Northwest Commission on College and University (NWCCU)
Annual Update for WSQA
Academic Year 2011-2012
College Name:
Grays Harbor College
Contact Person:
Laurie Kaye Clary
Contact Phone:
360-538-4010
Contact email:
lclary@ghc.edu
Accreditation recommendations to the
College and year of recommendation
Actions taken by the college to address
recommendations
In April 2011, Grays Harbor College
completed a Comprehensive SelfEvaluation following the new
accreditation process. The Commission
presented two recommendations in its
report following the Comprehensive
Peer Evaluation. Below is a summary of
the college’s compliance and progress to
date on those recommendations during
the 2011-2012 academic year:
Measurement/Analysis/Knowledge and
Management Strategic Planning
Recommendation:
1. The evaluators recommend that
Grays Harbor College develop a
robust system for the collection and
The first recommendation confirmed what the
college had already identified as a high priority.
As GHC prepared its 2011 Comprehensive Self1
Improvement results
analysis of appropriately defined
data to fully inform the planning
and evaluation process for the
institution, its programs and
services, as well as core theme
objectives and mission fulfillment
(3.A.3).
Evaluation, it became clear that much work was
needed to improve the collection,
dissemination, analysis and use of data. With
that work in mind, GHC applied, and was
selected, to be an Achieving the Dream (ATD)
college beginning in 2011-2012. Colleges that
participate in ATD agree to engage faculty, staff
and administrators in a process that uses data
to identify gaps in student achievement and to
implement and improve strategies for closing
those gaps. Tangible results from adopting the
ATD institutional improvement process for
student success include helping GHC transform
its culture into one that effectively uses data
and other evidence to make decisions and
evaluate effectiveness. The evidence gathered
enables the college to invest limited resources
in ways that clearly demonstrate mission
fulfillment and pay off in improved student
success.
Developing a culture of evidence was the focus
of the All College Fall Kick-Off in September
2011. After viewing student success rates
across core theme areas, faculty, staff and
administrators broke into small groups to
discuss what data would be useful in
determining how to improve those rates.
Achieving the Dream was introduced, not as a
new initiative, but as a tool and resource for
“developing a robust system for the collection
and analysis of appropriately defined data to
fully inform the planning and evaluation
process for the institution.”
Measurement/Analysis/Knowledge and
Management Strategic Planning
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The decision-making process at the College now
begins with the question “What does the data
say?” Data has been used to determine the
following:
1. Decision to hire a Student Success Coach
2. Offer “cohort” developmental math
sections
3. Implement “Fast4Ward”, a mandatory 4day new student orientation the week
before classes begin each quarter
4. Determine steps to take to address
decreasing enrollment
5. Appoint a director for Pacific County
programming
6. Update Mission Core Theme Indicators
7. Redefine “Mission Fulfillment”
8. Guide new strategic plan for 2012-2017.
Since the changes using data are designed for
implementation in 2012-2013, actual results are
not yet available.
Additional information is available in GHC’s Year
One Report for NWCCU which can be found at:
http://www.ghc.edu/admin/accreditation/0224
12.pdf
Recommendation:
2. The evaluators recommend that
Grays Harbor College develop
feedback mechanisms that more
systematically use assessment data
to improve practices and make
changes to programs and services in
support of mission fulfillment
(4.B.1).
In November 2011, the college determined that
the groups and activities developed for
Achieving the Dream could be aligned with all
planning and evaluation. At that time, the
Executive Team (E-Team) – the president; the
vice presidents for instruction, student services,
and administrative services; and the chief
officers for human resources, information
technology, and campus operations/safety and
security – worked to integrate ATD with
strategic planning, accreditation, resource
allocation, and other planning. Using the
existing framework of the Strategic Planning
Committee, the E-Team created a new College
Success Team, which met for the first time on
February 6, 2012. The College Success Team
brings together representatives from the ATD
Core Team, the ATD Data Team, the
Accreditation Steering Committee, faculty and
staff unions, all instructional divisions, student
services, administrative services, and
institutional research. This group both fulfills
and surpasses the mission of the Strategic
Planning Committee by executing ATD
strategies and using the results of those
strategies through ad hoc strategy work groups
whose targeted efforts will be used for both
strategic planning and accreditation reporting.
The alignment between the ATD “culture of
evidence” strategies and overall planning will
ensure that the mission core theme areas
remain a central focus of all College Success
Team activities.
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