improvements could be spotlighted in Update as a way to share with the rest of the college.
KCC constituents are many and varied. Employees whether administrators, faculty or support staff; students fresh out of high school, older students looking to improve job skills or the unemployed looking to learn new skills; community members – business executives or owners and your next door neighbor all contribute to KCC’s mission.
Employees are responsible for maintaining and following KCC’s Core Values and helping students learn in order to reach their goal of a degree, certificate or to finish a class. Students will take classes to earn a degree and go on to a 4-year institution or a certificate to obtain employment. Maybe they just want a class or two to improve job skills.
Community members take part in forums or advisory boards to inform KCC of their particular needs and resources to create partnerships and Strategic Goals for the college.
B. Enhancing quality of life through learning.
This chart tells the story of how the Strategic Goals align with the six AQIP categories. Faculty and Staff serve on the Committees that are formed based on the goals and Action Projects proposed to complete the goals and reported in the Systems Portfolio which leads to Student Success and Accreditation for KCC.
E. All of the above
Any idea no matter how small could mean an improvement for the college. It could be the next Action Project.
Use the Candid Comment form to submit ideas. The form is available on the website or in paper form in the College Center, the Library or outside Room L355.
Constituents (employees, students, community member) may make suggestions for improvements that could become Action Projects reported in the Systems Portfolio leading to Accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission
