Annual Update Questions—Policy Review
2013
The institution's responses should be direct and factual to provide a clear picture of its progress,
accomplishments, and challenges.
1. Describe the past accomplishments and the current status of this Action Project.
Describe concrete achievements: meetings, data gathered and analyzed, plans made or
implemented, changes in processes, and measured results. If the institution hasn't made much
progress, explain why things are moving slower than planned.

This project aligns with a strategic priority in the college’s completion plan. The college is
using Completion by Design funding provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to
secure the help of Jobs for the Future in building a policy review tool. Meetings included:
o
December 12, 2012: policy review team met to discuss its charge and to begin to
examine current policies and practices.
o
February 6, 2013: campus leads met with Gretchen Schmitt from Jobs for the
Future to discuss overview of policy review process.
o
March 4-5, 2013: Associate Provost Kathleen Cleary attended the Jobs for the
Future Policy meeting in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss policy implications for the
completion agenda.
o
March 18, 2013: policy review team met with Achieving the Dream coaches Martha
Romero and Trudy Bers to discuss the role of policy in advancing the student
success agenda.
o
March 27, 2013: Kathleen Cleary had phone conference with Ruth Silon from the
Ohio Student Success Center to discuss how the policy tool would be used within
the Completion by Design Ohio cadre.
o
April 3, 2013: Gretchen Schmitt visited Sinclair for an all-day planning meeting on
the implementation of the policy tool; individual meetings included:

Welcome from campus leaders to discuss overall plan

Completion by Design’s policy work team

President Johnson to discuss institutional policy

Department Chair’s Council

Provost Council (provost, deans, and director of curriculum and
assessment)

Faculty Senate Officers
o
April 30, 2013: Completion by Design Ohio cadre retreat in Mansfield, OH. Three
sessions were devoted to state and institutional policy.
o
Ongoing, bi-weekly meetings between Kathleen Cleary and Gretchen Schmitt to
discuss statewide and institutional policy plans.
o
September 24, 2013: roll-out of policy tool and site visit from Jobs for the Future to
kick off formal process.
2. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this Action Project.
AQIP wants information about motivation and communication: how this project was kept on the
institution's priority list, how general awareness of the importance and progress of the project
was maintained, and how those working on it directly were kept active and motivated.

As noted above, the institution has involved the President, Vice Presidents, Deans,
Department Chairs, faculty and staff in the planning process for this major review of
institutional policy. Jobs for the Future is developing the framework for this project, which
includes engaging all areas of the institution including academic departments, student
services functions as well as business offices and information technology. Cross-functional
teams will include over 200 employees, who will engage in analysis and prioritization of
policy opportunities.
3. Describe the institution's next steps for this Action Project.
Be specific about the next critical steps the institution is planning to move the Action Project
ahead. If planning is vague or there is no planning at this point, explain why.

In response to the request from the Ohio Completion by Design Colleges and the Ohio
Association for Community Colleges, Jobs for the Future’s Postsecondary State Policy
Team will develop an institutional policy audit tool and review process to be used as a guide
as the cadre colleges examine their existing institutional policies and business practices.
The focus of the process will be removing barriers to student persistence and completion
and when needed, developing new policies and practices that accelerate student pathways
through programs, to completion.
The development and the execution will happen in two phases:
o
Phase 1: Jobs for the Future will develop a questionnaire/assessment tool for
small groups within departments to use when evaluating existing policies and
business processes. JFF envisions the questionnaire allowing the participants to
identify and list the policies and business processes that the faculty and staff feel
need revision. In addition, this tool will also include a scale for rating the importance
and the perceived feasibility of revising the policy/business processes.
Members of the Postsecondary State Policy Team will facilitate 1-day sessions at
each of the Ohio cadre colleges, presenting and guiding discussion of reasons for
this type of policy review as well as the context for the review at the institution. JFF
staff will facilitate the departmental breakout sessions, guiding use of the tool in real
time and prioritization of key obstacles and solutions. The information gathered
from the assessment tool will be compiled and organized and prepared for the next
phase in the process.
o
Phase 2: Once the information from the 1-day sessions is initially analyzed by JFF,
JFF staff will meet with institutional leads for each of the cadre institutions to
undertake a deeper analysis of the information based on local knowledge and to
develop a process for prioritizing a limited number of recommended changes to
institutional policies and business processes. The process will include:

Discerning between low-hanging fruit/locally controlled processes and major
institutional changes

Identifying a limited set of high-value institutional changes and prioritizing
them

Identifying the number of students impacted by each obstacle– positively and
negatively

Determining the impact of the proposed change: how many areas of the
institution will have to adjust practices as a result?

Rating the feasibility of making the change

Identifying national research supporting that change will result in better
practice/improved environment for students
Following the collaboration with the colleges, the Postsecondary State Policy Team
will develop a process and supporting documentation for the colleges to utilize as
they prioritize policy/business process changes. Cadre colleges will then work
through their internally developed policy teams to engage faculty and staff in the
development of a multi-year plan for institutional change.
4. Describe any "effective practice(s)" that resulted from the institution's work on this Action Project.
Share practices (or processes, policies, procedures, or initiatives) that could be adopted or
adapted at other institutions. AQIP is most interested in practices that would give value (better
educational services, cost-savings, improved morale, more satisfied stakeholders, etc.) to other
institutions if they copied them. If the institution's work on this project has little or no value for
other institutions, explain why.

We anticipate that the tool being created by Jobs for the Future will be scalable to other
institutions, first within Ohio and then throughout the country. This work seeks to attain
wide engagement from all levels of the college. Jobs for the Future will help navigate these
internal policy discussions, allowing the external facilitator to remain neutral through this
important vetting process. The college anticipates that a major benefit of this process will be
the creation of a central repository for all federal, state, institutional, division, department
and classroom policies, along with a vetting process to ensure that these policies align to
promote student completion at the college. Other colleges could benefit from seeing this
structured approach to capturing and evaluating existing policies, as well as identifying
additional policies for consideration.
5. What challenges, if any, still face the institution regarding this Action Project?
This is an opportunity to get constructive, actionable feedback and advice from AQIP's review
process. Use this question to specify blocks, gaps, sticking points, or problems. If the institution
has already fashioned strategies to deal with any challenges it faces, share both the challenges
and strategies for meeting them.
Given that Jobs for the Future is in the process of finalizing the tool, which Sinclair has been active in
editing and reviewing, the work is still evolving. One of the challenges that has emerged is how to define
policy, practice, and habit. This work will identify what are true federal, state, and institutional policies as
separate from existing practices and h