Draft
as of December 5 2009
COLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS
COORDINATED PLANNING COMMITTEE – OPERATING AGREEMENT
Mission
The mission of the Coordinated Planning Committee (CPC) is to implement and evaluate an
ongoing institutional strategic planning cycle in support of academic and administrative
decision making. The strategic planning cycle is data informed, inclusive, and has at its
core a mechanism to demonstrate the impact of decisions on student learning.
Vision
The CPC will create a highly visible and participatory process; involve all college personnel
in the planning process; link planning to the budget process; and create a planning process
that is regular, comprehensive and communicates results.
Scope
The CPC is one of the integrated planning committees. Among the CPC’s responsibilities
are designing and conducting 1) a collaborative strategic planning process, and 2) a
collaborative budgeting process that links the annual budget to the program review and
District planning processes, and 3) a Comprehensive Planning Document for the District.
The CPC works closely with the Program Review Committee, various planning committees,
and the Cabinet as it designs and conducts these processes.
Membership
The CPC includes a cross sectional representation of employee groups as well as student
representatives (if identified). The Committee is led by two Co-Chairs—Vice President of
Student Services and the Vice President of Instruction. Members are expected to serve a 23 year term to provide consistency among committee membership and will include:
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VPSS—Co-Chair: Keith Snow-Flamer
VPI—Co-Chair: Marjorie Carson
Faculty—Co-Chair: Vacant
BSI Coordinator: Vacant
2 Students appointed by ASCR: Polly Johns
2 Classified staff selected by the CSEA President: Tricia Hawkins and Sally Frazier
Deans: Del Norte & Mendocino Coast: Geisce Ly and Anita Janis
IR Director: Martha Davis
2 Academic Directors selected d by the VPI: Vacant
2 Student Services Staff selected by the VP SS: Geoff Cain & Sheila Hall
2 Faculty appointed by the Academic Senate: Vacant
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2 Administrative Services selected by the VPAS: Ruth Bettenhausen and Steve
Stratton
Title III Activities Director (ex officio until September, 2010): Karen Nelson
Meetings
Meetings will be set by consensus process but will be conducted at least twenty times each
calendar year. The regular meeting schedule for the calendar year will be set at the first
meeting in September; additional meetings will be set as necessary to ensure that planning
work is completed according to the planning cycle timeline.
The CPC’s meeting agendas will be posted in advance of each meeting. Meetings will be
open to anyone to attend to the public
Decision Making Process and Basic Committee Rules
The CPC will make decisions based on a majority of those members present (quorum is
50% plus one of the membership) in which decisions are a synthesis of everyone’s ideas
and incorporating everyone’s best thinking and aims for general agreement and support
among those present. Effort will be made to consider different viewpoints and integrate
them into discussions and decision making processes.
The membership shall:
 Put students’ needs above everything else.
 Be open to new ways of viewing things.
 Express opinions in ways that preserve integrity, develop mutual understanding,
and promote collaboration.
 List to all the facts and available information from different sources before making
judgments and decisions.
 Be sure all voices are heard.
 Use time efficiently and stay on task.
 Take advantage of the opportunity to communicate, to learn from each other and to
collaborate.
 Be collegial and civil.
 Accept and support consensus of decisions voted upon as final without ongoing
subsequent revisions. Recommended revisions will be put into a ongoing file for the
calendared periodic updating. on a schedule and agreed upon by the CPC thus
facilitating the CPC’s work of moving forward to completion of assignments.
Planning Principles
The CPC established the following principles to guide the annual and strategic
planning work (not listed in any priority order):
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1. The planning process and the plans that it yields will be PLO/SLO outcomes
based, learning-centered and will support the quality of the College.
2. The planning process will be collaborative by operating within the collegial
consultative structure and ensures broad-based participation and by
providing a means for stakeholder groups to be heard and to influence the
plan.
3. The process will build trust through effective communication and
negotiation, by making it safe to identify and challenge assumptions and by
supporting agreements on shared values.
4. The process will be meaningful in that it will help the College to establish a
vision of the future.
5. The process will be data-informed, using qualitative and quantitative data,
routinely reviewed as the plan is implemented, with the aim of continuous
improvement.
6. The process will have a clear cycle of activities, with a beginning and an end,
and timed and structured to coordinate well with WASC/ACCJC accreditation
requirements.
7. The process will be as simple as possible while yielding a viable plan and
integrating planning into permanent governing structures and college-wide
meetings.
8. The process will support the integration of fiscal, learning, human resources,
technology, and facilities plans with the strategic plan of the college, through
careful timing and by clearly connecting each of these plan to the College’s
Mission.
9. The process, its language, its products, and the results of the plan will be
communicated to all employees internally.
10. The process will be truly comprehensive, and will have clearly assigned roles
for individuals and groups, including students.
Communication
The CPC is committed to a collaborative process with many opportunities for involvement
for those within the college. Throughout the planning process, the CPC will hold big and
small group meetings, consultations with key constituencies, and discussions with
integrated planning committees, and the senior leadership team; all of which combine to
enable broad based participation in the various phases of creating, updating, and
evaluating the annual and strategic plans.
The Program Review Committee will share its reports, planning documents, and
recommendations with the Coordinated Planning Committee. Information and
recommendations generated by the CPC will be shared with the Vice Presidents, Budget
Planning Committee, various master planning committees, and the college community.
The CPC will also develop effective communication within the campus and community
through the following:
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The CR Website
E-mail
College and community forums and presentations
College news releases
Planning Process Activities and Outcomes
The CPC is responsible for formulating the comprehensive annual plan, communicating the
plans and evaluation processes and as well as making recommendations for prioritization
of initiatives based on various College assessment processes. The CPC solicits input from
the college governance committees and the College at large in formation and/or
modifications to the annual and strategic plans.
The CPC is also responsible for the following activities (other activities may be included as
needs arise in the planning process):
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Develop the District’s Strategic Plan after receiving input from the Education Master
Plan on the prioritized goals of the institution, both short-term and long-term.
Monitor institutional progress toward accomplishing the strategic goals and
strategies identified within the strategic plan.
Participate in the process of conducting internal and external environmental
scanning.
 Establish planning guidelines and timelines
 Analyze Action Plans
 Evaluate the integrated planning process
Develop the Annual Comprehensive Planning Document.
Work Products of the Planning Process
The CPC has named the following as the products of the planning process:
 Needs assessment/situational analysis/environmental scan, providing a common
understanding of the present and the anticipated future, including information
about our competitors and clearly defined gaps.
 Review/revise mission (the role we will play), vision, and values statements
 A set of college strategies (the ways in which we will play our role and get results),
goals (what results we want to accomplish within our role), measurable outcomes
objectives, and related activities to achieve the objectives within an agreed upon
timeframe.
 An evaluation plan, including indicators/measures of institutional effectiveness,
revised as needed, and a means of assessing the extent to which College decisions
are consistent with the plan.
 List of major decisions to be impacted by the plan, which could include decisions
such as:
o Academic program plans for new campus(es) and evolution of programs on
existing campuses
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o The goals in the College enrollment management plan
o Final proposed comprehensive planning document for submission to the vice
presidents, budget planning committee, and the master planning committees.
Integrated Planning Calendar
Fall Semester 2009
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Appoint membership
Review and approve Operating Agreement
Collaborate with PRC, PST, and integrated planning committees to review Integrated
Planning Model
Process program review information and begin developing planning documents
CPC begins process of reviewing and rewriting College mission and vision
statements
Spring Semester 2010
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CPC continues process of reviewing and rewriting College mission and vision
statements
Extensive roundtable discussions of vision and priorities; roundtables involve
faculty, trustees, staff, students, alumni, and members of broader communities
CPC completes reviewing/rewriting College mission and vision statement
CPC determines final planning priorities
CPC determines process for reviewing and revising the strategic plan
Fall Semester 2010
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Retreat: CPC and strategic-planning-process consultant
Task groups begin to define goals for each planning priority using focus groups and
roundtable discussions
Task groups write goals for each planning priority; CPC refines goals suggested by
task group
First draft of strategic plan submitted to president
Spring Semester 2011
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Overview of plan and process presented to board of trustees
Vice presidents, deans, directors, other responsible parties draft implementation
strategies and key performance indicators (KPIs); CPC refines strategies and KPIs
Second draft of plan (vision, mission, goals, and implementation strategies)
submitted to president
CPC and PRC evaluation of the planning process
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Fall Semester 2011
 CPC refines KPIs and overall plan
Spring Semester 2012
 CPC and PRC evaluation of the planning process
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