1
North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
Situation Analysis
Efficient communication is necessary to carry out effective work at North Central State College.
Good communication promotes a culture that values employees and enables NC State to achieve
its strategic goals.
The College has begun to regularly collect and analyze measures of leading and communicating.
North Central State College conducted periodic surveys of the College work environment
(Gardner-Shaw Survey in 2003, Campus Quality Survey follow-up in 2005), and communication
(AQIP Communication Action Project in 2006). North Central State College’s results for leading
and communicating processes and systems are reflected in the reports’ responses to the two
assessments of satisfaction conducted in 2003 and 2005: “Assessing the Heartbeat; a report on
focus groups conducted by the Gardner Shaw Group in May 2003”. The focus groups called
attention to leadership and communication issues at the College as well as performance
management and policy management issues. It suggested changes to the strategic planning
process and improvements needed in communications.
The Campus Quality Survey conducted by Performance Horizons in April 2005 revealed several
dynamics related to organizational structure. This employee survey indicated dissatisfaction
related to employee recognition for outstanding job performance, equitable pay, and processes
for selecting, orienting, training, empowering, and recognizing employees. Communication was
highlighted as a focus area that needed further study. The largest performance gap found
through the survey referred directly to communication—problems in having effective lines of
communication between departments. In 2005, Performance Horizons Consulting Group noted
significant improvement in the results between 2003 and 2005: “There are performance gap
decreases, reflecting an increase in employee satisfaction in all eight categories,” (GardnerShaw, 2005). Since 2005, NC State College has continued to work on problems noted in
leadership and communications processes and systems. Some of the results of these ongoing
efforts include the following:
 Realignment of the Learning Division: In 2006, the academic units reporting the vice
president of learning were reorganized from seven divisions to three. This realignment
was done to strengthen lines of communication, leadership, and support.
 Strategic Planning Process: In April 2005, the Board of Trustees set goals that laid the
foundation for updating and improving the strategic planning process. In addition, the
AQIP Steering Committee, through its data mining process, identified strategic planning
as an area in need of improvement and established strategic planning as an action
project. A cross discipline, ad-hoc committee meeting from March-August 2006, selected
a model on which to base future strategic planning adapted from one used by Carroll
Community College. The strategic planning process, recommended by this committee
and adopted by the College, will better identify, prioritize and address the greatest
educational needs in our communities based on widespread stakeholder input. Since the
annual budget is tied to the plan, it will better ensure that limited resources are meeting
the most urgent needs. It also serves as an invaluable tool to communicate NC State
priorities – another area of need identified in the Campus Quality Survey. In late 2006,
the Planning Advisory Council (PAC) was formed to investigate and recommend a
number of strategic initiatives to improve the College's strategic positioning. This council
comprises fifteen representatives including College Division heads and representatives
from the now-defunct Quality Improvement Review Board (QIRB), the Assessment
Committee, the Faculty Caucus, the Adjunct Faculty, the Staff Caucus, the Managers
Advisory Council (MAC), one ex-officio member and is chaired by a full-time member of
our Faculty. In 2007, the PAC identified five strategic initiatives: Enrollment, Achieving the
Dream, Workforce Development, Development of Core Outcomes, and Further
Development of Health Care programs. The strategic initiatives identified for 2009-10
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
include: Enrollment, Achieving the Dream, Workforce Development, Academic Quality,
and Diversity. The strategic planning process is now highly participative developing
leadership and strengthening communication throughout the College community.
 Employee surveys administered during the AQIP Communication Action Project in 2006
revealed that electronic communication was the preferred primary means of campus
communication for receiving/disseminating information.
Results from the 2005 Campus Quality Survey indicate that performance gaps were in response
to the statements “It is easy to get information at this institution,” and the largest performance
gap of the survey, which states: “There are effective lines of communication between
departments.”
The report goes on to state, “Communication impacts all operating systems of an organization. It
also plays an important role in the overall atmosphere and staff morale. Thus, communication
must be considered among the highest priority areas of a campus’ quality improvement
process.”
Types of survey administration and information gathering from 2008-2010 have included
communication surveys given to the managers advisory council (MAC) and faculty caucus and
listening tours conducted by the Vice President for Learning and Chair Faculty Caucus with 27
departments/units of full and part-time faculty with two separate sessions with adjunct faculty.
The following themes emerged:
1) Faculty wants to be more involved with decisions facing their discipline and the quality of
instruction.
2) Chairs need more time and training to serve as the day-to-day managers of the
institution.
3) Clarity of roles
4) Divisions need consistent leadership and must interpret policy and procedure accurately
5) Faculty love what they do and enjoy student interaction
6) Too many college initiatives and lack of connection with what faculty do in the classroom
7) Need to establish a way to heal and move forward without losing the history of the
institution.
Short Term proposals are:
▬ Create Senior Faculty positions for all disciplines – Fall Quarter 2010
□ Position description created - Summer 2010
□ Interviews conducted by Dean & Chair – Fall 2010
□ Tentative duties include:
1. Ensure adjunct faculty are evaluated regularly
2. Make recommendations to the chair for course scheduling of adjuncts
3. Review quarter schedule before it goes live
4. Provide input to the Dean on Chair evaluation
5. Provides assistance with assessment reports
6. Re-assigned time based on the number of sections scheduled
annually
Senior Faculty Assignment Standards (based on course prefixes)
□ The purpose of this process is to provide a fair and equitable
distribution of resources for faculty coordination
□ There will be an annual review process conducted by the Dean and
Chair
□ 1 hour of release time is equivalent to 20 hours of work
□ Any requested release time above the formula amount will need to be
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
justified and approved
□ Dean and Chair will update the data each year
□ Assignments involved working during the academic year on a building
a full year Schedule
A campus-wide comprehensive policy review process began January 2010 with web access of all
policies and their status available to college community May 2010. Public access to updated
policies is slated for September 2010.
Introduction
A comprehensive communication plan will be developed under the auspices of the President’s
Office, the Office of Institutional Advancement and with the assistance of twelve faculty and staff
representatives from across the institution who will participate in five campus communication
analysis sessions. It incorporates communication channels currently in place judged to be
functional as well as new channels intended to improve existing ones.
While NC State seeks to foster a culture of inclusion in information sharing, dialogue and
decision-making, it should be noted that there may be decisions made by both the president and
the President’s Staff that cannot, by their nature, be the subject of institution-wide consensus.
Institutional Strategic Goal
Bearing testimony to the fact that internal communication is considered a high priority at NC
State, in February 2009 the Board of Trustees approved an institutional strategic plan that
includes the following values and vision statement:
Values
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Educational Excellence
Learner-Focus
Community Responsiveness
Diversity
Access
Innovation
Teamwork
Vision
North Central State College, a model college of the 21st century. Will promote a flexible and
responsive, learner-centered environment that is committed to meeting community educational
and training needs.
By offering progressive educational programs, NC State will revitalize the learning process.
We are committed to a quality faculty and staff building bridges to local communities by actively
contributing to the social, economic, educational, and cultural well-being of north central Ohio.
A goal of the North Central State College Strategic Plan, and an Academic Quality Improvement
Program (AQIP) project, is “valuing people”. The development of this internal communication
plan supports that goal.
Objective 1 of this plan addresses the one-way dissemination of information, and Objective 2
addresses institutional opportunities for dialogue and upward communication. The plan is not
intended to address the information needs of individual subgroups throughout the institution. It
assumes that the subject matter being communicated should be of interest to all NC State
employees.
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
Objective 1.
To increase NC State employee access to sufficient, consistent and timely
information regarding internal plans and actions so that they are well informed and
able to work effectively.
Strategy 1.1.
Disseminate information utilizing the organizational hierarchy
Tactic 1.1.1. Face to Face Communication in Organizational Unit Meetings
As appropriate, information and issues discussed in President’s Staff meetings is
cascaded though the system starting with weekly staff meetings conducted by senior staff
members in their respective units. Vice presidents, deans, associate deans, directors,
chairs and all others who have staff reports have responsibility for sharing/passing along
information intended to be disseminated institution-wide in a timely manner. By way of
example, the vice president for learning is a member of the President’s Staff. This
individual is responsible for seeing that the appropriate information is disseminated at the
Academic Council (AC) meeting which is attended by deans, associate deans, directors,
and the academic program chairs. The deans are responsible for disseminating the
appropriate information to all department chairs and department chairs are responsible
for passing the information to faculty at department meetings.
President’s Staff identifies the agenda items/information that should be communicated
throughout the system and vice presidents and executive director, NC State College
Foundation, are then responsible for initiating the information cascading process.
Summary 1.1 Face to Face Communications in Organizational Unit Meetings:
 President’s Staff
 Division / department
 Caucuses: Faculty / Staff / MAC
 AAUP Management & Internal Governance Council
Tactic 1.1.2. All-College Meetings
The president conducts all-college meetings at the start of the fall and during convocation
spring quarter and as is otherwise deemed necessary. These meetings convey timely
information about institutional issues, budget development, and/or give the president the
opportunity to make a “state-of-the-college” address to employees. Additionally,
scheduled open sessions “Meet with the President” are part of annual in-service
agendas.
Summary 1.1.2 All-College Meetings
All College Meetings
 Open Forum
 In-Service “Meet with the President” sessions
Strategy 1.2.
Disseminate information utilizing internal mass media
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
Tactic 1.2.1. Intranet (MyNC)
a.
NC Staff Intranet
Special tab/button MyNC login--
Mission. The MyNC Intranet is the official employee communication of North Central State
College. The purpose of MyNC is to inform employees of college business, policies, news, and
events, and provide information that helps employees fulfill the college vision, mission, core
values and strategic directions. Employees are responsible for logging into MyNC and reviewing
the information on a regular basis.
Oversight. (who?)
Circulation. MyNC is accessible only by NC State College employees with a valid login.
Frequency. Because of its Web-based nature, the Intranet is accessible at any time by
employees with a valid login. (updating? who?)
Content. Content is subject to editorial discretion in determining what is of interest to the college
community. Political advocacy is prohibited. All items are subject to editing for reasons of clarity
and space. (by who?)
NEW PROPOSED COMMUNICATION METHODS EITHER NEW TO MyNC, OR MOVED TO
MyNC ARE IN RED
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PRESIDENT’S UPDATE ….. (proposed new)
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KUDOS AND PERSONAL NEWS is good news about college employees and their
successes and achievements, both personally and professionally. (proposed new .. HR?
Marketing?)
o Due to issues of privacy, notices of illness, hospitalizations, births or deaths will
not be included unless the information is submitted or approved by a member of
the individual’s immediate family.
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DEPARTMENT NEWS is electronic newsletter information provided by college
departments about their news, services, deadlines, etc.
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News is routinely provided by the Academic Divisions (Health & Public Services;
Engineering and Workforce Technologies; Business, Liberal Arts, & Education),
and The Campus Child Development Center…(others?) (proposed added to
MyNC)
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Other departments are encouraged to provide relevant news either on a regular
or as-needed basis.
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LATEST NEWS is information that does not pertain to a specific department, or has
feature-story characteristics that appeal to the broad interests of the campus. Examples
include policies or issues under institutional review, campus improvements, or activities
taking place. (proposed new…who?)
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The IT INFORMATION tab is content provided by the IT Department and is designed to
inform and educate the campus on shortcuts, tips or updates related to the campus
technology environment. Forms and tutorials are available under this tab.
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
 HR INFORMATION provides links to the staff handbook, policies and procedures, the
human resources office, and new employee announcements.
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COMMITTEES lists all committees and membership.
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COLLEGE INITIATIVES includes strategic, organizational, and quality processes. (linked
from public pages)
Submission Instructions. News (other than communicated in Divisional/Department
newsletters) may be submitted via e-mail at any time to the director of Marketing and Creative
Services. Submissions should include the contributor’s name, department, e-mail or phone. Items
will be attributed to the contributor unless other attribution is indicated. Publication cannot be
guaranteed.
Format and Style. Posting of news is a notes-style publication. Submissions are edited for
brevity and Associated Press (AP) style.
b.
Personal Announcements
Personal Announcements are located ( where ? ) on the Intranet, and are messages that can
be targeted to employees only.
Personal Announcements are more pointed in nature than news found on the ( where ?
and may require action or immediate attention on the part of employees.
) tab
Requests for Personal Announcements should be made to the director of (Human Resources, or
director of Marketing and Creative Services). Forms for submission can be found at (…….).
Employees are responsible for logging into MyNC and viewing Personal Announcements on a
regular basis.
Tactic 1.2.2. Network Broadcast All-User E-Mail
The decision to send an all-user e-mail rather than submitting the information for the
intranet (identifier name? ) tab or a Personal Announcement is based on whether or not
the information that needs to be disseminated is time-sensitive or needs focused
attention. Employees who have information that is believed to require institution-wide
dissemination and meets either criterion should contact their immediate supervisors to
obtain approval for as well as facilitate the sending of an all-user e-mail message.
Employees are discouraged from utilizing a conglomeration of user groups as a
means of sending an e-mail message to all-users.
A list of time-sensitive events includes but is not necessarily limited to the following:
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Deaths
Crisis communication and emergency closings
IT notices about viruses or imminent problems
Power/service outages or interruptions
Public safety advisories
Parking or construction issues
Presidential messages
Other messages deemed of high importance
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
Tactic 1.2.3. Electronic Messaging Screens
The following positions have access to all campus electronic messaging screens:
director of marketing and creative services; and vice president for Institutional
Advancement. The administrative assistant to the president; and the administrative
assistants for all campus offices; and campus security, have access to specific dedicated
screens in the 24 screen rotation. Personnel representing the offices of campus
activities, campus recreation center, child development center, and food services have
access to dedicated screens within the rotation.
Access to this communication venue will vary with the planned development of the
college’s crisis communication plan.
Content information and requests for announcements maybe submitted to the director of
Marketing and Creative Services. Publication cannot be guaranteed. Forms for
submission can be found at (…..).
Tactic 1.2.4 Network Broadcast/Voice
The President’s Office, Vice President for institutional Advancement and Campus
Security will be responsible for managing general campus wide and emergency
messages on this internal communication tool, and the network specialist, and
programmer/network analyst have access in order to send/broadcast emergency
messages.
These electronic broadcast messages appear in flashing mode on all computers and
must be closed by the user.
The college voice mail system allows us to broadcast a voice message to all voice
mailboxes. Once the voice message is recorded and sent, employees will receive the
voice message and their message light on their phone will light up.
Only authorized individuals will have the capability to compose and send a broadcast
message. IT will enable those users.
Friday “Let’s have a Conversation” conference calls occur at 9:00 AM EST each Friday
September thru May and are accessible by dial-in code to all employees and guests.
The calls cover topics initiated from the president’s office and proposed by faculty/staff or
college education and economic partners.
Tactic 1.2.5. Directory of Internal Documents NEED TO COMPLETE WITH NEW POLICY
LINKS
Links to internal documents of interest to all NC State staff are located
on the F Drive (data on NCSC-office) under NC State docs.
Links to internal documents, and their location on the Intranet, include, but are not limited
to the following:
(list)
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…
…
…
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
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Links to external documents, and their location, include, but are not limited to the
following:
(list)
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…
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…
Tactic 1.2.6. President’s Annual Report
The President’s Annual Report is an internal document printed and mailed
to the homes of employees and constituents in April of each year. The report is designed
to report on the state of the institution at the end of each fiscal year.
Tactic 1.2.7 Your Career Leader
This is a magazine type publication mailed to the home of employees and constituents in
July, November, and February of each year. The publication features articles of interest
to NC State employees and constituents in a five county region.
Objective 2.
To increase NC State employee opportunities for dialogue and upward
communication so that each individual may impact the college’s efforts to achieve
its strategic goals.
Strategy 2.1.
Formalize institutional opportunities for dialogue and upward communication
Tactic 2.1.1. Review, Recommendation, Feedback/Consensus Process
While there are decisions that must be made unilaterally by the
President’s Staff as reviewed by the Board of Trustees, the college values decisionmaking at all levels and places an importance on involving affected employees in the
decision-making process when possible and appropriate. The review, recommendation,
feedback, consensus process for seeking institutional input is as follows:
a. Policies, regulations, processes or issues that may have an institution-wide
impact are discussed as an agenda item at a regular meeting of the President’s
Staff. An item is placed on the agenda by the president or by the president at
the request of another senior staff member.
b. If the agenda item is determined to have an institution-wide impact and broadbased institutional input is appropriate, the staff assigns it for review and
recommendation to an institutional unit. A unit is defined as a group that is a
constituent of the whole. The group may be an ad hoc committee, faculty
caucus, staff caucus, manager’s advisory council (MAC), internal governance
council, planning advisory council (PAC), association of professors, (AAUP), an
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
AQIP action sub-committee, an administrative unit, an advisory committee, etc.
The unit as well as the unit members may be assigned by president’s staff.
Policies are always subject to the institutional review, recommendation,
feedback, consensus cycle process.
c. Policies, regulations, processes or issues assigned to a unit for review will be
published in meeting minutes and posted on the intranet. Unit members will also
be identified in the COMMITTEES tab in order that employees may have the
opportunity to provide input early in the process.
d. After the policy, regulation, process or issue is reviewed by the institutional unit,
a document is generated by the unit.
e. The document is then circulated by the unit for institutional comment. This
circulation may include the intranet and may or may not include forums or other
communication venues. Although documents are circulated for institutional
comment, this should not be interpreted to mean that all comments or
suggestions will be integrated into the document or recommendation.
f. After the institutional comments are integrated as deemed appropriate by the
unit, the document is forwarded to the president’s staff for review.
g. After the president’s staff reviews the document or recommendation, either
consensus is reached and the document or recommendation is approved or the
document is returned to the unit for further consideration.
h. The cycle begins again until consensus is reached.
Employees may request that an item be placed on the president’s staff or other
permanent or ad hoc meeting agenda. This request should be made to and carried
forward by the immediate supervisor. Should a determination be made by the president
that the issue will not be placed on the president’s staff agenda, the supervisor will
apprise the employee as to the rationale.
Tactic 2.1.2. AAUP and Internal Governance Council Communication Liaison
In an effort to ensure that every employee at North Central State College has the
opportunity to bring ideas and issues of concern to the attention of the NC State College
administration, the presidents of the Faculty, Professional and Classified associations will
serve as communication liaisons between staff and the president of the college during
their terms of office. The communication liaison’s primary responsibility is to bring ideas,
issues and concerns to the president on behalf of individual employees and/or the
separate associations they represent who choose to utilize this venue and to follow-up
with the employee/association on a timely basis.
While members of the President’s Staff maintain an open door policy and the
communication liaison provides employee access to the president, employees with
issues and concerns are encouraged first to pursue standard administrative channels.
Tactic 2.1.3. College Forums
When there is detailed information about an issue that needs to be presented collegewide and requires the opportunity for questions and input, a forum format may be utilized.
Tactic 2.1.4. College Focus Groups
From time to time NC State will seek input from employees about
various aspects of the college. Focus groups consisting of 10 to 15 employees are
facilitated by college employees or an outside facilitator.
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North Central State College
Internal Communication Plan
Developed by Institutional Advancement/Marketing and Communications Office
DRAFT 5.09; updated 6.10
Tactic 2.1.5. Lunch with the President
Several times in the year, the president invites interested employees to lunch to discuss
specific college issues. Topics are announced prior to the event on MyNC (Intranet) or
by e-mail. This provides an excellent opportunity for two-way communication about
specific issues.
Key Performance Indicators
The key performance indicator for the effectiveness of this plan will be a reduction in the
performance gap from the Campus Quality Survey for the statement, “It is easy to get information
at this institution,” and, “There are effective lines of communication between departments.”
The action plan will include the development of written procedures for all cross-functional
operating processes. The written processes should help support more systematic
interdepartmental communication.
Conclusion
Key ingredients in developing effective communications for any organization include each
individual taking responsibility for accessing information utilizing the channels through which it is
being disseminated.
In addition to direct means of communication (person-to-person and telephone), the college
provides and expects all employees to use and to be aware of the information distributed via the
primary means of campus communication:
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Campus mail
Electronic mail and calendar
Voice mail / conference calls
MyNC Intranet
North Central State College Web site
Campus building electronic messaging screens
Official campus communication may be sent by any and/or all of these above means. All
employees are expected, on a regular basis, to accept their mail communication (campus,
electronic, voice and portal) within a reasonable time period from the date of receipt.
Employees should also make it known when a communication is not understood; and suggest
when and how information could have been communicated more effectively.
In an effort to ensure continuous quality improvement in the college’s communication efforts, an
AQIP ad hoc team will periodically be assigned by President’s Staff to review and make
recommendations regarding the Internal Communication Plan in light of the Campus Quality
Survey and other input received by the President’s senior staff throughout the year.
BEW Draft 5.09; Updated 6.10