Brynn Pierce, Institutional Researcher bpierce@cocc.edu Chris Egertson, Research Analyst

1. Making Sense of Board Goals and Assessing College Efforts to Achieve Them… and doing it quickly before they change! Brynn Pierce, Institutional Researcher bpierce@cocc.edu Chris Egertson, Research Analyst cegertson@cocc.edu

2. Overview • Understanding Board Direction • Mapping College Efforts to Board Priorities • Creating “Simple” and Concise Reports • Sharing Reports with Board and College • Are the Reports Working? • Next Steps / Lessons Learned

3. Oldest Oregon community college (est. 1949) • Two campuses • Branch campus – OSU Cascades Campus • Enrollment (2008-09) • 5,175 FTE - 88% generated by credit students • 17,487 students - 52% credit students (9,075) • Two-year growth in FTE: 40%

4. 10,000 mi2 district (larger than eight US states)

5. Understanding Board Direction • Board Goals defined in early 90’s • externally focused “Because of COCC, the community will work collaboratively to achieve shared purposes.” • difficult to connect to College activities • No systematic assessment of goals • No established benchmarks • No method to measure progress/improvement • In 2003 - as part of assessment efforts – IR made first attempt at assessing Board Goals through the development of a first generation Institutional Effectiveness report

6. Understanding Board Directionthe beginning • 2003 to 2006 - 4 years of annual Institutional Effectiveness reports (Board developed Vision Concept Paper during this time to clarify Board Goals) • Institutional Research the driving force behind collecting baseline information – very few were asking for it • The product had to be good, but developing the capacity to generate the data and promoting the availability of the information was primary. • STILL… annual reports were hard to “digest” and analyze • 2006-07… still very little evidence of connecting data to planning/decision making/goal setting

7. Understanding Board Direction • Board’s establishment of 2007-09 Board Priorities lending more insight to established Board Goals • Connie Lee – Board Member, Business Consultant Assessment of Board goals Development of Board priorities

8. Mapping College Efforts to Board Priorities Mission/Vision Statement Redefines Defines Board Goals 2007-09 Board Priorities Determine Measures Progress Towards Achievement Allows for Adaption Institutional Initiatives Planning/Activities Yield Data & Analysis Inst. Effectiveness Report Based on: National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges

9. Mapping College Efforts to Board Priorities Board Priority Example: Access and Success “Continue to strengthen strategic partnerships with K-12” • Fall 2007 revised IE reporting to measure achievement of Board Priorities • Created a MAP connecting data points to new priorities • Historical baseline data • New information • Data points we WISHED we had or hoped to have in the future • March 2008 Board endorsed plan

10. Creating “Simple” and Concise Reports • Dense annual report became smaller 4-6 page information items provided to Board every other month • Developed reports to include an analysis component and be succinct and easy to read – not an easy task! • Created a draft report based on map • Used basic Excel, Word and Adobe… nothing fancy • Circulated drafts to key personnel (getting input the most difficult piece) • IR office performed final edits and disseminated to Board

11. Sharing Reports with Board and College • IE Reports are provided as Information Items on the Board Agenda – they are not presentations but may be pulled out for discussion by a Board member • Reports used occasionally by campus community (grants, press releases, etc) but not to the level we would like them to be used • IE reports are shared online: http://rap.cocc.edu/InstEffect/default.aspx

12. Are the reports working?… Board Member… Rolled out at March 2008 Board Meeting… Joyce Garrett, board member and a retired college dean, noted that the “enormity of this is amazing,” calling it among the best data for a college she has seen. Usefulness of information Value to Board decision making

13. Are the reports working?… President… DR. JIM MIDDLETONPresident since July 2004 Value to COCC More informed decision making

14. Next Steps • Prepare for possible changes for 2009-2011 • Continue to improve information and analysis • Support the Board in setting targets and using info for planning • Help tighten link between Board priorities, institutional strategic planning, and operational measurement and decision making • Increase awareness/use of information beyond the Board and executive levels

15. Lessons Learned We still have ongoing challenges… • Fear of results - perfect in the way of the good • Resources (time, data sources, etc) We have experienced great success… • Better data • Better buy-in for data-based decisions • Increased accountability • Awareness of how the “pieces” fit together

16. Questions? Brynn Pierce, Institutional Researcherbpierce@cocc.eduChris Egertson, Research Analystcegertson@cocc.edu