Institutional Effectiveness Committee 2023-24
Effective January 2021, the Accreditation Steering Committee will be renamed the Institutional Effectiveness Committee (IEC). The IEC will continue to be responsible for guiding Highline College through the accreditation process. (According to the NWCCU Handbook of Accreditation, this process consists of “applying evidence-informed standards and processes to support continuous improvements and promote student achievement and success” (NWCCU Handbook of Accreditation 2020). The change in name from Accreditation Steering Committee to Institutional Effectiveness Committee reflects Highline College’s goal to strengthen our approach to improving institutional effectiveness, as described in Standards 1.B.1 through 1.B.4.
Specific responsibilities of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee
1) Oversight of the Mission Fulfillment Report process
-
- Help establish objectives for core themes (or the equivalent) grounded in Highline’s commitment to equity and the college’s strategic plan
- Propose to Executive Cabinet meaningful, assessable, and verifiable metrics for each objective, including using student-level disaggregated data whenever possible
- Draft language for the Mission Fulfillment Report, including core themes, objectives, and metrics, with the goal of helping the campus understand how we are doing in meeting our mission; revise based on campus feedback and finalize for year one report; publish annual updates
- Review the MFR annually, and based on assessment results, prepare an annual report with recommendations for focus areas to campus leadership; as needed, propose updates or changes in metrics and/or objectives to Executive Cabinet
- In concert with campus leadership, engage campus stakeholders in discussion of the MFR results—results of assessments, analysis of results, steps taken to improve results
- Engage in professional development (shared readings, trainings, etc.) that keep us informed of accreditation needs and provide best practices for our charge to oversee the MFR process
- Prepare campus for the accreditation process through all the stages (year 1 to year 7)
2) Oversight of the Institutional Effectiveness Reporting
- Establish structures and practices for assessing institutional effectiveness for non-instructional programs and services
- Create and revise the IE data and plan forms in response to October 2020 NWCCU Peer Evaluator Report:
“Highline College is not consistent in effectively or comprehensively evaluating student achievement based on the assessment of program or degree outcomes, nor does the college consistently use assessment to improve academic or learning-support services to enhance student achievement”( pg. 48)
“Evident lack of long-term planning in many areas of the college creates a concern for the ability of the college to effectively reach its objectives. Employees were oftentimes unable to produce documented goals beyond one year” (pg. 51).
- Simplify the form, and highlight the twofold process of assessing last year’s performance and identifying process improvements and goals for the upcoming year.
- Review submissions in order to improve the IE planning process and structures. Then, provide and/or identify support and coaching for areas on an as needed basis in preparing reports (i.e. support the development of meaningful and verifiable metrics to guide the design, implementation, assessment, and ongoing improvement of those efforts; access the data sources we have; connect departments to campus assessment resources)
Institutional Effectiveness Membership
Representatives from each of the following areas (Academic Affairs, Administrative Services, Institutional Advancement, President’s Office (e.g. IT and HR), Equity, Diversity, and Transformation, and Student Services) will be appointed by Executive Cabinet. A representative from the Equity Task Force shall be selected by ETF. A faculty member will be selected by Executive Cabinet to chair the committee based on an open application process.
Committee Members 2022-23
- Lisa Bernhagen—Faculty Chair
- Theresa Duhart—ITS/President’s Office
- Steven Sloniker—Human Resources/President’s Office
- Dave O’Keefe— Institutional Advancement
- Rickitia Reid—Equity Task Force
- Ay Saechao—Student Services
- Jesse Aspree—Student Services
- Jamilyn Penn—Student Services
- Zack Lambert —Administrative Services
- Marco Lopez-Torres —Administrative Services
- Maribel Jimenez — Equity, Diversity, and Transformation
- Emily Coates— IR/Equity, Diversity, and Transformation
- Justin Dampeer — Academic Affairs
- Tanya Powers—Academic Affairs
- Cathy Cartwright—Academic Affairs
- Christie Knighton — Academic Affairs
- Emily Lardner—Accreditation Liaison Officer/Academic Affairs
Current Work
In summer of 2023, the IEC sent the Midcycle Report to the NWCCU. In fall 2023 we received four peer evaluators who read the report and visited with administrators and governing bodies to give feedback on Highline’s progress toward meeting the Year 7 standards and the clarity of our evidence in that regard.
With feedback from that visit and as planned, IEC and IR worked together to reduced MFR measures to only those that represent college-wide, big-picture mission fulfillment areas via the strategic goals. Items that were moved out of the MFR are assigned to departments and divisions to measure. Annual division reports and department IE Plans will record these results annually. Additionally, IEC and IR worked to align Highline’s Strategic Goals and Objectives with the measure of the MFR into one MFR document. In spring of 2024, IEC will seek approval from Exec Cabinet for the shorter MFR that is aligned under the Strategic Goals and Objectives. Higline will then have one concise document where mission fulfillment can be seen at a glance by all stakeholders.
In Winter of 2024 IEC streamlined the IE Plan forms and IE Reflection forms and provided rubrics for supervisor feedback on drafts IEC also updated the annual IE Timeline web page. IE Reflection workshops and IE Plan training will support IE departments in the spring and summer of 2024.