2012-13
Research & IE - (August 1, 2013) MANAGER Worksheet
Planning for Institutional Effectiveness
This Manager’s Summary is designed to showcase the major themes from unit planning efforts. It is an opportunity to review your area
(department/division) planning and indicate the common topics that are affecting your area as a whole.
Please remember that all outcomes assessment work for courses, services, programs and general education outcomes must be recorded in
TracDat (http://tracdat.mtsac.edu/tracdat/)
When completing PIE keep the following in mind: (1) How can this help document planning and goals, (2) What is important at the
departmental level and (3) How can PIE be used to request resources? The PIE planning document should be integrated, and the different
sections should support/relate to each other.
It might be helpful to align your area goals with your Team Goals and College Goals. In this way, it creates a way for you to think hierarchically
about your departments’ work, your area’s work, and that of the Team and College. Consider minimizing the linkages to only those most
needed so as to not create confusion. You may wish to insert your area goals at the beginning of the document. To inform your goals, it may
be helpful to think of generic themes such as those related to student satisfaction, transfer, student self-efficacy, student services, curriculum,
teaching, pedagogy, student success, student learning outcomes, technology, course scheduling, staffing and professional development.
Goals can be quite broad and relate to what you would like to achieve. See college and instruction team goals as examples.
This form is not locked so that you may freely add information. Please be reasonable as your Vice President must be able to use your report
strategically.
Institutional Planning Framework
Institutional Mission
The campus is unified through its demonstrated connection to the College mission. Driven by the California Master Plan for Higher Education,
revised by the President’s Advisory Council, and approved by the Board of Trustees, it informs all planning and assessment. The mission of
Mt. San Antonio College is to welcome all students and to support them in achieving their personal, educational, and career goals in
an environment of academic excellence.
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1 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
College Themes and Goals
College themes and goals allow the campus to focus on critical issues. Articulated by the President’s Advisory Council and approved by the
Board of Trustees, they guide institutional planning and assessment processes.
To Advance Academic Excellence and Student Achievement
 Prepare students for success through the development and support of exemplary programs and services. (Goal #2)
 Improve career/vocational training opportunities to help students maintain professional currency and achieve individual goals. (Goal #3)
 Utilize assessment data to guide planning, curriculum design, pedagogy, and/or decision-making at the department/unit and institutional
levels. (Goal #14)
To Support Student Access and Success
 Increase access for students by strengthening recruitment opportunities for full participation in college programs and services. (Goal #7)
 Ensure that basic skills development support services as well as success and progression through basic skills courses are college priorities.
(Goal #10)
 Engage students in activities and programs designed to increase their term-to-term enrollment (i.e. persistence). (Goal #12)
 Ensure that curricular, articulation, and counseling efforts are aligned to maximize students' successful university transfer. (Goal #13)
To Secure Human, Technological, and Financial Resources to Enhance Learning and Student Achievement
 Secure funding that supports exemplary programs and services. (Goal #1)
 Utilize and support appropriate technology to enhance educational programs and services. (Goal #5)
 Provide opportunities for increased diversity and equity for all across campus. (Goal #6)
 Encourage and support participation in professional development to strengthen programs and services. (Goal #8)
 Provide facilities and infrastructure that support exemplary programs and consider the health and safety of the campus community. (Goal #9)
 Utilize existing resources and improve operational processes to maximize efficiency of existing resources and to maintain necessary services
and programs. (Goal #15)
 Ensure appropriate staffing to maintain necessary services and support critical functions to implement the college mission. (Goal #16)
To Foster an Atmosphere of Cooperation and Collaboration
 Improve the quality of its partnerships with business and industry, the community, and other educational institutions. (Goal #4)
 Improve effectiveness and consistency of dialogue between and among departments, committees, teams, and employee groups across the
campus. (Goal #11)
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2 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
Contact Manager: BARBARA MCNEICE-STALLARD
Area (Department/Division): RESEARCH AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Phone Ext.: 4109
Email: BMCNEICE-STALLARD@MTSAC.EDU
I.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
This exercise is not a straight copying and pasting experience from your departments’ PIEs! Identify the top 5 to 10 major thematic
accomplishments (or whatever seems reasonable for your area) from the current academic year. Use a thematic approach so as to minimize
duplication and increase coverage for all areas. For example, a common theme across many departments might be customer service as the
example notes below. Notice how the theme is not “staffing”, but rather “improved customer service.” Why? It is important to focus on the goal
or issue you are trying to change (e.g., improved customer service) and not the resource (e.g., staff) you need to achieve it. It is also important
to re-examine your last year’s PIE to see how your Future Planning Section may help you complete this Accomplishment Section. Throughout
this form, ask yourself how you are aligning your last year’s PIE with this year’s PIE? How are you demonstrating that progress is being
made?
Link each accomplishment to the most relevant college goal (there may be more than one college goal that applies, but try to keep it to the
most important one for each). Please prioritize the accomplishments. Remember, your VP has to summarize your work relative to College
Goals.
If you operate in a division office (or similarly) and have your own goals, please also include your office as a unit that is represented below
(and in other aspects of this report as needed).
College Goal
Accomplishment(s)
14
#1 Assessment: Worked with the Outcomes Coordinator and Outcomes Committee to help support and direct their work based on current
college needs (e.g., internal and external – accreditation). Worked with them on examining how to do a quality review of outcomes
assessment, how to examine what others across the nation are doing, how to re-examine the Nichols’ books on their 5-column model, and
generally how to evaluate our processes and improve upon them as needed.
8
#2 Professional Development: Provided cross training for RIE staff, sometimes with IT Department, to learn computer programming (SQL)
and data base (MS Access) techniques to interact with the multitude of data tables and millions of student data records. Also learned about
the data tables, the data elements, and how to best use them for cohort tracking projects. Our team is becoming proficient at how to use the
different tools for efficient extractions of data from the data warehouse.
15
#3 Institutional Effectiveness: Provided data for federal grant Title III&V Eligibility since a status must be met for these future federal grant
applications. Title V grant application included a plethora of data from RIE Team Members’ extraction and the Title V grant was funded and
given bonus points for its in-depth summary data and research perspective.
15
#3 Institutional Effectiveness: Provided many hours of research support to Perkins and ARISE research projects to ensure that objectives
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3 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
College Goal
Accomplishment(s)
are being met and collaborative data inquiry is being used. By following strictly what was promised in the grant, the RIE team ensures that
data is available as needed throughout the year and that the data needed for the annual and/or final reports are always easily accessible.
The most import part of their work is to gently remind the team of these original goals and keep an update on how the team can use data to
demonstrate that it is progressing toward meeting those goals.
#3 Institutional Effectiveness: Created and saw the finalization of an Administrative Policy (AP) for an Institutional Review Board (IRB),
formed the committee and began discussions on how Mt. SAC would institute an IRB.
15
II.
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONDITIONS
Consideration of internal and external conditions is the basis of area planning and assessment processes. It is a good idea to be specific
and/or draw from data where possible in this section keeping in mind that resource requests may be derived from information provided here as
well as in the next sections.
Internal Conditions - Internal conditions relate to factors within Mt. SAC that have influenced the area goal-setting process. Examples may include budget
cuts that have led to a reduction in staffing/sections or a reduction of services, lack of replacement of older computers, a new outcomes plan that has
influenced ongoing course and program assessment, and loss of faculty due to retirement. Please note those with the most significant influence. Consider
providing, at the beginning of the condition, a one- or two-word theme that relates to this condition.
(Internal conditions can include results of previous SLOs/AUOs assessment, IT data, changes in technology, changes in budget, staffing, resources,
enrollment issues, facilities issues, etc.)
Technology: Keeping up-to-date on the new software and understanding its possible uses and limitations does demand changes to staff members’ skill sets
(Banner/Argos and RDW). These changes require a significant amount of training as well as checking and re-checking of the research work before it is
released.
Efficiency: There are numerous instances whereby the skill set needed for specific projects can be gained from one particular person, but sometimes the
college’s processes do not allow for that to happen (e.g., 29 hour limit per week for professional experts or 19 hour limit for permanent part-time
employees) and/or when it does happen the changeover is somewhat disruptive because the backfill was not done in a timely manner (i.e., researcher move
to IT). Extra stress and frustration are added to the already stressed and overworked staff which creates many other problems. We have some lessons
learned from these experiences, but not so sure that new situations will be done any better. We will be more cautious and creative in our next adventures.
External Conditions – External conditions relate to factors outside of the college; e.g., statewide regulatory changes to course repeatability and mandate to
align courses with C-ID that have led to curriculum changes within the department, or changes in curriculum of courses at the 4-year level that inform how
courses should be modified locally; changes to bargaining unit agreements which affect how staff can be scheduled; state-mandated changes to
maintenance or compliance programs; and/or vendor initiated changes to software or other products the College utilizes. Please note those with the most
significant influence. Consider providing, at the beginning of the condition, a one- or two-word theme that relates to this condition.
(External conditions can include disciplinary or regulatory changes, changes in technology or legislative changes, accreditation recommendations,
enrollment issues, advisory committee input, etc. Some thematic areas might be regulatory, technology, legislative, accreditation, or advisory committee.)
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4 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
Accreditation: To maintain high standards and to adhere to all accreditation requirements more staff is needed (professional expert, faculty coordinator,
secretarial support). Faculty coordinator position is going through the faculty contract process and should begin in spring 2014. Professional expert hours
are currently is being donated by the CE department, but may change when we decide not to do a joint accreditation (which is the recommendation by D.
Burns and B. McNeice-Stallard). Secretarial support is being addressed by VPI for her department, but some support for RIE is also warranted.
Outcomes Assessment: Increasing participation in outcomes assessment on campus and the college’s need to progress toward sustainability requires an
immense amount of staffing from our office.
Grants: Grants require strong support from research for writing research grants (i.e., data, concepts, evaluation) and for conducting research for funded
grants. The RIE Department is pleased that the college continues to support having a researcher be part of the team needed to support a funded grant. Any
new researcher brought onto the team requires an intensive amount of training on the data warehouse, Banner, and Argos aspects of the data as well as
the procedures and processes. Therefore, a long-term hire is needed for each grant.
Mandates: State/Federal mandates, especially with the Student Success Scorecard and Student Success Act of 2012 (Senate Bill 1456, Lowenthal), require
that RIE re-arrange its priorities which is reasonable, however it is important for the department to provide updates to President’s Cabinet on the use of its
resources on these and other non-mandated projects.
Critical Decisions - Describe critical decisions your area made this year and the reasons for those decisions. Critical decisions are those made as a result
of internal and external conditions (e.g. decision to focus on required courses for majors and main GE courses for transfer in scheduling of classes, or
retirement of classified employees that led to decisions to hire more part-time employees and request replacement of full-time classified employees.
Include decisions and reasoning related to projects which focus on supporting or implementing.)
1. Increase Research support for outcomes assessment to align with SLO Proficiency to Sustainability: The hiring of a second full-time
Educational Research Assessment Analyst (fall 2012) allowed RIE to provide more support to outcomes assessment. Working collaboratively with the
Outcomes Coordinator and Committee, the RIE department provided more guided support for general education outcomes (GEOs). Using the work
of a professional expert, the department also provided a National view of the best practices of colleges in institutionalizing outcomes assessment. All
information is being used to re-think and add more structure to Mt. SAC’s outcomes assessment process to achieve sustainability.
2. Additional support and meetings for student services. Had initial meeting with the VP of Student Services and managers to receive input on
how to improve the process for student services outcomes. Had expanded meeting with other support services (Library, tutoring) to discuss how
the outcomes process could be made more inclusive.
3. Maximizing Technology: Several critical decisions were made to improve RIE’s use of technology.
a. Argos/RDW: RIE continued to align itself with the IT department in order to gain the necessary training on these systems. Day-to-day
access to one IT expert continues along with periodic meetings every few weeks. RIE strategically prioritizes projects and aligns those with
the training needs. A cross-training of team members continues with members working collaboratively on larger projects.
b. TracDat: The team maximized its use of information in Banner/Argos to linked to that in ePIE (TracDat) so that the two are more closely
aligned. RIE also created better aligned reports that could be used more easily by the Deans and Chairs.
c. DegreeWorks. RIE continues to work with IT to provide feedback on the degreeworks reports.
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5 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
d. Omni Update. RIE members attended training sessions and began additional use of Omni Update to manage web pages.
e. Data Element Dictionary: The RIE Team has tried many times to push into its work the further refinement of the data element dictionary
for the data warehouse. There continues, however, to be more pressing issues to the extent that each team member has become both an
expert on certain data elements as well as a generalist on others. The team will work more strategically on creating working sessions to
allow for these experts to create the data dictionary while also giving their knowledge to novices.
f. SARS: The RIE team now has better access to SARS data (i.e., counseling appointments) which allows the team to be able to better answer
related counseling questions on a cohort basis. The team also has some access to degree works data which is proving invaluable for
programs such as ARISE that need to track how many of their students have an educational plan.
III.
INFORMATION ANALYSIS
Areas should bolster their planning efforts with information, conduct appropriate analyses, and make supportable conclusions. Report the
trends you are seeing in your area, what information you used to determine those trends, and the impact of the trends on your area. This
section could be informed by department/division goals, as well as internal and external conditions. For example, you could document
courses that are impacted due to budget cuts by drawing on data about waitlisted courses or course fill rates. You could document enrollment
trends (increases/decreases) by drawing from enrollment history and course enrollment fill rates. Other data could relate to student success,
such as course and program completion, retention and transfer rates. You could document increased service offerings or impact on staff with
data related to customer satisfaction, staffing levels, service transactions, or size of service areas (increases/decreases). Staffing and
technology needs could be reflected here as well. Keep in mind that resource requests could be derived from information provided in this
section.
An example of an information analyses is noted below. Notice how the below example focuses on goals or themes and not merely
resources. The goals should be the central aspect of your discussion. The resources are what you need to accomplish the goals.
Trends (e.g., In XXX Department, course success Information source(s) used (e.g., Success and
increased by 2.4% and retention rates slipped by
Retention Rates of Sp. 2011-Sp. 2012.)
3.5%.)
Data Integrity: There continues to be issues with
some data being incorrect.
Numerous examples of projects that researchers
work on that have data issues are used for this
example such as the general education courses not
be coded correctly in the electronic system and in
the catalog.
As MIS data is used more for external accountability
and Report/Score Cards, the need for accurate data
is not only more pronounced, but also more evident
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6 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
Impact (e.g., The Department faculty retreat will
address issue of increased “W” grades.)
The College will not be represented correctly to its
constituency groups and to the Federal and State
Governments which could impact its budget and
reputation. Thus, the College should have a body
that manages the integrity of its MIS data. (see
Team Goals, IN-11 Progress/Challenges)
if inaccurate data is used because the public sees it
and the College is graded on it.
Data Inquiry: There is a need to continue to find
new ways to engage employees in examining the
data from college-wide reports.
We have gone from a campus of employees saying
“we have no data” to a campus of employees
requesting data to be part of the inquiry process.
The number of and depth of research requests has
increased exponentially to the point where we have
more complex research studies (e.g., multi-year
cohort tracking projects that require the researcher
to cross between 3+ different types of data systems
(e.g., ICCISDW, Banner/Argos, RDW) to go
backward in time by 10 years).
Employees are tending to use data/information
more for decision-making and/or to validate
already made decisions. Employees still need
guidance on how to re-think their work. Some are
focused on the resource that they need and they
make that resource central to their issue. What
should be central to their issue, however, is what
they are trying to achieve (e.g., improved student
success) and how the resource (e.g., more fulltime faculty) will allow them to achieve their
outcome.
Data Mandates: There are numerous reporting
mandates for the college that RIE supports.
More Federal and State Mandates are becoming
part of the RIE office’s duties to oversee or
coordinate (e.g., IPEDS; MIS coding).
RIE is required to put more of its time into these
mandates while its budget shrinks and its
personnel are being re-arranged (e.g., movement
of an employee to IT). The department is trying to
balance the importance of these mandates with
the importance of having valid data with its
mission which is to conduct research to improve
the College’s programs and services. Some nonmandated projects will not get completed due to
this competing interest.
IV.
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT (SLO / PLO / GEO / AUO)
The outcomes assessment process is a formal process that seeks to identify how well our students are learning and to use that data to
improve curricula, teaching, services, and student achievement.
o Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are a means to determine what students know, think, feel or do as a result of a given learning
experience.
o Program-Level Outcomes (PLOs) are a means to determine what students know, think, feel or do as a result of progress towards a
degree or certificate.
o General Education Outcomes (GEOs) are statements that define the knowledge, skills, and perspectives acquired by students who
satisfy our general education requirements.
o Administrative Unit Objectives (AUOs) are statements that concern the fundamental functions of an administrative unit and the
resulting services provided to clients.)
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7 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
The most important underlying question to answer is: What are you learning from outcome assessments that help improve student
learning/success or improve service to students or the campus community? Keep in mind that resource requests could be derived from
information provided in this section. For example, you could request tutors in the classroom based on outcome assessment data (higher
success rates in sections with tutors in the classroom). You could request additional staffing based on outcome assessment data (higher
levels of reported customer service satisfaction when custodial services are delivered daily instead of on a rotating schedule). Please use
theme areas to capture major concepts and to allow for multiple departments to be represented in one theme area. Indicate where outcomes
assessment led to resource requests and/or improved student or service success.
The RIE Department supports the role of outcomes assessment on campus with two full-time classified employees devoted to it (Daniel
Lamoree (now in IT until Dec 15, 2013) and Annel Medina) along with the director (Barbara McNeice-Stallard) who helps to oversee the
researchers, Outcomes Coordinator faculty member (J. Chevalier) and works collaboratively with the Outcomes Committee. In 2012-13, RIE
also had one external consultant (L. Umdenstock) provide national-level perspectives on outcomes assessment and a professional expert
conduct some national reviews. RIE provides support for TracDat report generation, TracDat outcomes assessment questions and inputting
(rarely needed), outcomes assessment questions/training, related research projects, sits as a voting member of the Outcomes Committee,
collaborates with administration on outcomes endeavors, and many more processes.
V.
RESOURCES NEEDED TO ACHIEVE GOALS
Resources requested should support the achievement of one or more college, team, or department goals. Resource type may be in the
following categories:




Rate Driven Increase
Instructional Equipment
Staffing
Facilities Modification




Technology: Equipment, Software, or Support
Professional Development Training
Research Support
Marketing
Resources should relate to college/instruction/department goals, and should be supported by data and evidence. Ideally speaking resource
requests should be derived from information provided in previous sections, and should reflect the values and needs of the department.
Resource requests are intended to ensure achievement of goals (e.g., use of technology to enhance student success, training to stay current
in the field and ensure excellent programs, additional staffing to ensure quality of instruction in a diversity of disciplines, faculty advisors to
promote student success and course and program completion).
We realize that for a manager prioritizing the needs below, it may be impossible for some given the timeline for the completion in August and
the fact that faculty are not available to be part of the integrated division/department priority discussions. Please do the best that you can with
the situation and to honor your team. One suggested way of completing this piece is to include all departments’ priorities as they have them
noted such that your final managers’ listing would naturally have many #1 priorities, many #2 priorities, etc. On your completed Manager PIE
Summary, please note if you will need additional time with your Division to do a finalized prioritizing of each list as the needed resource
allocation process becomes available throughout the year.
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8 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
Note: Any department with an “immediate need” for resources resulting from shortfalls in funding that, unless filled immediately,
could cause the program to cease to function should request needed funding using the Immediate Need Request Form following the
process identified in the college’s Budget Review and Development Process.
To justify the resource request, please provide supporting information under “Justification of Need,” such as relationship to college and/or
department goal(s), outcomes assessment data, or advisory committee input. Please organize requests by resource type and prioritize the
requests within each category.
Staffing
Priority #
Resource
(Be specific, but not dollar amount needed)
Justification of need
1
Permanent part-time researchers attached to grants.
Accreditation: Accreditation is focusing more on the outcomes
Yes
assessment piece. As such, it is RIE’s desire to push assessment into
many different aspects of the college’s operations including the
research and evaluation of grants as well as the normal assessment
tasks required of the College. The impact of obtaining these resources
would be improved efficiencies and increased, dramatically,
productivity. (College Goal #16)
No
1
Faculty accreditation coordinator for accreditation
Yes
Accreditation: To maintain high standards and to adhere to all
accreditation requirements more staff is needed (professional expert,
faculty coordinator, secretarial support). Faculty coordinator position is
going through the faculty contract process. This position would bridge
the gap between academics, student support services, administration,
and accreditation. (College Goal #16)
No
1
Professional expert for accreditation
Yes
Accreditation: To maintain high standards and to adhere to all
accreditation requirements more staff is needed (professional expert,
faculty coordinator, secretarial support. Professional expert is being
obtained by the CE department, but may change when we decide not
to do a joint accreditation. This position would bridge the gap between
credit and noncredit in accreditation matters and provide high-level
support for the process. (College Goal #16)
No
1
Secretarial support for accreditation
Accreditation: To maintain high standards and to adhere to all
accreditation requirements more staff is needed (professional expert,
faculty coordinator, secretarial support). Secretarial support is being
addressed by VPI for her department, but part-time support for RIE is
No
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9 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
New request
Yes
Staffing
Priority #
Resource
(Be specific, but not dollar amount needed)
Justification of need
New request
also warranted. RIE does not have any secretarial support. The impact
of this work would be improved efficiencies, more engaging materials,
and wider readability of materials. (College Goal #16)
2
Permanent part-time Classified Employee temporary
increase in hours for intensive projects
Cohort: Each year, the college provides in-depth data reports to its
Yes
district high schools. The High School Outreach Annual Reports
require intensive data work from the RIE office; this work is beyond
that regularly available from the full-time employees who are working
on other mandatory data projects. In 2012-13, we temporarily
increased the hours of one of the permanent part-timers to provide
support for this project (per the VPSS request); however the increase
in hours becomes an issue for the college’s benefits budget and needs
to be watched carefully. It is unclear as to how this process can be
done to leverage the expert skills of a permanent part-timer for a short
period of time in order to improve efficiencies without creating a longterm financial issue. (College Goal #16)
1
Overtime for full-time Classified Employees and
Professional Expert Hours (already achieved for
August-Dec, 2013)
Technology: With the reassignment of Daniel Lamoree to IT for the
decision support system, there was a need for replacement staffing
and overtime to keep his work level at a minimum to support the needs
of the college especially as it relates to basic skills and learning
outcomes. (College Goal #16)
No
Technology: Equipment, Software, Support
Priority #
Resource
(Be specific, but not dollar amount needed)
Justification of need
1
Institutional Review Board training for whole campus
including employees and students as well as off
campus researchers who wish to conduct their
research at Mt. SAC
Research Ethics: CITI online training is required so that all research
Yes
ethics trained persons understand the correct methods in conducting
research at Mt. SAC and understand the possible issues in dealing
with vulnerable populations and how to mitigate the possibility of an
adverse event happening and what to do when it does happen.
Training is for all employees, students, and outside researchers. In
2012-13, one-time funding was received from the VP of Instruction’s
discretionary money. RIE needs to request CITI funding as an ongoing
budget line item. It is critical to have this training as it ensures that we
are all aligning with and using the same rules of standard, safe
research methods and procedures. CITI training protects the college,
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10 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
New request
No
its employees, its students, and the researchers conducting the study.
It is a necessary training expense such that without it all research
should be discontinued. Annual, unlimited use cost is $2,500. (College
Goal #5)
1
IT and RIE need periodic trainings and updates on
Banner, Argos, and RDW. Without this training, the
RIE team’s job would be very difficult.
Data Systems: The College relies on its data from its transactional
Yes
system to provide its overall view of its effectiveness. Thus, the RIE
team must understand it and be able to access it accurately to help the
College with its inquiry process.
No
3
Software licensing and updates. At some point in the
future, the licenses for some software will expire. We
will make do with it for now, but in the long term we
will need the updates and there are sometimes
unforeseen software needs.
Computer Software: In order to continue with the predictive analytics
Yes
projects and to continue to service the needs of the programs and
services, the RIE team will need some monies in the next few years for
software licensing and updates. (College Goal #15)
No
Professional Development Training
Priority #
Resource
(Be specific, but not dollar amount needed)
Justification of need
1
SQL training (from IT)
Technology: Improved cohort based data collection and report writing Yes
(data blocks). Overall, to increase efficiencies. (College Goal #8)
No
3
Association of Institutional Research Conference,
Outcomes Conferences (Assessment Conference at
Cal State Conference, Assessment Institute Indiana
University, Strengthening Student Success
Conference by RP Group) (Conference and Travel)
(Conference and Travel)
Outcomes: In order to keep moving ahead with outcomes assessment Yes
it is important to continue momentum on ideas that are working well, to
improve ideas that need improving, and to gain new insights on how
others are dealing with these issues across the nation. These
conferences would allow RIE staff (and Outcomes Coordinator) indepth information about current research and assessment efforts
across the nation in higher education and how they link to
accreditation and sustainability of our outcomes efforts. (College Goal
#8)
No
2
ACCJC Site Reviewer (ACCJC)
Accreditation: Additional information for accreditation procedures and Yes
site visit. (College Goal #8)
No
VI.
New request
FUTURE PLANS
Here is your opportunity to describe your department/division’s future plans given current conditions and trends. You may draw from all
previous sections and identify the main planning themes. In this section your planning relates directly to your department/division goals.
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11 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
Please describe your area’s plans for the next 5 years given the current conditions. Please try to list only five to ten major planning themes
along with a short description of each and the connected department/division and team goals. Theme examples might include
 increased program completion;
 expanded learning community offerings; or
 increased student course success rates;
 increased student success by the creation of and strategic
use of writing or critical thinking rubrics across disciplines.
 improved customer service;
 improved or expanded staff training opportunities
 improved self-efficacy;
 the generation of additional revenue for the College or
 improved manner to gather employment rates;
reduction of expenses
 improved transfer rates;
 expanded hours of service or offer new services
 expanded course offerings or development of new courses
 expanded use of technology
or degrees to maintain exemplary programs in a diversity of
areas;
 expanded tutors in the classroom;
Once again, while you may be tempted to focus on the goal of increasing staffing, it is not a goal but rather a resource you need. What is the
goal you would achieve if you had more staff?
Future Plans
Team Goal # Department Goal (state the goal)
Improve Efficiency in Data Access and Understanding: RIE
will work with IT to continue to get the necessary training for
Banner/Argos/RDW.
IN-11
RIE-3. Models: RIE will model and implement best practices in research to
support the development of a campus-wide culture of inquiry. (Linked to
College Goals 11 and Instruction Team Goals 8.)
IN-11
Improve Use of Information for Decision Making: RIE is not
always clear how our work is being used (i.e., what is the
impact of our work). We have a standard statement that
goes on the front page of all major internally produced
documents that provides guidance to the recipient as to all
the team members inside and outside of the RIE Offices who
contributed toward the study. The description provides
direction to the reader to note these groups when they quote
the information within it. A review of the RP Group’s Inquiry
Guides will be done done to improve RIE Team members’
understanding of how to provide data to groups and how to
allow them time to reflect on it, embrace it, and use it for
improvement (or asking further research questions).
RIE-3. Models: RIE will model and implement best practices in research to
support the development of a campus-wide culture of inquiry. (Linked to
College Goals 11 and Instruction Team Goals 8.)
Improve data documentation: RIE Team needs to improve its IN-11
internal data documentation/coding. For example, when SQL
queries are created it is sometimes difficult for a second
researcher to use it when there is limited narrative describing
what each of the 2000 lines of code means.
RIE-5. Data Integrity: RIE will collect/maintain/provide useful, objective,
reliable and valid data in an understandable format to college stakeholders
with extensive measures in data integrity. (Linked to College Goals 11 and
Instruction Team Goals 8)
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Future Plans
Team Goal # Department Goal (state the goal)
IN-11
Improve Cohort Tracking Efficiency: The college’s
implementation of Banner allows different programs to create
cohorts within Banner. These cohorts are being used by IT
and RIE when they create Argos reports and run queries
against the data. Those who create the cohorts, however,
are not always understanding of the structure behind the
screens they use. For example, novices are first putting
students in to cohorts during their first semester, as should
be done, but then once the semester is over, they are
removing them from the cohort. The process is sometimes
done incorrectly which makes retrospective views of the data
impossible because the cohorts were removed. Luckily,
researchers have maintained some backup databases which
have been used to correct the situation. The RIE team will
work closely with IT during their regular meetings to
understand this issue further and create a quick how to guide
for creating and maintaining cohort groups in Banner.
VII.
RIE-3. Models: RIE will model and implement best practices in research to
support the development of a campus-wide culture of inquiry. (Linked to
College Goals 11 and Instruction Team Goals 8.)
EVALUATION OF PLANNING PROCESS
The Institutional Effectiveness Committee is interested in assessing the forms & processes that have been established for the college.
What suggestions would you offer to improve the planning process for your area?
Perhaps ask for departments to include a follow-up to the Previous Year’s Future Plans. They should, of course, be included in their accomplishments
section, but just in case…
What additional information should the College provide to assist your area?
None.
THIS REPORT IS DUE TO YOUR VP by August 2, 2013
June 28, 2013 Department documentation is completed on this form (remember TracDat must be updated for all SLOs/GEOs for courses and
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13 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary
programs [degrees/certificates]); departments notify and share report with the division office or appropriate manager and with all
members of the department. Please email a copy to your dean/director and retain a copy for department records.
August 2, 2013 Deans/managers prepare a manager’s summary of PIE, submit to appropriate Vice President, and share with department members.
September 6, 2013 Vice Presidents prepare a summary of PIE input at the team level, submit to IEC, and share with members of their team.
Fall 2013 IEC reviews all submitted Vice Presidents’ summaries and other related documents, prepares a year-end report to President’s
Advisory Council (PAC) on progress made in meeting College goals and recommendations for improvement, and communication is
given to the campus that the relevant documents are placed on the web and the next cycle is to begin. PAC will review the report and
make suggestions and approve recommended changes.
If you have questions about PIE, please direct them to Jason Chevalier (jchevalier@mtsac.edu) or research@mtsac.edu
VIII. ADDENDUM
Team Goals
Instruction Team
IN-1. Enhance communication among and between internal and external stakeholders, including students, faculty, advisory committee members, industry representatives
and the general public.
IN-2. Provide and maintain state-of-the-art instructional technology, equipment, facilities and infrastructure for safety, currency, and effectiveness and to accommodate
growth.
IN-3. Address staffing needs to maintain and enhance delivery of instruction and instructional services (including replacement, growth, and contribution to technical or
disciplinary currency.)
IN-4. Encourage and support participation of instructional personnel in ongoing professional development to improve instruction and service to students.
IN-5. Update curriculum and expand successful modes of delivery for currency and to improve effectiveness.
IN-6. Support and expand opportunities for academic enrichment, including provision of guest lecturers, visiting artists, as well as student participation in regional, state, and
national competitions and events.
IN-7. Secure funding to support ongoing operational needs of programs (supplies, accreditation, transportation, travel, etc.).
IN-8. Encourage and support unit-level participation in planning and evaluation processes including PIE, SLOs, GEOs, and accreditation self-study (to establish a culture of
meaningful assessment and documentation for both internal and accreditation purposes).
IN-9. Expand opportunities for external funding and acquisition of other supporting resources through pursuit of grants and partnerships.
IN-10. Increase support for basic skills activities that benefit an increasing number of students across the College.
IN-11. Strengthen the ability to access data on student success and achievement through the development and maintenance of effective instructional support activities and
course delivery models.
http://www.mtsac.edu/governance/committees/iec/forms.html
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14 - Mt. SAC – 2012-13 Managers’ Planning for Institutional Effectiveness (PIE) Summary