North Central State College
June 16
Category 6 Supporting Institutional Operations
6C1
6C2
6P1
North Central State College uses a variety of processes to identify the support service
needs of students. Students expect certain basic student support needs to be in place prior to
enrollment. These services include plant operations and maintenance, security and safety,
custodial services, parking, and classroom facilities. In addition, services such as library
resources, computer and Internet access and a bookstore presence are expected.
Direct Student Feedback
The primary process used to identify support service needs is obtaining direct student
feedback. Feedback is gathered most often by individual student contact. Examples of this
include the admissions intake process, the COMPASS assessment process, academic advising,
new student welcome calls, the early academic alert and mid-term deficiency process, and the
College Student Inventory (CSI) process. The application and enrollment process at the Child
Development Center is another good example.
Direct student feedback is also gathered from groups of students via external surveys
such as the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and ACT’s Faces of the Future,
and internal surveys such as a graduate evaluation of support services, student evaluations of
faculty, and surveys designed to collect student opinion on such things as the cafeteria menu,
vending choices, and intramural and extracurricular activities. The College also uses focus
groups to collect information from groups of students. A newly formed Student Government
acts as a voice to communicate needs and concerns.
Data Analysis
In addition to direct student feedback, the College also uses data analysis to identify
student support service needs. Data analysis assists in the identification of financial aid use
patterns, scholarship dollar utilization, and significant demographic trends such as first
generation college students, students employed full-time, and median age of enrolled students.
The College’s work in the Achieving the Dream national initiative has led to extensive qualitative
and quantitative data analysis, and much of this work has helped to identify support service
needs of students.
Internal Dialogue
Internal teams often help to identify student support service needs. College committees
and groups such as the Achieving the Dream Core Team, the Assessment Team, President’s
Staff, Managers Advisory Council, Academic Administrators team, Faculty Caucus and Staff
Caucus all have opportunities to provide information regarding the needs of students.
Comparison with Peers and Competitors
Finally, the College identifies support service needs of students through comparisons
with peer institutions and with competitors. This is accomplished through faculty and staff
involvement in various professional groups and organizations, both at the state and national
level. Ohio has the Higher Education Information System (HEI) which provides excellent
comparison information on a variety of state priorities for post-secondary education. College
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North Central State College
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participation in the Achieving the Dream initiative and in AQIP offers many opportunities to
network with peers and to participate in the national dialogue about promising practices in
higher education.
Category 6 Supporting Institutional Operations
6P2
North Central State College utilizes various methods to identify the administrative support
service needs of the faculty, staff, administrators and other stakeholders. Annual performance
evaluations are utilized to help determine individual needs of faculty, staff, and administrators.
A campus-wide environmental survey was conducted, in part, to identify administrative support
service needs and areas needing improvement. The President regularly holds open forums to
better inform faculty, staff, and administrators as to the current climate of higher education and
to provide an overview of the state of The College. These open forums often provide an
opportunity for individuals to raise questions or concerns and to identify service needs. College
employees are surveyed to identify administrative support service needs and have input in the
planning of faculty and staff in-service and professional development days.
Performance evaluations
Environmental surveys
Open Forums
Staff and Faculty In-Service Days
Faculty and Staff Caucus
Manager’s Advisory Council
Budget Process
Hiring Process
IT Work Request / Help Desk Process
Comparisons with peer institutions
Comparisons with competitors
Division and department meetings
Individual requests
Advisory committees
Meeting minutes
Maintenance request process
Duplicating request process
Requisition process
Financial Aid audits
Accounting audits
CDC Review reports
Category 6 Supporting Institutional Operations
6P5 – Measures of student and administrative support service processes
NC State College collects and analyzes a wide range of student and administrative
support service processes. Often, this information is used to predict staffing needs, improve
processes, and/or determine trends. Information is collected by a variety of departments
including Admissions, Student Success Center, Student Records office, Student Services,
Financial Aid, and Information Technology.
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North Central State College
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Admissions
Non-Enrolled survey – Administered each quarter to applicants who applied to the
college but did not enroll in classes. The survey is used to determine the reasons applicants did
not enroll and may identify areas or processes that need improvement.
Student Success Center
New Student Registration Evaluation – Identifies student’s comfort level with the
registration process. The evaluation helps the Student Success Center identify areas of the
process that students feel extremely comfortable with as well as items that could be improved.
Directions Program – The number of active Directions students is tracked to predict
staffing needs. Each quarter, after final grades are posted, Directions students who have
completed all requirements of the program are “promoted” and become free to register without
advisor assistance.
COMPASS / CIS Assessment Results – Results are collected and analyzed to
determine the number of students who may require developmental coursework and the number
of potential retests. This number also assists in future planning of staffing needs.
Academic Alerts – The number of alerts submitted by faculty is tracked quarterly. The
report includes the student’s name, the faculty member’s name, the course ID number, the
assigned Student Success Center advisor’s name, and the student’s final grade for the course.
The information is used to track the student’s academic success, the potential need for tutoring
by course subject, and which faculty members regularly utilize the service. The purpose of the
Academic Alert is to notify students of their current progress in a course and inform them of their
options in regards to tutoring, withdrawal, and opportunity to request an incomplete grade.
Student Records Office
Course Drop Form – Used to track reasons for withdrawal from class. This helps identify
whether the reason was personal or academic related.
Transfer Credit Turnaround Time – Reports are run on a regular basis to determine the
amount of time it takes to complete the transfer credit evaluation process. Follow-up occurs for
those transcripts that have not been evaluated in a timely fashion.
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North Central State College
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Student Services
Graduate Survey – Quarterly survey of all graduates. The survey indicates student
satisfaction with the following student services: Admissions, Financial Aid office, Student
Success Center, Student Records office, Child Development Center, Student Activities, and
Campus Recreation Center.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement Summary (CCSSE) – Standardized
survey of NC State students covering areas of: Active and Collaborative Learning, Student
Effort, Academic Challenge, Student-Faculty Interaction, Support for Learners. Results
benchmarked against peer college averages.
Financial Aid Office
Financial Aid Award Results
Information Technology Department
Help Desk Work Order Report
Network Usage Report
Pagemaster’s Usage Report
Online Registration Report
Online Application Report
Category 6 Supporting Institutional Operations
6R1
An assortment of methods for identifying and collecting information regarding the
support service needs of students have produced a range of results, as described below.
Direct Student Feedback
Information gathered from students has produced results in a variety of support areas
and services:
 Increased bus and taxi transportation services for Mansfield area students.
 Provision of free personal counseling and testing for learning disabilities.
 Campus Life and student activities commitment to providing more family-oriented
programming.
 Increase in peer and professional tutoring services.
 Teaching Learning Technology Roundtable team’s work on providing information
and tools to shrink the “digital divide” among students.
 Institutional commitment to provide more distance learning / distance support
opportunities for students.
 Increased access to online services such as registration, payment, class
availability, graduation audit, course grades, and educational records.
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North Central State College

II.
June 16
Enhancements to the number and types of payment options available
Data Analysis
Information obtained through data analysis has produced results in a variety of support
service processes.
 Achieving the Dream data analysis has established three priorities. They are to
improve student success in developmental courses, to improve student success
in “gatekeeper” courses, and to improve student persistence (both term to term
and year to year).
 Analysis on the younger median age of students has led to in-service training on
working with “Generation Next.”
 Analysis of scholarship utilization led to the creation of institutionally-funded
scholarships that provided better access and support to a larger cohort of
prospective students.
III.
Internal Dialogue
Internal dialogue has produced results in regard to support services for students.
 Extensive process mapping resulted in a restructuring and realignment of support
service offices and staff.
 New student advising responsibilities were redistributed as a result of process
mapping.
 A Welcome Center was created in the Kee Hall One Stop Service Center for
students.
 Maintaining wait lists for health science programs became the responsibility of
the health science departments, rather than the Admissions Office.
IV.
Comparison with Peers and Competitors
Information gained via comparison with peers and competitors has resulted in a number
of changes to student support process.
 A student email system was created that provides email service to every enrolled
student.
 The College now maintains a student portal and receives 91% of its new student
applications via the web.
 An intensive First Year Experience course is required for all students testing into
developmental reading, writing or mathematics.
 New student orientation activities are now included in the mandatory First Year
Experience courses.
 Additional improvements to welcome and support new students and their families
are ongoing.
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