Self study

Eastern Wyoming College community. Consultants were brought in for the beginning phases. The first phase was developing strategic directions the college should be involved in during the next 3-5 years, following that was the design process from which the College’s values emerged, the third phase involved a day-long in-service from which employees developed action plans for strategic objectives for the key functional areas of the College.

The key functional areas included learning, student services, college relations, administrative services, institutional effectiveness, and institutional development. Administrators from these areas continued to work with teams to then prioritize the action plans which needed to include key performance indicators.

These action plans were then aligned with the available budget which was allocated for both continuing and one-time dollars for each key functional area. A reporting process was also initiated which allowed the institution to track all of its action plans. A mid-year report is prepared each January and a final year-end report is prepared each August outlining the progress. This information is shared with the Board of Trustees and all employees at regularly scheduled in-service days. This process has been in place for two years now and while not perfect, it is tying the strategic directions to action plans and budgets. Further refinement is ongoing for both processes and information sharing.

During the 2009 year, the Wyoming Community College Commission engaged MPR Associates, Inc. to facilitate the development of a statewide strategic plan. This involved hundreds of people and numerous meetings statewide over the course of a year. The statewide groups discussed the importance of an educated citizenry and the role of the comprehensive community colleges in achieving that goal. The meetings and eventual strategic plan resulted in a comprehensive plan that focuses on eight main strategies which include student access and success, quality programs, distance learning, alignment of programs and workforce opportunities, partnerships, coordination and collaboration, adequate resources, and a system of continuous improvement. The College is in the process of embedding these eight strategies into the overall institutional strategic planning documents and processes. February of each subsequent year has been designated as “Strategic Planning Month” and involves individuals, departments, and key functional areas in developing action plans for the upcoming year. These are then prioritized by the areas and reviewed by the leadership team which also identifies overall institutional action plans and goals. The budget is developed during March through June which allows strategic planning to be integral to the budgeting process. The Board of Trustees is also involved in developing its own action plans as well as reviewing the institution’s strategic planning documents. The strategic planning process is still being refined; however, the institution believes it has improved planning processes.

2001 Comment: While EWC has made significant progress in revising its program of general education, more work needs to be done. Specific problem areas include: (a) Not all general education faculty meet the guideline of 18 graduate hours of preparation in the discipline taught; (b) Several vocational programs do not yet contain an acceptable component of general education; and, (c) Some of the general education requirements are currently met by use of developmental courses.

Response: A 2004 interim focus report was written and submitted to the Higher Learning Commission in response to this concern. The HLC response indicated that the College had adequately addressed these concerns. Eastern Wyoming College responded to this situation by involving the division chairs and program faculty in discussions and work sessions. This activity was positive, necessary program changes were accomplished, and the institutional understanding was broadened so that all general education requirements were being met by courses in the 1000 level or higher category. Additionally, faculty qualifications have continued to be reviewed by the Academic Vice President, the Associate Vice President, and Division Chairs so that all faculty members meet the definition of being qualified to carry out their duties. All programs have been mapped to see how the general education requirements are being met in 26