Page 1 Kirkwood Community College - Systems Portfolio - 9 ...Kirkwood Community College - Systems Portfolio - 9/13/2018 Page 4. workplace and societal needs, including the Liberal

Systems PortfolioKirkwood Community College

9/13/2018

Kirkwood Community College - Systems Portfolio - 9/13/2018

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1 - Helping Students Learn

1.1 - Common Learning Outcomes

Common Learning Outcomes focuses on the knowledge, skills and abilities expected of graduatesfrom all programs. The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 3.B., 3.E. and 4.B.in this section.

1P1: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for determining, communicating and ensuring the stated common learningoutcomes, and identify who is involved in those processes. This includes, but is not limited to,descriptions of key processes for the following:

Aligning common outcomes (institutional or general education goals) to the mission,educational offerings and degree levels of the institution (3.B.1, 3.E.2)Determining common outcomes (3.B.2, 4.B.4)Articulating the purposes, content and level of achievement of the outcomes (3.B.2, 4.B.1)Incorporating into the curriculum opportunities for all students to achieve the outcomes (3.B.3,3.B.5)Ensuring the outcomes remain relevant and aligned with student, workplace and societal needs(3.B.4)Designing, aligning and delivering cocurricular activities to support learning (3.E.1, 4.B.2)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess attainment of common learningoutcomes (4.B.2)Assessing common learning outcomes (4.B.1, 4.B.2, 4.B.4)

1R1: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if students possess the knowledge, skills and abilities that areexpected at each degree level? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 1P1. Alldata presented should include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results shouldalso include a brief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting thedata and how the results are shared. These results might include:

Summary results of measures (include tables and figures when possible)Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarksInterpretation of results and insights gained

1I1: IMPROVEMENT

Based on 1R1, what process improvements have been implemented or will be implemented in thenext one to three years? (4.B.3)


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Responses1P1.1 Aligning common outcomes (institutional or general education goals) to the mission,educational offerings and degree levels of the institution

The purpose for our Student Learning Outcome process is to ensure that graduates demonstrate a levelof maturity in each of the eight attributes, and by doing so, align their educational attainment with theCollege mission. The goal with implementing two Assessment Days has been to connect facultyacross all disciplines with the Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)—formerly referred to as ourGeneral Education Goals. SLO assessment is a prime example of how Kirkwood has continuallyimproved internal processes focused on helping students learn. The Curriculum and AssessmentSpecialist, a full-time faculty position with full release, has worked with program and disciplinefaculty to align common outcomes with the College educational offerings through a curriculummapping process. With the institution’s review of the mission, vision and values during the last threeyears, faculty have reconnected to the mission directly through small and large group discussions. The processes involved with the mission, vision and values review are described in Category 4.

Since the creation of the Curriculum and Assessment Specialist role in July 2013, Kirkwood hasestablished the following processes to engage in the assessment of student learning outcomes and toreview alignment with degree programs.

Program Annual UpdateProgram Curriculum MapProgram Assessment PlanGeneral Education Assessment (retired)Kirkwood SLO Assessment Process (to begin fall 2018)Kirkwood SLO Curriculum MapKirkwood SLO Assessment PlanKirkwood SLO Assessment FAQ

Assessment Days are required workdays for full-time faculty and occur prior to the start of the falland spring term. Adjunct faculty are encouraged to attend and receive a stipend for participation. Initially the purpose was to establish a common assessment vocabulary and consistent expectationsfor all programs. Subsequent days included activities to improve SLO writing, sharing of promisingassessment strategies, and more recently the differentiation between program and general educationoutcomes. Central to this activity has been cross-disciplinary faculty discussions about theassessment of student learning outcomes, and these conversations have worked to change the cultureat Kirkwood. Through these discussions, faculty share successful practices and review curriculumalignment with degree requirements. The outcome from the discussion informs curriculum changeand the overall educational experience. (3.B.1, 3.E.2)

1P1.2 Determining common outcomes

Each Kirkwood program, including Liberal Arts (which is treated as a program of study rather thanindividual disciplines) has clear, measurable program student learning outcomes (see 1P2). Facultyconversations during Assessment Days have focused on what all graduates should be able todemonstrate upon completion of a two-year degree (AA, AS, or AAS). Diploma programs wereincluded in the conversation; however, restrictions in the number of credits do not allow the Collegeto ensure all students complete courses where each of the Kirkwood SLOs is appropriately taught andstudent learning assessed. (3.B.2; 4.B.4)


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Assessment Day feedback data early in the process revealed confusion about some of the GenEdoutcomes. During spring 2017, an interdisciplinary team of faculty and administrators conducted athorough review of Kirkwood’s general education goals and objectives. Guided by the institutionalmission and the degree offerings, the team reviewed research from the Lumina Foundation, NationalInstitute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), and The Association of American Colleges toupdate and revise the general education outcomes. On Assessment Day in August 2017, the teampresented draft student learning outcomes to all faculty. Faculty then engaged in guided small-groupconversations about the proposed outcomes. Feedback to gauge appropriateness of each proposedoutcome and potentially overlooked outcomes was collected and reviewed. Based on collectedfeedback, further revisions occurred during the fall 2017 semester, culminating in the unveiling of theKirkwood Student Learning Outcomes on Assessment Day in January 2018. The SLOs areconsidered by faculty to be the common learning outcomes for all degree-seeking students. (3.B.2,4.B.4)

1P1.3 Articulating the purposes, content and level of achievement of the outcomes

In addition to crafting the Student Learning Outcome statements, the team exerted considerable effortin framing a philosophy statement to articulate the purpose of the Kirkwood SLOs. To further supporteach outcome, a rationale statement and example course activities are included.(http://www.kirkwood.edu/pdf/uploaded/1433/kirkwood_student_learning_outcomes.pdf) Theaim is to guide faculty interpretation of the outcomes, and then help in selecting or designing the mostappropriate activities to assess students’ demonstration of each outcome. As of summer 2018, aninterdisciplinary team of faculty is engaged in rubric development, and a single holistic rubric is beingdeveloped for each outcome. The AACU Value rubrics and the existing GenEd rubrics are twoprimary references. (3.B.2, 4.B.1)

1P1.4 Incorporating into the curriculum opportunities for all students to achieve the outcomes

The Kirkwood SLO assessment process requires participation by all programs, and faculty in eachprogram are responsible for creating a SLO Map for their unit. A unit is generally a program of studyor transfer interest area; however, faculty can also choose to define their unit as a set of closelyaligned programs or a discipline. For example, the College treats Liberal Arts as a set of aligneddisciplines working together to meet the course distribution requirements for the AA or AS degree. Another example might be where Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting choose to work together astheir program curriculum is closely aligned. The Kirkwood SLO Map includes all courses the unit isresponsible for creating, maintaining, and delivering at the college. Faculty apply the three-pointrating scale to communicate the extent to which each course provides opportunities for students tolearn and demonstrate, as well as faculty opportunities to assess student performance for each of theKirkwood SLOs. Courses rated the highest level are included in the unit’s assessment plan; SLOsrated at either a level two or three are also printed on the course syllabus. Each program or unit mustidentify a course within their SLO map where each of the outcomes is taught and assessed. (3.B.3,3.B.5)

1P1.5 Ensuring the outcomes remain relevant and aligned with student, workplace and societalneeds

Periodic review of the Kirkwood SLOs, the rubrics to assess each SLO, and the assessment processwill be built into future Assessment Day activities. The Assessment Champions represent eachdepartment and are available to work with faculty regularly. They review and discuss best practice asa group which helps to ensure consistency in application at the program level. Of course, programAdvisory Committees are also involved in the review of SLOs and assist with ensuring currency to


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workplace and societal needs, including the Liberal Arts Advisory Committee. (3.B.4)

1P1.6 Designing, aligning and delivering co-curricular activities to support learning

Kirkwood has widespread agreement on the difference between co-curricular and extracurricularclubs. Co-curricular clubs are those deliberately created to support an academic component orprogram. Typically, they are sponsored by an academic department or college support service area. The activities are often extensions of required academic learning and mapped to program SLOs. Theassessment of the co-curricular experiences is included within program assessment. Examples includethe Ag Business Club, Kirkwood Student Productions (part of Kirkwood’s Student Media Program),Business Professionals of America, and the Kirkwood Student Nurses Association. Extracurricularclubs often provide learning opportunities to students; however, outcome assessment is not generallya requirement. Examples include the Chess Club, Kirkwood College Democrats, Sustainable GardenClub, Philosophy Club as well as a variety of intramural activities. (3.E.1, 4.B.2)

1P1.7 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess attainment of commonlearning outcomes

Unit faculty own the curriculum and deliver the courses in their program(s). As such, the unit facultyare responsible for determining the specific assessment activity or conditions for selecting an activityin each course. This information is captured in the Kirkwood SLO Assessment Plan produced byfaculty in each unit.

In 2015 with the support of Academic Affairs administration, the Curriculum and AssessmentSpecialist devised a process to assess the existing GenEds. The primary goal was to develop a senseof ownership of the GenEd outcomes among all faculty. The assessment process started by the CAScollecting student artifacts from faculty that represented specific GenEd outcomes. The CAS thengrouped artifacts by outcome, disregarding the discipline or program where the artifact originated. On Assessment Day, all faculty were randomly assigned to work groups of 10-12 people and given aset of student artifacts to assess using the appropriate GenEd rubric. The diverse mix of facultyexpertise and varied origin of student artifacts created both opportunity and frustration. For the firsttime, all faculty were engaged in discussing and measuring the skills and competencies all studentsshould be able to demonstrate as a result of their Kirkwood education. In addition to collecting andreporting student performance relevant to the GenEds, the CAS collected faculty feedback about allaspects of the process. Many faculty reflected positively on the professional development opportunityto discuss how other disciplines help students learn skills related to each outcome as well as howfaculty from different programs interpreted the rubric and rated student artifacts.

From January 2016 to January 2017, interdisciplinary faculty groups engaged in discussion of GenEdoutcomes, rubrics, student artifacts, and expectations for proficiency. Initially faculty wereencouraged to submit one class set of student artifacts for an outcome of their choice. Eachsubsequent semester the assessment narrowed in on fewer outcomes, based on the number of artifactssubmitted and faculty feedback on the rubrics. Focusing on the outcomes for which faculty weremost comfortable identifying student artifacts promoted deeper discussion of those outcomes andallowed the process to focus on refining these assessment activities.

The Assessment Champions reviewed feedback and made significant improvements to the process.Key challenges included selection of artifacts, interpretation of the rubrics, and concern about lack ofdisciplinary expertise in interpreting student artifacts. While faculty satisfaction improved oversubsequent semesters, fundamental challenges with the process persisted. Concerns about the validityof data collected by random, non-disciplinary experts seemed to prohibit progress. To maintain the


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emphasis on student learning, in March 2017 the Assessment Champions distributed a Request forProposals to all faculty soliciting new process proposals for assessing Kirkwood’s GenEds. Fourfaculty groups submitted proposals, and the four proposals were presented to faculty on AssessmentDay in August 2017. Small groups subsequently discussed and rated various aspects of eachproposal. The CAS collected and summarized faculty feedback. In fall 2017, anotherinterdisciplinary faculty team formed to review the feedback and devise a single assessment process. The team shared the single process on Assessment Day in January 2018. The review and revisionprocess continues to be improved and faculty engagement is high; however, improvements need to bemade to make the process clearly relevant to instructional improvement. (4.B.2)

1P1.8 Assessing common learning outcomes

Faculty are responsible for creating and implementing their Kirkwood SLO Assessment Plan. Foreach of the eight SLOs, the plan identifies the courses, activity in each course, and semester theassessment occurs. Each assessment should occur at least once every two years, and faculty in eachunit produce an annual Kirkwood SLO assessment report. The report includes a summary of theKirkwood SLOs assessed during the year, analysis of the collected data, proposed action plans, and adescription of the strategies used to engage faculty (full-time and adjuncts, from all applicablelocations) in the process. The Assessment Committee reviews the reports looking for trends, areas ofconcern, and innovative strategies that need to be shared. Discussions on future Assessment Dayswill center on a variety of aspects of the assessment process as well as the results obtained by eachunit. (4.B.1, 4.B.2, 4.B.4)

1R1 What are the results for determining if students possess the knowledge, skills and abilitiesthat are expected at each degree level?

1R1.1 Summary results of measures

During Assessment Day activities in 2016 and 2017, faculty worked in teams of two and appliedrubrics to a group of artifacts. After reaching consensus on the rating, the larger group of 10-15faculty discussed and recorded their findings. Table 1R1.1_1 reflects the collection of those ratingsby faculty teams.

The College goal with the development of Assessment Day activities was to bring faculty together todiscuss general education outcomes in small, cross disciplinary groups. This goal has beenaccomplished, even with some initial faculty resistance in terms of the “value” of the day to theirclassroom work. With the addition of the second day in the Fall term, the faculty are now gatheringtwice a year for this cross-disciplinary activity and have ownership for the process.

August 2017 Faculty feedback from Assessment Process Proposals can be found in Table 1R1.1_2.(The color titles were simply used to identify the individual proposals for rating.)

1R1.2 Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarks

With the evolution of the SLOs, the College has not used comparisons of results with internal targetsaside from the recognition that the rubric assessment process during Assessment Day activities wasnot yielding useful information to inform curricular change. This recognition from faculty feedbackprompted the Assessment Champions, with input from all faculty, to discuss and revise the originalGeneral Education Learning Outcomes. All faculty are involved in the affirmation of our coreStudent Learning Outcomes (formerly Gen Eds). Although the College compares benchmarksthrough the CCSSE, SENSE, the National Benchmarking Project, and so on, the College has not


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compared specific SLO progress with external benchmarks.

1R1.3 Interpretation of results and insights gained

The interpretation of both the SLOs and the Rubric applications lead by the faculty has worked toengage virtually all full-time faculty in the process, and many adjunct. Building ownership with allfaculty is a significant improvement that continues to be a challenge and an opportunity. The Mission,Vision, and Values work at Kirkwood over the past four years (described in Category 4) hasdeveloped a clear connection to the Kirkwood mission and vision, and the work has been consistentwith the SLO Assessment Process and the revitalization of the Program Review Process. Theinterpretation of feedback and data elements collected at the College is important to the revamping ofAssessment Day planning.

1I1 Based on 1R1, what process improvements have been implemented or will be implementedin the next one to three years?

As noted through the Process descriptions, the College has made strides in terms of SLO assessmentand faculty engagement. With the Fall 2018 Assessment Day, the College focus was to applyassessment rubrics through “Talon,” the College learning management system (Brightspace). Thegoal for the future is to simplify the collection of artifacts and the rating system using the learningmanagement system as a collection and data warehouse site. The College had a team of faculty andinstructional designers review assessment software packages during the 2016-17 academic year (oneof our Action Projects), and nothing was found that would meet our College needs. Thus, the move touse the LMS, which is active with 85% of our courses taught, seems like a logical next step. As wecontinue on this journey, we will work to enhance and align the following:

Kirkwood SLO Assessment Process – document describing processKirkwood SLO rubricsKirkwood SLO assessment reportsAdvisory Committee Feedback on Assessment results

(4.B.3)

Sources

FAQ - KSLO Assessment Fall 2018Table 1R1.1_1Table 1R1.1_2


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1.2 - Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes focuses on the knowledge, skills and abilities graduates from particularprograms are expected to possess. The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 3.B.,3.E. and 4.B. in this section.

1P2: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for determining, communicating and ensuring the stated program learningoutcomes and identify who is involved in those processes. This includes, but is not limited to,descriptions of key processes for the following:

Aligning learning outcomes for programs (e.g., nursing, business administration, elementaryteaching, etc.) to the mission, educational offerings and degree levels of the institution (3.E.2)Determining program outcomes (4.B.4)Articulating the purposes, content and level of achievement of the outcomes (4.B.1)Ensuring the outcomes remain relevant and aligned with student, workplace and societal needs(3.B.4)Designing, aligning and delivering cocurricular activities to support learning (3.E.1, 4.B.2)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess attainment of program learningoutcomes (4.B.2)Assessing program learning outcomes (4.B.1, 4.B.2, 4.B.4)

1R2: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if students possess the knowledge, skills and abilities that areexpected in programs? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 1P2. All datapresented should include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should alsoinclude a brief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the dataand how the results are shared. These results might include:

Overall levels of deployment of the program assessment processes within the institution (i.e.,how many programs are/not assessing program goals)Summary results of assessments (include tables and figures when possible)Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarksInterpretation of assessment results and insights gained

1I2: IMPROVEMENT

Based on 1R2, what process improvements have been implemented or will be implemented in thenext one to three years? (4.B.3)

Responses1P2.1 Aligning learning outcomes for program to the mission, education offerings and degreelevels of the institution


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To support student learning, programs at the College have a purpose statement guided by Kirkwood’smission, and all programs have clear, measurable program student learning outcomes (SLOs). Thepurpose statement and SLOs are included on each program’s webpage for the benefit of allstakeholders. Program faculty maintain a curriculum map which aligns program courses to theprogram SLOs, and program faculty periodically review the purpose statement and SLOs with theiradvisory committee. As a collection of disciplines, the Liberal Arts Council reviews the purposestatement and SLOs.

Faculty complete a Program Annual Update (PAU), and one element of the update includes a reporton their program assessment findings and proposed actions based upon analysis of the results. Theprocess for assessment of student learning outcomes at both the program and institutional levelscontinues to mature and become integrated into our culture. The majority of faculty now recognizethe purpose of Student Learning Outcome Assessment is to improve student learning, not evaluatetheir teaching. This has led to increased collaboration and communication among faculty andbetween faculty and administration. (3.E.2)

1P2.2 Determining program outcomes

Faculty determine program outcomes with the help of advisory committees, local employers, andtransfer institutions. New courses and programs begin with the identification of outcomes as arequired part of the curriculum approval process. To assist faculty, the Curriculum and AssessmentSpecialist (CAS) and a team of Assessment Champions created guides to provide consistency inoutcome language and structure. Program faculty are the disciplinary experts, and as such, they write,assess, and update their program SLOs. As a part of the curriculum approval process, the CASreviews SLOs to ensure they adhere to institutional expectations, are measurable, have reasonableclarity, and are a manageable number. In addition, the Program Review Committee reviews programSLOs as part of the five-year review process. (4.B.4)

The Kirkwood Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (KCELT) holds workshops andactivities related to program outcome writing and assessment. The College also has a number ofinstructional designers who work with faculty individually on determining program outcomes,appropriate outcome language, curriculum mapping, assessment designs, and instructional strategies.

1P2.3 Articulating the purposes, content and level of achievement of the outcomes

Faculty are very deliberate in clarifying the level of program outcomes achievement. As mentioned in1P2.2, a common SLO structure was established, and each outcome statement begins with a carefullyselected action verb tied to a well-established taxonomy for either the cognitive, psychomotor oraffective domain. The SLO then clearly states the skill or concept students should be able todemonstrate along with the context. Being deliberate about sharing the program SLOs with studentsclarifies the expected learning and creates an environment where students and faculty can worktogether toward a common goal—learner success.

Faculty from every program manage a Program SLO Assessment Plan, and the plan identifies theactivity(ies), scoring methodology, success criteria and frequency of assessment for each of theprogram SLOs. Faculty report discussion and action plans based upon assessment data in the PAU. Changes to the assessment plan are also described in the PAU. (4.B.1)

1P2.4 Ensuring the outcomes remain relevant and aligned with student, workplace and societalneeds


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Kirkwood relies on advisory committee members to provide an employer perspective on currency andrelevancy of program SLOs. Kirkwood also surveys current students and graduates to capture thestudent/employee perspective on relevancy of the program curriculum and SLOs. In addition, facultyreview Occupational Overview Reports as well as student data on graduation, enrollment and transferas a part of the PAU. The Iowa Regent’s institutions share reports annually on the success of studentsby discipline where the numbers are large enough to keep the students anonymous. The data, as wellas graduation and enrollment information, is reviewed by the Liberal Arts Council and LA AdvisoryCommittee. (3.B.4)

1P2.5 Designing, aligning and delivering co-curricular activities to support learning

As described in 1P1.6, Kirkwood differentiates co-curricular and extracurricular clubs based ondeliberate intent to support academic outcomes. Kirkwood students have more than 80 club andorganization options to enhance engagement and support learning. Interests range from primarilyrecreational, such as the Ultimate Frisbee club or Reader’s Haven, to social issues addressed by clubssuch as The Power of Women and Children and Unity (LGBTQ), to political and religious clubs. Others promote leadership skills or explore disciplines such as STEM or the Philosophy Club.

The remaining clubs originated around academic programs, and some restrict membership to studentsenrolled in a related course or program. Most of these clubs have programming aligned with thecurriculum. Many provide contact with professional organizations, industry leaders, and offer servicelearning experiences to enhance the student experience. Several clubs, such as DECA and the PorkPromotors, have student teams attending regional and national competitions or conferences. Oftentimes the clubs will host small events on campus to promote their cause and act as fundraisers tooffset travel costs. (3.E.1, 4.B.2)

Kirkwood International programs are ranked 5th in the country for community colleges offering studyabroad opportunities. There are roughly 17 programs each year with over 170 students participating,and each program is tied to a course or courses with defined SLOs. Measurements of SLOs arecollected by faculty, and student surveys are used to assess each individual program.

In addition, Kirkwood provides a variety of one-time events to engage all students. In 2016-17,Kirkwood hosted 224 events for students (beyond the club-sponsored events). Activities range fromsocial events through Student Life and Athletics, to Performing Arts recitals, intramural competitions,study abroad fairs, and mental health screening, just to name a few. (www.kirkwood.edu/events)(3.E.1, 4.B.2)

1P2.6 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess attainment of programlearning outcomes

The goal is to make sure program faculty have an established support system to aid in the selection ofthe most appropriate activities/instruments to assess students on program outcomes. Kirkwood facultyexhibit exceptional talent and creativity in assessing student learning, and areas work collaborativelytogether to share and enhance methods employed. To help faculty develop well-defined assessments,the College has invested significant effort over the last four years to expand the “toolbox” available. Assessment Days often include faculty presentations to showcase assessment strategies, andworkshops through KCELT are available throughout the semester. Collaborative Learning Days, aconference-like activity for staff and faculty to share expertise, includes a variety of assessment-related topics. Instructional Designers are in place through Distance Learning and KCELT to offertraining and individual assistance. (4.B.2)


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1P2.7 Assessing program learning outcomes

Kirkwood’s Program Annual Update (PAU) process ensures timely and relevant assessment of theprogram SLOs. The Annual Update provides a platform for faculty to share results from theirassessment activities, reflect on the findings, and where applicable, describe improvement efforts. The annual update also ensures regular maintenance of the Program SLO Assessment Plan. Thedepartment dean and CAS share responsibility for reviewing the Annual Update. The review includesrating each item with a common rubric and providing formative comments on the assessment work. Findings from the Program Annual Updates are aggregated and reported both at the department andinstitutional levels. (4.B.1, 4.B.2, 4.B.4)

1R2.1 Overall levels of deployment of the program assessment processes within the institution(i.e., how many programs are/not assessing program goals)

Results from all academic programs engaging in program SLO assessment for the academic yearsfrom 2014-15 to 2016-17 are in Chart 1R2.1_1. Potential ratings for data collection, analysis andaction plans are:

Initial - Data Collection is sporadic and incomplete. Data analysis is nonexistent.

Emerging - At least some data exists for most embedded assessments but analysis is spotty andsuperficial. No action plans are proposed.

Developed - Data exist for all embedded assessments. A reasonable effort is made to analyze some ofthe data. Some thought about action plans exists but is unclear or incomplete.

Highly Developed - Data is collected from all sections, at all locations, of each course containing anembedded assessment. A substantial effort to carefully analyze and act upon assessment data isdocumented.

The rating criteria for data collection, analysis, and action plans remained consistent for all threeyears. However, data collection received more weight in the first year, and the expectation for dataanalysis and action plans increased over time. The College modified the annual update to separatedata analysis from conclusions and action plans for the 2017-18 academic year.

For academic years 2014-15 to 2016-17, faculty reported results for each program SLO within theannual update. Typically, faculty reported the percentage of students demonstrating the outcome andcompared the actual results to their established success criteria. A few representative examples areincluded in 1R2.2. Our collection process did not naturally lead faculty to analyzing trends orbenchmarking. Please see the improvement section for details on how we addressed this challenge in2017-18.

The program SLO assessment plan is a “roadmap” to program assessment. To earn an Emergingrating, the plan must describe when, where, and how students are assessed for each program SLO aswell as describe the success criteria used to gauge the extent to which the outcome is demonstrated.The results for 2014-15 to 2016-17 are in Chart 1R2.1_2 and used the following rating descriptions:

Initial - Program SLO assessment plan is incomplete.

Emerging - Program SLO assessment plan is complete but it is unclear if or how assessment resultsinformed the SLO assessment plan.


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Developed - Some discussion of how assessment results impact SLO assessment plan change existbut the changes are not clearly documented.

Highly Developed - A coherent explanation exists of how SLO assessment plan changes wereinformed by assessment results. Appropriate changes are documented in the assessment plan.

Program Review Committee results for the five-year reviews conducted in last two years are includedin evidence. The programs reviewed include the Liberal Arts program as well as programs fromAllied Health, Health Occupations, Nursing, and CTE programs housed in Math/Science and SocialScience. The committee examines a variety of artifacts to assign a rating for each of the followingprogram components: program SLOs, course SLOs, the program assessment plan, data collectionstrategies, analysis of collected data, program goals, curriculum maps, and advisory committeeminutes. See Table 1R2.1_3.

1R2.2 Summary results of assessments (include tables and figures when possible)

Faculty capture their reflections on the assessment process at the program level. Two examples of theresults are in Example 1R2.2_1. All other program results are available in the Program AnnualUpdate located on KIN (Kirkwood Information Network).


Kirkwood’s institutional and program assessment processes hinge on authentic assessment of studentlearning. For program assessment, faculty identify the key assessment activities and instruments toassess student learning. In many cases, the activities and instruments are unique to the program andtherefore do not lend themselves to benchmarking with external sources. 2017-18 marks the thirdyear of the electronic Program Annual Update. Programs holding specialized accreditation are oftenmore accustomed to reviewing longitudinal trends and their analysis often includes examination ofpast performance. Assessment processes should be stable enough that the remaining programs canbegin analyzing trends within the next year or two. To begin establishing internal targets, the 2017-18annual update included setting goals for enrollment, success, persistence, and graduation for thecoming year. See Image 1R2.3.

1R2.4 Interpretation of assessment results and insights gained

Assessing the assessment process is essential for improvement. Each year the Curriculum andAssessment Specialist reviews comments and engages with faculty and administrators to improve theprocess. Key improvements include:

Formative assessment rubrics for each component of the annual update are visible in eachstatus.Refinement and clarification of prompts and rubric language.Help links embedded within the annual update.Five-year review and annual update housed in the same system.

Our assessment process relies on interpretation by the program faculty. To systematically collectinsights from the program assessment process, the Program Review Committee added the followingquestion to the five-year review in 2017-18: “Using items 1 and 2 on the annual update over the lastfive years reflect on what was learned and how the data collected drove changes to curriculum andteaching practices. Be sure to explain barriers and successes. Provide a summary of the results over


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the past five years and any trends identified.” Collecting this information in the future will help thecollege identify trends across and within programs of study.


Starting with 2017-18 PAU, for each assessment activity used to assess a program SLO, faculty willreport the number of students assessed and deemed proficient, the number students assessed anddeemed not proficient, and the number of students not assessed. Faculty then determine changes incurriculum or instruction that may work to improve the next assessment cycle. In some cases,improvement may involve an external application such as tutoring or faculty intervention to helpstudents gain proficiency. Faculty determine next steps identified to help improve student learningand persistence. See Image 1R2.4.

Sources

Chart 1R2.1_1Chart 1R2.1_2Example 1R2.2_1Image 1R2.3Image 1R2.4Rationale and Guidelines Study Abroad AssessmentStudy Abroad Data AnalysesTable 1R2.1_3


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1.3 - Academic Program Design

Academic Program Design focuses on developing and revising programs to meet stakeholders' needs.The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 1.C. and 4.A. in this section.

1P3: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for ensuring new and current programs meet the needs of the institution and itsdiverse stakeholders. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for thefollowing:

Identifying student stakeholder groups and determining their educational needs (1.C.1, 1.C.2)Identifying other key stakeholder groups and determining their needs (1.C.1, 1.C.2)Developing and improving responsive programming to meet all stakeholders' needs (1.C.1,1.C.2)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess the currency and effectiveness ofacademic programsReviewing the viability of courses and programs and changing or discontinuing when necessary(4.A.1)

1R3: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if programs are current and meet the needs of the institution'sdiverse stakeholders? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 1P3. All datapresented should include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should alsoinclude a brief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the dataand how the results are shared. These results might include:

Summary results of assessments (include tables and figures when possible)Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarksInterpretation of results and insights gained

1I3: IMPROVEMENT

Based on 1R3, what process improvements have been implemented or will be implemented in thenext one to three years?

Responses1P3.1 Identifying student stakeholder groups and determining their educational needs.

As a community college in Iowa, Kirkwood serves a very diverse student population, and the Collegedefinition of diversity is all encompassing, not just race or ethnicity. The primary goal is to help allstudents achieve their personal and educational goal by providing quality programs and studentsupport options that address the needs of our population. Information that is collected through studentsurveys, compliance reporting, advisory committees, the Program Effectiveness Profiles (PEP), and


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the Program Review process helps to ensure that academic and career programs are current andrelevant to student needs. These reports and surveys are only a few examples of data collected andreviewed in order to develop support systems to benefit student stakeholder groups. Moreimportantly, the College mandatory orientation and advising process treats students as individuals andappreciates their starting point, be it returning after a long absence, just graduating from high school,just moving here from another country, or a first time anywhere student. This appreciation for whomthe College serves is a part of our mission, vision and values. (1.C.1, 1.C.2)

1P3.2 Identifying other key stakeholder groups and determining their needs.

Continuing Education also surveys the community and regional businesses regularly to identifyprogramming needs. One example is that the College works closely with the Iowa WorkforceDevelopment office to assist students with low skills and/or low paying jobs to help improve theirskill-sets and gain better employment. The College is producing “Skills 2019,” a report that surveysregional businesses to identify future job needs as well as the skill-sets graduates need foremployment. The last “Skills” report was completed in 2014 and is a consistent activity lead byContinuing Education and Training Services. These reports are used by both credit and non-creditprogramming to identify future workforce needs in the region and the changing demographicattending the College. (1.C.1, 1.C.2)

1P3.3 Developing and improving responsive programming to meet all stakeholder’s needs.

Fortunately, the Continuing Education and Training Services Division can quickly respond tobusiness and community needs by designing programs that have identified and specializedprogramming needs. Working closely with Academic Affairs, many of these programs becomepathways for students into credit certificate, diploma, or degree programs. For example, the regionsupports a number of call center businesses, so a Call Center Customer Training Certificate programwas developed which allows students to enroll for credit or non-credit, and gain the skills necessaryfor this growing industry. The courses are team taught and students are quickly placed uponcompletion. Kirkwood continually works with our local economic development agencies,government, high schools, businesses, and non-profits to assess the needs and to be a partner inproviding training. (1.C.1, 1.C.2)

1P3.4 Selecting the tools, methods, instruments used to assess the currency and effectiveness ofacademic programs.

As previously described, the Program Review process relies on a variety of data elements relevant toindividual programs. (See the Program Effectiveness Profiles.) Faculty working with their deans anddirectors, under the oversight of the Curriculum and Assessment Specialist and Program ReviewCommittee, complete the annual and five-year reviews. (See the Program Review data collection sitefor detailed examples.) The rubrics used and the database collection system have been developed in-house through the IT department with guidance from the CAS.

1P3.5 Reviewing the viability of courses and programs and changing or discontinuing whennecessary.

The Program Review process is designed by faculty and reviewed by faculty with a goal of programimprovement; however, if problem areas emerge through the annual or five year review, then actionitems are created to address the issue. For example, if a program has declining enrollment, thenmarketing becomes involved to help design ways to better inform students about the career. Theadmissions area and recruiters will emphasize the program at college fairs. If equipment needs to be


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replaced to enhance the viability of the program, then the faculty request moves through the budgetingprocess with additional support. If a program or course is no longer relevant, the faculty andadministration decide to eliminate the course through the Curriculum Committee and Dept. ofEducation, or close the program. The College typically has a three-year process for closing a CTEprogram which allows for students currently enrolled to complete the credential offered. Factors thatrelate to this decision include enrollment, graduation, employment/transferability, cost, facultycredentials and so on; all of these factors are reviewed as a part of the annual and five-year ProgramReview process which tracks these trending data points. If a program is in danger, then the facultyand dean are notified in writing and have every opportunity to rebuild or redesign the program andimprove the status back to normal. Individual credit courses that are no longer relevant to the Collegemission are deleted through the Curriculum Committee process. (4.A.1)

1R3.1 Summary results of assessments (including tables and figures when possible)

Each November Institutional Research prepares the Program Effectiveness Profile (PEP) for eachprogram at the College. Faculty reflect on their own program performance as well as compare theirperformance to department, division, and institution performance, typically during Assessment Daybut also throughout the Program Review Annual reporting process. This example from theAgricultural Geospatial Technology program shows the data for completer success rate, fall-to-springpersistence, and 150% graduation data, along with the faculty reflection.

All programs, including the Liberal Arts program, receive the same information annually and processthis information, and more, as a part of the PAU process.

1R3.2 Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarks.

Through the Program Review process, the College collects graduation and employment informationthat allows for comparisons related to industry growth and employment. The College also reviewstransfer data from the Regents institutions. Faculty set targets as a part of the Program Annual Updateprocess for retention and graduation, and they compare those results during the annual review andfive-year review. The College does not specifically benchmark program results formally withexternal entities; however, many programs with third party accreditations do have some externalbenchmarking data. The College participates in the National Community College BenchmarkingProject, but these comparisons are institutional benchmarks rather than program area benchmarks.

1R3.3 Interpretation of results and insights gained.

For the last six years, the College has worked to establish a viable Program Review process thatinforms faculty and administration, and guides program improvement. (This was an outstandingopportunity area in the last portfolio team report.) The PEP information, along with surveys and otherinitiatives, provides meaningful data to all stakeholders. Assessment Days have also helped toprovide a College forum for the interpretation and review of insights gained. These cross-disciplinaryconversations have helped to bring assessment to the faculty and engage faculty in processimprovement.

1I3 Improvements

The College is very proud of the faculty lead Program Review and will continue to provide supportneeded to improve the question collection and data collection process. Most important is to make theeffort meaningful and relevant to faculty and administration. The process is intentionally transparentand inclusive with peer leadership through the CAS, Assessment Fellows, and Program Review


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Committee.

With declining enrollment and reduced revenue from the State of Iowa, the College has had to closeseveral programs where the cost or benefit to students was no longer relevant. In all instances, theCollege has supported students in the program to make sure they had every opportunity to complete,and when possible, faculty were reassigned to another area. The College will continue to use thereview process to improve quality; however, programs continue to be reviewed for viability andrelevance as well.

Sources

2016-2017FY Effectiveness Profile Report - Agricultural Geospatial TechnologyCredit Transfer Headcount by ProgramProgram Effectiveness and Efficiency Review (PEER) Policy (454_6)


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1.4 - Academic Program Quality

Academic Program Quality focuses on ensuring quality across all programs, modalities and locations.The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 3.A. and 4.A. in this section.

1P4: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for ensuring quality academic programming. This includes, but is not limitedto, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Determining and communicating the preparation required of students for the specific curricula,programs, courses and learning they will pursue (4.A.4)Evaluating and ensuring program rigor for all modalities, locations, consortia and dual-creditprograms (3.A.1, 3.A.3, 4.A.4)Awarding prior learning and transfer credits (4.A.2, 4.A.3)Selecting, implementing and maintaining specialized accreditation(s) (4.A.5)Assessing the level of outcomes attainment by graduates at all levels (3.A.2, 4.A.6)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess program rigor across all modalities

1R4: RESULTS

What are the results for determining the quality of academic programs? The results presented shouldbe for the processes identified in 1P4. All data presented should include the population studied,response rate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the datais collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results mightinclude:

Summary results of assessments (include tables and figures when possible)Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarksInterpretation of results and insights gained

1I4: IMPROVEMENT


Responses1P4.1 Determining and communicating the preparation required of students for the specificcurricula, programs, courses and learning they will pursue.

Kirkwood’s believes in being transparent and in communicating to students often about thepreparation required for programs and courses. This intentional approach aligns with the College openaccess mission and learner success focus.

Campus Visit Day is Kirkwood’s experience available to high school juniors and seniors and theirparents. During this full-day, students can tailor their experience to a particular program cluster or just


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learn about being a student at Kirkwood. Faculty and staff representing the program clusters provideinitial guidance and advising, and transfer advisors help students still deciding on an academicprogram. Course and program prerequisites as well as placement testing requirements are discussed.

After admission to Kirkwood, new students are required to attend a one-day orientation. In addition,many programs require new students to attend a program conference. (Generally these are combinedactivities.) During orientation, faculty and advisors review program expectations with studentsincluding coursework, internships, clinical rotations, and the general requirement/expectations forbeing a student in a specific program of study. Activities include completing placement tests (if notdone in advance), working with an advisor to register for courses, and learning about the myriad ofsupport services available to all students. Students are also introduced to tutoring options, financialaid advising, mental health counseling, and so on.

As appropriate, program faculty set, monitor and periodically reassess course and program entrancerequirements including minimum placement scores and/or prerequisites. The Registrar maintains aplacement recommendation chart which includes placement scores for all courses. Upon completionof placement testing, students receive their scores along with the placement recommendation chart.

All program admissions requirements and course prerequisites are identified in the College Catalogand on the Kirkwood website. With an emphasis on advising, during orientation and during the firstsemester, students are well aware of course and program requirements. Program guide sheets are alsoavailable for CTE and Transfer students which list courses required and recommended for acertificate, diploma or degree. (See College Catalog)

The course syllabus is the primary document to communicate learning expectations with studentsenrolled in a particular course. The course outline serves a similar purpose for faculty and transferinstitutions. Both the course syllabus and course outline include course SLOs as well as the programoutcomes of the primary program the course serves. In addition, the applicable SLOs are included inthe syllabus and outline template. (4.A.4)

1P4.2 Evaluating and ensuring program rigor for all modalities, locations, consortia and dual-credit programs.

Kirkwood evaluates and ensures program rigor for all modalities, locations, consortia and dual-creditprograms through four main methods: Communication and professional development for all facultyregarding course content, common course outlines, program assessment, and program accreditation.

All faculty must meet the HLC and State of Iowa credentialing requirements. Faculty participate in anumber of events that bring large disciplines together to discuss learning expectations andconsistency. Collaborative Learning Days, the faculty January conference, provides many sessions oncourse specific applications as well as instructional practice. NACEP accreditation requires highschool faculty teaching in dual-credit programs to attend two professional development days eachyear. Deans, directors, and faculty course leads are in constant communication with faculty regardingcourse materials and expectations across all instructional modalities. Many departments utilize a leadinstructor to work with faculty in larger discipline areas in order to ensure consistency in coursecontent.

Program assessment plans identify key activities embedded in program courses that are used to assessstudent learning. The plans apply equally to all delivery modes and locations. Time is set aside duringdepartment retreats and twice a year on Assessment Day to discuss a program data including theconsistency of rigor and course materials. Analysis and findings are described in the program annual


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update which is reviewed by faculty and administration to ensure consistency.

Rigor is evidenced through program accreditations. Currently 18 CTE programs hold specializedaccreditation. Additionally our Concurrent and Dual Credit programs are accredited by the NationalAlliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP). (3.A.1, 3.A.3, 4.A.4)

1P4.3 Awarding prior learning and transfer credits

Kirkwood has several Transfer Credit Policies to help determine the awarding of transfer credit andlife experience credit.

The Acceptance of Vocational-Technical Credit policy states that Kirkwood accepts vocational-technical credits earned in courses that are part of an AAS degree program from other Iowacommunity colleges.The Transfer of Credit from Other Institutions policy states Kirkwood evaluates transcriptsfrom other colleges and may accept credit so long as the successful work was completed at aregionally accredited institution.Advanced Placement Test scores and College Level Examination Program (see tables)Kirkwood defines Alternative Credit as credit earned outside of Kirkwood credit coursecompletion, transfer course completion or credit by examination. Students must complete analternative credit application for consideration of credit for:

o articulated Kirkwood Continuing Education coursework

o an industry recognized, third-party portable certificate, credential or license

o work experience or experiential learning

Kirkwood is a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges and has committed toeasing the transfer of relevant course credits and crediting learning from appropriate militarytraining.

(4.A.2, 4.A.3)

The typical student process for gaining credit for transfer courses or military experiences wouldinvolve the student submitting a transcript to the One Stop office where a transfer specialist willreview and award credit. The veterans are served by a separate, specially trained advisor within theOne Stop office. The process for gaining credit for prior learning experiences is also outlined on theCollege website and Student Handbook. The student simply fills out the application, and in cases ofcredit for work or life experiences, the student works with a discipline faculty member to create aportfolio of artifacts documenting the mastery of the student learning outcomes for the coursedesired. The portfolio is reviewed by the faculty member or faculty team, and credit is awarded basedon the demonstrated achievement of the student learning outcomes for the course. (4.A.2, 4.A.3)

1P4.4 Selecting, implementing and maintaining specialized accreditation(s)

Program faculty members and the respective departmental dean determine when specializedaccreditations are appropriate to pursue. The same individuals are responsible for maintaining thoseaccreditations deemed beneficial for the students. The process begins with faculty commitment to theprofessional accreditation process, alignment of the organization with Kirkwood’s mission, andidentification of the resources necessary to complete the process, both financial and human. Currentspecialized accreditations are summarized below are also posted at


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www.kirkwood.edu/programaccreditation. (4.A.5)

Program Accrediting Agency History Date of LastAccreditation Next Visit

AutomotiveTechnology

National AutomotiveTechnicians EducationFoundation (NATEF)

1997, 2002,2008 2008; 2013 2017

CNC MachiningTechnology

National Institute forMetalworking Skills(NIMS)

approved9/25/14 Sept. 2014 2019

Concurrent and DualCredit Programs

NACEP (NationalAlliance of ConcurrentEnrollment Partnerships)

approvedMay 2012

NewAccreditationin 2012.

2019

ConstructionManagement

American Council forConstruction Education

SubmittedapplicationJan. 2011

Submit self-examinationreport

Culinary Arts American CulinaryFoundation

1997; 2003;2007 Feb. 2014 2021

Dental Assisting Commission on DentalEducation

Sept. 1993;2000 Nov. 2014 2021

Dental HygieneCommission on DentalAccreditation/AmericanDental Association

1998, 2001 Nov. 2014 2021

Dental Technology Commission on DentalAccreditation

Sept. 1993;2000 Nov. 2014 2021

ElectroneurodiagnosticTechnology

CAAHEP (Commissionon Accreditation ofAllied Health EducationPrograms)

1998, 2008,2018 42186 2025

Health InformationTechnology

CAHIIM (Commissionon Accreditation forHealth Informatics andInformationManagement Education)

1993, 20022002; 2016(annual reportsubmission)

TBD


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Landscape Constructionand Design

PLANET (ProfessionalLandcare Network) 2013 2013

Medical Assisting


1972, hasbeenmaintainedsince

Nov. 2015 Fall 2024

Music National Association ofSchools of Music

Initial self-studysubmitted2018

Site visit heldMarch 2018

Response tovisitingteam reportdue Oct.2018

Nursing Iowa Board of Nursing"Beganpursuit"1993

Oct. 2015 Oct. 2021

Occupational TherapyAssistant

ACOTE (AccreditationCouncil for OccupationalTherapy Education)

1996-97 Mar. 2014 2023-2024

Paramedic


Initial self-study 2000-01; 2007

Feb. 2011 2017

Physical TherapistAssistant

CAPTE (Commission onAccreditation of PhysicalTherapy Education)

1996, 2001 41214 2020

Respiratory TherapyCoARC (Commission onAccreditation forRespiratory Care)

1996, 2006 38899 2016-2017

Surgical Technology

CAAHEP (Commissionon Accreditation ofAllied Health EducationPrograms) asrecommended by ARC-STSA (AccreditationReview Committee onEducation in SurgicalTechnology and SurgicalAssisting)

1998; 2002;2005 fordistance ed.

2005 2017


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Veterinary Technician American VeterinaryMedical Association

1989, 1996,2001, 2006,2011

2011 Sept. 2017

1P4.5 Assessing the level of outcomes attainment by graduates at all levels

Kirkwood actively conducts student learning assessment at the course, program and institutional level.The Curriculum and Assessment Specialist guides the assessment efforts at the program andinstitution levels.

The College administers a Graduate Follow-up survey each fall to gain feedback from students, andseveral health programs do personal follow-up to identify course and program relevancy. Employersand Advisory committees inform some program faculty, and the College tracks professionalliscensure test results. Kirkwood’s nursing students have had the highest pass rate in the state of Iowafor several years. Finally, the three Iowa public universities provide transfer student success rates bymajor where the number of students is above the minimum. (3.A.2, 4.A.6)

1P4.6 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to assess program rigor across allmodalities

The Student Learning Outcome assessment process is intended to assess the program rigor across allmodalities and is a faculty lead and faculty organized process. Additionally, professional developmentactivities through Assessment Days and Collaborative Learning Days support this process. Commonassessment vocabulary and shared experiences with assessment rubrics enhance the ability to engagein cross disciplinary conversation. Through these rich conversations, faculty are better able toarticulate the desired outcomes, define proficiency in the outcomes, and select tools to reliably assessthe outcomes. Administration reviews and contributes to the process as well.

1R4.1 Summary Result of Measures

Program outcomes are assessed and tracked through the Program Review Process, and faculty reviewand report on these areas annually. Every five years on a rotation, programs are reviewed by a teamof peers who consider the summary results from the annual reports and Program Profiles along withthe faculty assessment of the data. The report is then shared with the dean, associate vice president,and vice president in academic affairs who then provide feedback to the entire faculty unit. Theannual reports provide the summary result of measures and provide direction to faculty for bothcurriculum and instructional changes.

All programs with standardized accreditation have submitted reports in a timely manner and are ingood status with their accrediting bodies. (See 1P4.4)


Each program establishes internal targets as a part of the Program Annual Update, and the ProgramEffectiveness Profiles provide information to support this faculty analysis. The College uses externalbenchmark information from the National Community College Benchmarking Project (NCCBP) andthe Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) for comparison purposes as eachprovides data from similar size community colleges; however, Kirkwood has not established externalbenchmark targets based on these reports.


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1R4.3 Interpretation of results

The Program Annual Update, as previously discussed, allows for faculty assessment of key indicatorsprovided through the Program Effectiveness Profiles distributed each November. This informationdrives the afternoon Assessment Day discussion and ultimately the annual report submission prior toJune 30 each year. At that point, both the department dean and the Curriculum and AssessmentSpecialist provide ratings and feedback electronically that is then available to faculty andadministrators. The faculty interpretation of results is overseen at several levels to ensure the validityof the interpretation and the application for future planning purposes.

1I4 Improvement

Kirkwood is committed to ensuring academic program quality as is evidenced by the increasedresources provided for program review and SLO assessment, both areas noted in the last SystemsPortfolio. With the Curriculum and Assessment Specialist position, the College has been able toinvolve faculty more effectively with a focus on continuous improvement. The faculty commitmentis held accountable through the annual and five-year review process which was also developed basedon feedback from the last System Portfolio review. The processes are involved in continuousimprovement as is noted by the faculty team revision of the former General Education Goals and thealignment of the Student Learning Outcomes across all programs and courses. This work isadvancing with the commitment of the faculty and administration and will continue to provide moreeffective and usable feedback in the future.

Sources

2017 CCSSE Executive Summary2017 Current Student Survey Report (no comments)2017 Graduate Follow-up Survey (no comments)Advanced Placement Tables (accepted_ap_scores-3-1-18)CLEP Tables (accepted_clep_scores10.31.16)Placement Sheet


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1.5 - Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity focuses on ethical practices while pursuing knowledge. The institution shouldprovide evidence for Core Components 2.D. and 2.E. in this section.

1P5: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for supporting ethical scholarly practices by students and faculty. Thisincludes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Ensuring freedom of expression and the integrity of research and scholarly practice (2.D., 2.E.1,2.E.3)Ensuring ethical learning and research practices of students (2.E.2, 2.E.3)Ensuring ethical teaching and research practices of faculty (2.E.2, 2.E.3)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments used to evaluate the effectiveness andcomprehensiveness of supporting academic integrity

1R5: RESULTS

What are the results for determining the quality of academic integrity? The results presented should befor the processes identified in 1P5. All data presented should include the population studied, responserate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the data iscollected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results mightinclude:

Summary results of measures (include tables and figures where appropriate)Comparison of results with internal targets and external benchmarksInterpretation of results and insights gained

1I5: IMPROVEMENT


Responses1P5.1 Ensuring freedom of expression and the integrity of research and scholarly practice.

Academic integrity is a fundamental tenet of exemplary academic practice for both students andfaculty. Kirkwood students are taught through a variety of venues about their rights to free expressionand the importance of documentation to afford credit to appropriate sources. Faculty modelappropriate behaviors for their students in accordance with policies in place. For faculty research, theCollege has an active IRB under the leadership of the Director of Institutional Research. The processfor requesting approval is described on the College website.

Kirkwood Board Policy 618 expresses the institutional philosophy regarding academic freedom.Faculty are entitled to freedom in research and publication of results as well as discussion of their


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subject in the classroom. This freedom is qualified by the understanding that faculty should becareful not to introduce controversial material unrelated to the subject area and to exercise special carewhen speaking or writing as citizens to clarify they are not institutional spokespersons. Board Policy675 and Article III, Section 6 of the faculty contract describe the procedures, ownership andcompensation when employees engage in the development of educational materials. The catalog andvarious handbooks replicate these policies. (2.D., 2.E.1, 2.E.3)

1P5.2 Ensuring ethical learning and research practices of students

Kirkwood has instituted a variety of policies and procedures to communicate standards andexpectations to students. Board Policy 520 authorizes the Kirkwood administration to develop,implement and enforce a student conduct policy. The College Catalog includes a student code ofconduct which outlines the full array of prohibited behaviors in order to provide a safe and ethicallearning environment. The code of conduct establishes the processes, responsible parties, andsanctions when violations occur. The online Student Handbook communicates institutional resources,policies, and procedures central to student ethical practices. Particularly salient to students’ ethicallearning and research are the statement of Kirkwood’s Values and Standards, Kirkwood’s ProductiveClassroom Learning Environment policy, and the academic dishonesty policy.

In addition to publishing this information on the College website and in the catalog, communication issent directly to students via the Kirkwood Consumer Information email distributed on the tenth day ofeach semester.

Kirkwood faculty believe that the best learning takes place in an environment where faculty andstudents exhibit trust and mutual respect. In a productive learning environment, faculty and studentswork cooperatively, recognize and respect differences, model the values of character and citizenship,and become lifelong learners. Ensuring ethical learning and research practices is core to this belief. Research methods and documentation support are taught through the writing program and library, aswell as other tutoring and support areas. (2.E.2, 2.E.3)

1P5.3 Ensuring ethical teaching and research practices of faculty

Kirkwood ensures ethical teaching and research practices of faculty through Policy Manager, theQuality Faculty Plan, FERPA training, and the IRB. The College communicates policies that guideethical teaching and research practices to faculty through Policy Manager, and faculty are required toacknowledge receipt and review of policies through this venue. The Quality Faculty Plan identifiesethics as one of 12 competencies all faculty must demonstrate as a part of their performance review. Board Policy 650 established the Institutional Research Board (IRB) to ensure ethical and responsiblebehavior in all research, including Kirkwood faculty and students. Funding for faculty research istypically provided through professional development awards or the Endowed Faculty Chair program. Both of these opportunities include a peer reviewed proposal process to ensure projects adhere toaccepted practices.

All employees are required to complete a FERPA training module. Some faculty and staff arerequired to complete HIPAA training for health care disciplines. (2.E.2, 2.E.3)

1P5.4 Selecting the tools/methods/instruments used to evaluate the effectiveness andcomprehensiveness of supporting academic integrity

Kirkwood uses technology to monitor resource use and ethical academic practices. The Maxientsystem tracks students with academic dishonesty violations and is used to assist the investigations


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related to serious code violations. The College recently adopted Turnitin software which is availableto students and faculty.

The following lists tools and methods used to guide and ensure ethical behavior.

Kirkwood Sources Guiding Ethical Behavior Employee Student

AB Tutor X

Academic Dishonesty Policy X X

Board Policy 520 X X

Board Policy 618 X

Board Policy 650 X X

Board Policy 675 X

College Catalog X X

Course Outline X

Course Syllabus X

Endowed Faculty Chair X

Faculty Contract X

FERPA Training X

Institutional Review Board X

Kirkwood Values and Standards X X

Library Services X X

Not Anymore X

ProctorU X

Productive Classroom Learning

Environment X X

Quality Faculty Plan X

Student Conduct Code 688_7 X

Student Handbook X

Policy Manager and Talon are used to document employee review of policies and completion oftraining modules. KCELT also maintains a professional development transcript that lists workshopsand certifications completed.


Incidents of academic student misconduct are reported to the Dean of Students Office, which isresponsible for maintaining all student academic misconduct records. Beginning in 2016 studentdiscipline records are maintained through an integrated software and workflow system called,Maxient. The table below summarizes the frequency of academic misconduct violations. The Dean of


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Students shares the data with academic administrators for their review and evaluation. The academicmisconduct process is a clear process and has been established for reporting and investigatingallegations. The process assures students due process and accountable measures are deliveredconsistently.

Summary of Academic Misconduct Violations

Year (Aug-July) 1st Offense 2nd Offense 3rd Offense TOTAL

2016-17 143 5 148

2017-18 159 8 167

The IRB reviews all research requests to make sure they align with ethical practices.

Institutional Review Board Approvals

Calendar Year N

2014 28

2015 49

2016 19

2017 (through 3/24/17) 10


Kirkwood administrators monitor the number of student code of conduct infractions but do not setinternal or external benchmarks related to the number recorded. Each infraction is treated separatelyand professionally. Consistent issues reported do inform programming, such as the “Not Anymore”initiative, and the College administration closely monitors student issues that may pose a threat to thesafety of the campus.


The College reviews incidents based on the severity of the issue. However, the goal of the College isto be proactive and help students learn about the expectations of being a college student. The policiesand procedures are in place so that due process is assured in any situation; however, the hope is thatnone occur because the College has done its part to educate students effectively. The faculty syllabuscommunicates clear expectations as do published handbooks and guides. The Library does extensivetraining in the proper use of sources and citations.

1I5 Improvements

During the last two years, Kirkwood has made improvements to the policies and procedures with afocus on ensuring consistency and equity. The implementation of the Maxient software has helped toestablish a clear process for faculty to follow when confronted with an unethical situation orplagiarism.

Improvement can occur in this area through a more collaborative review of individual incidents bytype and with the goal of better understanding the impact of intervention on student learning.Currently, the sole indicator of student learning through this process is the level of recidivism, which


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indicates the process is effective at mitigating future incidents.

Sources

Calendar of Learning 2018FACLD Agenda 2018Quality Faculty Plan


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2 - Meeting Student and Other Key Stakeholder Needs

2.1 - Current and Prospective Student Need

Current and Prospective Student Need focuses on determining, understanding and meeting theacademic and non-academic needs of current and prospective students. The institution should provideevidence for Core Components 3.C. and 3.D in this section.

2P1: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for serving the academic and non-academic needs of current and prospectivestudents. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Identifying underprepared and at-risk students, and determining their academic support needs(3.D.1)Deploying academic support services to help students select and successfully complete coursesand programs (3.D.2)Ensuring faculty are available for student inquiry (3.C.5)Determining and addressing the learning support needs (tutoring, advising, library, labratories,research, etc.) of students and faculty (3.D.1, 3.D.3, 3.D.4, 3.D.5)Determining new student groups to target for educational offerings and servicesMeeting changing student needsIdentifying and supporting student subgroups with distinctive needs (e.g., seniors, commuters,distance learners, military veterans) (3.D.1)Deploying non-academic support services to help students be successful (3.D.2)Ensuring staff members who provide non-academic student support services are qualified,trained and supported (3.C.6)Communicating the availability of non-academic support services (3.D.2)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess student needsAssessing the degree to which student needs are met

2R1: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if current and prospective students' needs are being met? Theresults presented should be for the processes identified in 2P1. All data presented should include thepopulation studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanationof how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results areshared. These results might include:


2I1: IMPROVEMENT

Based on 2R1, what process improvements have been implemented or will be implemented in the


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next one to three years?

ResponsesP1.1 Identifying under-prepared and at-risk students, and determining their academic supportneeds (3.D.1)

Kirkwood initially learns about individual student needs through the application and placement testingprocess; during orientation through conversations with academic advisors, financial aid advisors, andother Enrollment Services and Student Services staff, including student ambassadors and orientationpeer advisors; and through self-reported accommodation needs. All students receive personalizedattention through the admissions, orientation, academic advising, and registration processes. In thisway, Kirkwood can provide learning support, preparatory instruction, and non-academic support toaddress student needs. (3.D.1, 3.D.2)

Our goal at Kirkwood is to identify student support needs as early as possible in the onboardingprocess so that College personnel can better connect students to resources available, includingacademic advising at multiple levels, career counseling, and mental health counseling. Additionally,Kirkwood has both credit and non-credit programs designed to assist low ability and low incomelearners, English language learners, and first generation students. Several support services related tofree tutoring and specialized assistance with writing and math can be found on campuses, regionalcenters, and through online offerings. (3.D.1)

Through the advising and placement process, Kirkwood uses multiple methods to assess students’preparation for college, both academically and psycho-socially. To support optimal placement,students who do not have a current ACT or SAT score showing college readiness are asked tocomplete the Accuplacer Classic, and those not meeting the college level math requirement are askedto complete the ALEKS assessment. These results are used to inform placement in either college levelor foundational courses. ALEKS also provides self-remediation to help students correct weaknessesbefore retesting for placement. Math faculty research has confirmed that students self-remediatinggenerally improve one course level when retesting. Based on recommendations from a Department ofEducation task force studying developmental education, the College is working to develop a morecomprehensive, multiple measure process with plans to eliminate Accuplacer in the near future forwriting course placement. English faculty have identified through their assessment research thatstudents are often misplaced, and as noted in national research, a combination of factors, includinghigh school grade point average, may be better predictors. Along with the Iowa DOE initiative,Kirkwood is also piloting a writing co-requisite model to combine college level writing withadditional support, either a one or three credit hour combination course. (3.D.1, 3.D.2)

2P1.2 Deploying academic support services to help students select and successfully completecourses and programs

Professional department coordinators and faculty advisors participate in the required orientationevents where students receive one-on-one help in selecting courses that match their needs, interests,and abilities. As Kirkwood cultivates a culture of advising, first semester students are required tomeet with their advisor prior to enrolling for their second semester of study. This policy was arecommendation from the First Year Forward initiative, a Gardner Institute Foundations ofExcellence process evaluating first year programs and described in several areas of this portfolio.(3.D.2)


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For students undecided in their program choice, Kirkwood offers comprehensive career counselingservices and several program “survey” courses, like Professionals in Health which describes severalhealth profession options. Web resources include Career Exploration Resources, Job-seeking SkillsResources, and Employer Resources. A careers database (Career Coach) and an exploration tool(Focus 2) are available to help students chart a pathway toward their career goal. Additionally, theCollege offers a variety of career or program exploration seminars as well as a First-Year Collegecourse. (3.D.1, 3.D.2)

Once students have selected a course of study, the College has a number of tools and strategies inplace to support their successful completion. Students Services and faculty use a combination ofreports and interventions to identify students at risk. As noted in 2P1, the College provides a varietyof academic support services to aid students who might be struggling with a particular course orprogram.

Mid-term Alerts. Faculty submit mid-term grades through the Colleague database. Studentsreceiving failing grades are contacted by a Student Support professional.Early Alerts. Faculty can send Early Alerts to students at any time during the semester. StudentSupport advisors receive copies of these alerts and follow up with students individually.Targeted Outreach. Student support staff perform targeted outreach to students who arehaving difficulty and in classes known to have high rates of failure, particularly foundationcourses. Support specialists have been piloting a program to embed specialists in selectedcourses. Staff attend course meetings regularly and provide direct support in coordination withfaculty. Additionally, specialists provide assistance to students through regular visits toapartment complexes near campus.LMS Reports. Over 85% of our courses use the Learning Management System (Talon). Theproduct provides reports such as the number of times a student logs in to the course, the timespent in the course shell, and assignment completion information.Registration reports. The Advising Center contacts students who have not registered for nextsemester courses to identify barriers and offer assistance.Civitas Learning Management System. Kirkwood engaged with Civitas LearningManagement System to build student success profiles in order to develop interventions targetedto support students who are at risk.Financial Aid Academic Progress Suspension Policy. The College has implemented a revisedpolicy on financial aid suspension that requires students to meet with an academic advisor anddevelop a revised academic plan as part of their application for reinstatement. (3.D.1,3.D.2)

2P1.3 Ensuring faculty are available for student inquiry

By faculty contract, full-time faculty are available outside of class time for a minimum of five officehours per week; however, many faculty hold success sessions or other learning opportunities outsidethe classroom. Although adjunct faculty are not required to serve office hours, many are regularlyavailable and provide personal as well as professional contact information to students. Anecdotally,students often report that the best thing about Kirkwood is the faculty and often because they take aspecial interest in helping the student be successful. (3.C.5)

2P1.4 Determining and addressing the learning support needs (tutoring, advising, library,laboratories, research, etc.) of students and faculty

Because Kirkwood provides a number of support services to benefit students, the goal is consistentlyto make students aware of these opportunities. Students learn about the support services duringcampus visit days and orientation sessions, and faculty encourage students to take advantage of the


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support systems available.

The Tutoring Center is open M-F and is available to students for free individual tutoring, drop-intutoring, and study skills assistance. The Center also provides online tutoring in most subjects.Faculty and staff refer students to the Tutoring Center where they receive up to two hours free perweek. Trained peer tutors and faculty share strategies and tools to assist students in overcominglearning challenges, setting and working toward goals, and developing college-level study skills.Kirkwood is associated with the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) and the NationalAssociation for Developmental Education (NADE), and as a part of the certification process, a Tier 1and Tier 2 Tutor Training Program is provided to all tutors. The College also provides WritingCenters and Online Writing support staffed by English faculty. (3.C.6, 3.D.1, 3.D.2)

Every student is assigned an academic advisor or department coordinator, depending on the specificdegree interest or program of study. Students intending to transfer typically work with advisors in theAdvising Center; Career and Technical students typically work with a Department Coordinatorrepresenting a particular program of study. Some faculty in very specialized programs also serve asadvisors; however, the College has moved to use professional staff because of the availability andconsistency. Faculty are always a source of career and program planning as they serve as coaches andmentors to students. (3.D.1, 3.D.3)

In an effort to improve consistency and effectiveness of advisors, the College established an AdvisingCouncil to coordinate advising and to standardize roles and expectations for advisors throughout thecollege. The Council reports to the vice presidents of academic affairs and student services and hasmade progress in standardizing the roles and expectations of advisors and coordinators. In addition,the Advising Council has established regular training for advisors and coordinators to help ensureconsistently. (3.D.3)

Library staff teach Information Literacy as an embedded and integrated part of the freshmancomposition sequence. Using the standards from the American College and Research Libraries,library staff and faculty guide students in the effective use of research and information resources. Thewebsite offers information to students when they are not in the classroom and provides help inresearch and citations. (3.D.5)

Many career programs include internships as a natural part of the career developmentexperience. Allied Health and Nursing include a variety of clinical placements for students. TheCollege ensures adequate placement sites by developing educational agreements with hospitals,clinics, dental practices, or other healthcare providers. (3.D.4)

The College also has a state supported Workplace Learning Program where students in middle schooland high school can participate in job shadows, internships, financial literacy, and career readinessexperiences. The WPL serves over 24,000 students per year throughout the region.(3.D.4) See WPLC Annual Report 2018 in Evidence File

To support student learning needs, Kirkwood converted several regular classrooms to active learningclassrooms designed to be flexible, interactive, and conducive to student-centered learningexperiences. The College is supported by several state and federal programs designed to provideequipment to support learning laboratories and simulation clinics. Each year, equipment requests areprioritized by a cross functional committee (RUG), reviewing both new purchases and timelyreplacements. The College is also fortunate to have a number of partnerships with area business andindustry leaders who provide equipment free or at a reduced cost. (3.D.4)


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College facilities include dedicated laboratories and equipment for all of our Career and Technicalprograms as well as our arts and sciences curriculum. In addition, Kirkwood has a partnership withthe University of Iowa Dental School which allows our dental students (hygiene, assistant, andtechnician) to work with Dental students and faculty in their functional clinic. Kirkwood is the onlycommunity college in Iowa to have a cadaver lab, and the College also has a hospital simulation areadedicated to healthcare training throughout the region. (3.D.4)

Kirkwood continues to assess the alignment of spaces and equipment with student learning needs. TheCollege is currently planning for a new Auto Tech Lab, an expansion to the Rec Center, a remodeledStudent Center, as well as other Capital Improvements for agriculture and our veterinary scienceprogram. Many of these major projects are financially supported by the passage of a bond referendumin Fall 2017. With declining enrollment, the overall square footage will be basically the same;however, the classrooms and labs will be significantly updated and the buildings will be more energyefficient. (3.D.4)

2P1.5. Determining new student groups to target for educational offerings and services

Identifying new student groups to target for educational offerings occurs through collaboration withContinuing Education and Academic Affairs. Designing pathways for students where they can flowfrom non-credit to work to credit programming has been an ongoing goal at the College for manyyears. For example, the Call Center Training program enrolls both credit and non-credit students. AnIT credit faculty member works with the non-credit call center faculty member to design thecertificate curriculum and instruction. Students graduating from the program may continue in an ITprogram or go straight to work in one of the area call centers. Follow-up surveys consistently showboth employer and student satisfaction with the program which is only one of several examplesrelevant to how Kirkwood develops new target student groups. (3.D.3, 3.D.4)

2P1.6 Meeting changing student needs

Kirkwood’s goal is to be aware of the changing populations served and to identify the best programsand services the College can provide to our students and communities. To inform this work, theCollege conducts both student satisfaction surveys and graduate surveys annually. The results areshared with faculty and administrators. Both Sector Board meetings and the Advisory Committeeprocess inform the College related to changing workforce needs. CCSSE and SENSE results areshared through campus forums to help inform faculty and staff. With the changing demographic atKirkwood, faculty and staff are constantly assessing the support services and resources provided toensure that they are meeting student needs. (3.D.1, 3.D.4)

2P1.7 Identifying and supporting student subgroups with distinctive needs

Kirkwood identifies a number of student subgroups with distinct needs and recognizes the importanceof supporting them beginning with the application process. For example, Kirkwood’s onlineapplication is available in different versions that ask slightly different questions based on program ofstudy and whether the student is new, returning, a military veteran, or an international student. (3.D.1)Kirkwood tracks subgroup performance outcomes in order to identify gaps in achievement anddiscover potential distinctive needs:

Students with disabilities have dedicated staff and faculty available to them through ourLearning Services department. Related areas within Learning Services include the TRIOprogram, the VITAL program, the Assistive Technology Lab, and the Focused Skill Trainingprogram. Books in alternative formats, ASL interpreters, adaptive equipment, and note-takers


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are some of the many services available for eligible students. The College has also formed aSection 508 Compliance task force to ensure that our website and materials are user friendly foreveryone. (3.D.1) Students in Kirkwood’s concurrent enrollment program and career academies are eligiblefor the same services as our traditional college students. The Dean of County and RegionalCenters oversees the programs offered in conjunction with the Center Directors and staff whoprovide advising, testing services, and support services. Special staff are trained to workdirectly with high school students, and the College is NACEP accredited, as previouslydescribed. (3.C.6, 3.D.1)Veterans are served through Kirkwood’s Veteran’s Affairs office. The point-of-contact provides a checklist for successful transition from the military to college and hosts aveteran-specific orientation. Kirkwood also provides a veteran’s lounge with computers andequipment exclusively reserved for vets. The College has a long distinction of beingrecognized as a Military Friendly College (3.D.1)Expectant and Parenting Students. In 2017 Kirkwood initiated a program in partnership withthe Iowa Department of Public Health and two other Iowa community colleges to providesupport to students expecting and/or raising children or dependents ages 0-18. Support includesdirect aid to students, parent and child health education; faculty and staff training; life supports(food, clothing, hygiene products); and personal advising and mentoring. In addition, lactationand personal rooms were upgraded, and the College developed family-friendly events andstudent life programs. (3.D.1)International Students are supported by targeted admissions assistance and an establishedInternational Office. The International Office lives its mission through membership in severalinternational consortiums and partnerships including CCID and GEN. (3.D.1) One ofKirkwood’s strategic goals is to grow enrollment in diverse populations, including the numberof international students. In addition, the International Office supports Study Abroadopportunities for 170 students annually. These trips have both an educational and culturalcomponent with three trips designated annually as “Service Learning” experiences. Studentsparticipating receive a scholarship to help defray the cost of the experience. (3.D.1; 3.D.4)

As discussed in 1P3, because Kirkwood's minority population is 24.9%, the College works mindfullyto create an environment where all students feel welcome, included, and safe. The College continuesto explore ways to engage all students through program design (1P3) and through the hiring andtraining of faculty and staff (3I1 and 3I3). (1.C.1, 1.C.2, 3.D.1)

The College has also engaged in a planning process to redesign and renovate the student servicesfacilities into a comprehensive Student Center. Included in the planning is the development of amulticultural area, an LGBTQ center, and student club space. These new, open gathering areas will belocated adjacent to the International Programs Office, which will be combined with the EnglishLanguage Acquisition (ELA) Office and adjacent to the Veterans Lounge and Support Center. Thecurrent plans are to place all of these support offices in close proximity to increase visibility andaccess for all students. (3.D.1)

2P1.8 Deploying non-academic support services to help students be successful

With Learner Success as our guiding goal, Kirkwood offers a number of non-academic supportservices including personal counseling, career exploration, financial aid counseling, and non-creditprogramming. Student Life supports students through a wide variety of student groups, socialactivities, and intramural opportunities. Additionally, the College has access to numerous communityresources for students and families. Kirkwood initiated a food pantry in Fall 2017 and has providedfree bus passes for many years. International students are provided a number of enrichment


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opportunities through family mentors and campus programming with the goal to make theirexperience both cultural and educational. (3.D.1)

All new Kirkwood students are required to complete Not Anymore which is an interactive onlineprogram designed for community college students to prevent sexual assault, dating and domesticviolence, and stalking. Not Anymore also provides students with information on Kirkwood’s sexualmisconduct policy and student support services available on campus and in the community. The twocampuses also provide full-time, licensed mental health counselors. (3.D.2)

2P1.9 Ensuring staff members who provide non-academic student support services arequalified, trained and supported

The College hires qualified non-academic student support professionals dedicated to student support. In addition, many training opportunities are provided to ensure that staff members are qualified,trained, and supported. As detailed in Category 3, the College ensures positions have a clear jobdescription outlining the education, experience, competencies, and other qualifications required tofulfill the responsibilities of the position. The recruitment, on-boarding, orientation, development, andevaluation processes are all designed to ensure employees are qualified, trained, and supported. Asnoted previously, counselors are mental health professionals, tutors undergo Tier 1 and 2 training,financial aid officers are trained annually, farm workers undergo safety training, and facilities workersare OSHA certified. (3.C.6)

2P1.10 Communicating the availability of academic and non-academic support servicesKirkwood provides information about academic and non-academic support services through itswebsite, orientation process, course syllabi, student newsletters, social media, on-campus marketing(e.g. hallway monitors, flyers, and classroom presentations), Continuing Education publications,Alumni Newsletters, and through individual conversations with students and faculty or staff. (3.D.2)

2P1.11 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess student needs

Several surveys and instruments help the College staff assess student needs on a regular basis. Theannual Student Survey and Graduate Survey help provide a student perspective that is current andinformative. In 2018-19, the Student Survey will be given in the fall and spring term. TheCommunity College Survey of Students Engagement (CCSSE) assesses student perceptions andsatisfaction with learning-support services compared to other colleges. Kirkwood has participated inthis survey since the beginning and has tracked changes over time compared to our benchmarkcolleges. CCSSE is administrated every other year, and occasionally the College has also used theSurvey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE). (3.D.1)

Through service-specific surveys, Kirkwood determines broad-level support needs related totechnology, study spaces and facilities, and the library. These surveys are reviewed closely by bothfaculty and leadership in these areas and are used to inform planning and budget allocations as well asenhanced services provided.

2P1.12 Assessing the degree to which student needs are met

Some of the same tools used to assess needs also assess the degree to which students’ needs are met.Survey data, student success data, and informal feedback all provide useful information. Samplemetrics include:

Survey data: Course evaluations, Current Student Survey, Graduate Survey, Transfer Survey,


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Leaver Survey, Advisory Committee Survey, and CCSSE are informative tools.Success in foundational courses and subsequent success in college level math and writing.Retention and graduation/completion rates.

The survey information and collected data are shared with faculty and staff in related areas throughthe Program Effectiveness Profiles and reviewed as a part of the Program Annual Update. The dataprovides vital information for annual planning and the continuous improvement of student andclassroom services.


The College goal is to collect as much focused data related to our student experience as possible andthen share that data at the discipline level, program level, and institution level to help informcontinuous improvement.

The College free tutoring is used extensively on the Cedar Rapids Campus (the largest site). Tutoringis also available at many other sites or through online opportunities. The usage data is included in theEvidence File, and the sample referenced in Chart 2R1.1_1 is for Fall 2017.

The Current Student Survey is administered every October. 2017 response rate:

Participants Respondents Response Rate

CTE 453 12.16%

Liberal Arts 491 12.48%

CTE non-cohort 195 11.51%

Liberal Arts non-degree 28 3.09%

TOTAL 1,167 11.38%

The Graduate Follow-up Survey is administered every October. 2017 response rate:

Participants Respondents Response Rate

CTE 133 6.37%

Agricultural Sciences 28 12.84%

Sciences = 28 (12.84%) 16 7.48

Business Education 19 13.29%

Health Occupations 0 0.00%

Hospitality Arts 8 15.38%

Industrial Technologies 17 9.44%

Information Technology 13 12.04%

Nursing 21 10.45%

Science 1 10.00%


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Social Sciences 10 17.86%

Liberal Arts 109 12.44%

TOTAL (of total population 2,085) 242 11.61%

Copies of these surveys and others provided in the portfolio are located in the Evidence File.

Active &CollaborativeLearning

StudentEffort

AcademicChallenge

Student-FacultyInteraction

Support forLearners

KirkwoodCommunityCollege

50.40 49.40 49.50 48.80 50.70

LargeColleges 49.40 49.90 49.90 48.80 49.00

AnnualCohort 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 50.00

The College CCSSE Benchmark scores are consistently in line with both the cohort and large collegeresponses as evidenced in Chart 2R1.1_2.

Understanding the specific impact of advising and counseling is challenging. CCSSE resultsconsistently report that students did not use “counseling services” at the college. The terminology isproblematic as Kirkwood “Counselors” are professionals in mental health and do not provideacademic advising; students often use the terms counselor and advisor interchangeably.

Counseling Results

The Dean of Students Office began tracking of student mental health counseling visits in 2016 aftercompleting a formal process for documenting all mental health counseling referrals. Chart2R1.1_3 illustrates the increasing use of counseling services among students since formal trackingbegan in 2016. This data compares similarly to benchmark data available nationally that showsstudents mental health and counseling needs to be on the rise.

Transfer Advising Results

Assessing student utilization of advising is challenged by the decentralized nature of advisingavailable at the College. Transfer advising (i.e. advising students who are in liberal arts/transferprograms) is conducted in a number of departments under the coordination of the Dean of Studentsoffice. Advising in the career and technical programs is managed at the academic department level.

Coordination and collaboration among the advisors on campus has improved significantly through theformation of the college Advising Council. Additionally, the College now requires all first yearstudents to meet with advisors prior to enrollment for the second term. Subsequently, all liberal arts


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students are required to meet with advisors prior to beginning their second semester. These policieshave impacted the number of advisor visits as illustrated in Chart 2R1.1_4. (3.D.3)


Faculty, staff, and administrators use the survey results to monitor our programs and services and toidentify areas for improvement. Although the College goal is to receive high scores and to improve,formal internal and external benchmarks are not recorded. Rather the comparison of survey resultsover time informs the College actions and consistency in program delivery. The goal is forcontinuous improvement and learning from cohort colleges where benchmark results from nationalsurveys like CCSSE, SENSE, and NCCBP are available.


Our data collected from students mirrors national trend data, and interpretation is focused at thedepartment and division level where changes directly impact students. Based on national research, theCollege has implemented mandatory orientation for all incoming students and mandatory advising forall liberal arts students in their first semester.

The college is only beginning to understand the impact of advising and orientation on student success.Data indicates students are increasingly using these resources and indications suggest improvementsare making an impact.

2I1: IMPROVEMENTS

Recent improvements

Mandatory Orientation has helped to improve student onboarding and engagement.Restricted enrollment after the start of classes has provided opportunities for interventions earlyin a student’s academic journey.The “Still Deciding Cohort” has helped retain and engage students entering without cleardirection or a determined major. Scaling the initial pilot has proven to be a challenge.The Foundations of Excellence process has identified areas where the College can improveservices and communication to students.The goal in establishing the Enrollment Leadership Council is to avoid duplication of effort andto coordinate continuous process initiatives related to services provided students throughouttheir time at Kirkwood and after they leave our programs.Student loan default rates have been reduced through intentional, focused outreach to currentand former students.

In the next 1-3 years

Improving analytics. The College has implemented CIVITAS software for identifying keytrends related to student success, predictive identification of student support needs, andevaluation of the efficacy of current interventions.Redesigning a current building into a Student Center to better meet student needs andengagement. Design is just starting with an anticipated opening of fall 2022.Expand the Pathways between credit and non-credit programing to provide moreopportunities to students in low income, low skills situations. New placement process for writing courses, including co-requisite course opportunities in bothwriting and developmental math courses.


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Pathways for students in transfer areas so that students have seamless articulation fromKirkwood to the transfer institution.

Sources

Chart 2R1.1_1Chart 2R1.1_2Chart 2R1.1_3Chart 2R1.1_4Three Consecutive Years for Fall 2018 Semester Usage from Individual and WalkWPLC Annual Report 2018


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2.2 - Retention, Persistence, and Completion

Retention, Persistence and Completion focuses on the approach to collecting, analyzing anddistributing data on retention, persistence and completion to stakeholders for decision making. Theinstitution should provide evidence for Core Component 4.C. in this section.

2P2: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for collecting, analyzing and distributing data on retention, persistence andcompletion. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Collecting student retention, persistence and completion data (4.C.2, 4.C.4)Determining targets for student retention, persistence and completion (4.C.1, 4.C.4)Analyzing information on student retention, persistence and completionMeeting targets for retention, persistence and completion (4.C.1)Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess retention, persistence and completion(4.C.4)

2R2: RESULTS

What are the results for student retention, persistence and completion? The results presented should befor the processes identified in 2P2. All data presented should include the population studied, responserate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the data iscollected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results mightinclude:


2I2: IMPROVEMENT

Based on 2R2, what process improvements have been implemented or will be implemented in thenext one to three years? (4.C.3)

Responses2P2.1 Collecting student retention, persistence and completion data

With the launch of the Learner Success Agenda in 2011, the College changed its focus to retainingrather than recruiting, to completion rather that attrition. The change in direction has helped faculty tofocus on student engagement and has influenced decisions related to advising, late registration, andorientation.

Kirkwood collects student retention, persistence, and completion data as a part of the ProgramEffectiveness Profiles (PEP) and the Program Annual Update (PAU) process. The information iscollected by program, location, and course. Faculty review and set targets annually at the department


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level for improvement or for sustaining quality levels. The Office of Institutional Research putstogether Program Effectiveness Profiles that are shared with faculty in November. This reportinforms the January Assessment Day activities. (4.C.2, 4.C.4)

Institutional Research also submits student success data annually to IPEDS, Perkins, the Departmentof Education, and others based upon each entity's definitions and guidelines.

2P2.2 Determining targets for student retention, persistence and completion

In determining which targets or benchmarks to choose, the College considers both strategic andoperational benchmarks. Strategic benchmarks provide the College with longer-term targets(completion rates, graduation rates) that support student success through the College’s LearnerSuccess Framework. Operational benchmarks inform shorter-term strategies related to studentsuccess (e.g. department/program operational plans). The Program Annual Update (PAU) processsupports continuous improvement at the academic department/program level which aligns to strategic-level goals at the institution. Ultimately, faculty work to retain students as a part of the learner successmodel while department coordinators, program coordinators, and academic advisors work withstudents in terms of their overall academic planning and goal attainment. Targets are determined byfaculty and administrators as a part of the PAU. (4.C.1, 4.C.4)

2P2.3 Analyzing information on student retention, persistence and completion

As noted previously, a variety of methods are used to analyze student retention, persistence, andcompletion data extracted from Colleague, the college database, through custom reports. The PEPreports contain this trend information, and faculty respond to questions in the PAU process that guidetheir analysis and reporting. Program retention, persistence, and completion data are analyzed eachyear by faculty and administrators. Current and five-year trends are provided to academicdepartments to share with their respective advisory committees and to use in the program reviewprocess for continuous improvement (1P.3).

In addition to annual planning, the admissions team uses Recruiter software to track applications andregistrations. The Enrollment team reviews enrollment and retention data at joint meetings regularly. For example, if data indicate that a number of students have not yet registered, staff implement atargeted outreach effort to help these students register for the next semester.

The College also considers the purpose of the analysis or data reporting. For example, Kirkwood usesthe National Community College Benchmark Project (NCCBP) benchmarks as their similardefinitions reflect the part-time enrollment of many community college students. Perkins CoreIndicators provide benchmarks related to core performance for Career and Technical Education (CTE)concentrators. These indicators help to inform and compare our success in CTE programs. (4.C.4)

2P2.4 Meeting targets for retention, persistence and completion

Although data related to institutional retention, persistence and completion is shared each term, theCollege determines if targets are met at the program level where the PAU tracks this data annually.(4.C.1)

After reviewing and analyzing data both internal and external to the department, the results are sharedwith respective stakeholders following a rubric assessment measure. The Program Review committeeprovides feedback to the discipline groups and ratings on measures related to the rubric criteria everyfive years. The information is shared with the vice president and deans to help monitor program


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improvement. In collaboration with various campus groups, leaders make informed decisions thatalign with the strategic direction of the College. The annual process allows College personnel closestto the program of study to monitor and adjust beneficial improvements. (4.C.2, 4.C.3)

2P2.5 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess retention, persistence andcompletion

Kirkwood develops initiatives such as Guided Pathways to positively impact student retention,persistence, and completion. Course-level persistence and completer success targets are derived fromthe Program Review process, both annual reports and the five-year review, with both faculty andacademic administrator input. (1P3) Programs or faculty with lower than normal success rates areprovided mentors and instructional designers to help better design engaging instructional strategies.

With learner success as the core goal, Kirkwood recognized after our last portfolio feedback that theCollege needed to be more data conscious in planning and developing action steps. The College uses anumber of software support systems, like CIVITAS, and a number or reports generated from theColleague database. Several automatic reports are available through the Institutional Researchwebpage; other reports are a part of Academic Affairs, Continuing Education, Human Resources,Information Technology, Finance, and Student Services.

To support data-driven decisions regarding success metrics, the College contracted with the GardnerInstitute in 2015 to conduct a study of the First Year Experience followed by another year-long studyof the Transfer Student Experience. The process involved over 200 faculty and staff and relied heavilyon survey data collected through the Foundations of Excellence (FoE) process. Additionally,Dimension Committees collected and used existing reports or requested new reports to help informtheir work. The themes developed through both processes are driving a number of initiatives relatedto tools, methods and instruments to assess retention, persistence and completion. The current ActionProject is to develop a Student Experience Leadership team charged with the goal to coordinate andimplement recommendations and action items derived from the FoE experience. (4.C.3, 4.C.4)

To collect qualitative data, the College frequently contracts with external groups to complete surveysor focus groups related to specific topics. For example, the current architect working on the StudentCenter conducted a number of student and stakeholder interviews to help understand the buildingneeds. The College contracted with STAMATS, a local marketing company, to better understand theneeds of our automotive businesses, those who employ our auto technology graduates, in preparationfor a building renovation. The information helped to guide the faculty and administration in thedevelopment of a five-year department strategic plan that aligns with the Learner SuccessFramework.

Kirkwood uses many federal or state mandated student success metrics (e.g., IPEDS, Perkins, GrantReporting, MIS, etc.); however, the college also uses success metrics from initiatives that providemore suitable comparison for community colleges (2P2.2). For example, occupational programareas report to accrediting bodies regularly as a part of their ongoing accreditation process. Theirstandards are consistently met, and the process helps to enhance the quality of our nursing and alliedhealth programs. (4.C.4)

2R2.1 Summary of Results Measures

The College uses multiple metrics to inform decision-making as noted in 2R2.2. Results arecollected to help the College faculty and staff better understand the student experience at the programlevel so that the College can improve our services and programs of study in a meaningful manner.


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This philosophy improves our retention, persistence and completion. See Chart 2R2.1.

See the Evidence File and Resources for copies of surveys completed by the College.

One example of how the College collects results measures to inform improvement is with our KPACEProgram designed to benefit low income, low skills individuals.

2R2.2 Comparison of results with internal and external benchmarks

As noted in the process narrative, the PAU process which includes a variety of data points collectedfrom the PEPs provides the venue for setting targets and comparing data. The college moved to anAnnual Reporting process to better monitor data collected; the peer review process continues to occurat the five-year benchmark on a rotational basis. The Curriculum and Assessment Specialists, alongwith the Program Review Committee, review and affirm benchmarks for individual programs as apart of their review process.

2R2.3 Interpretation of Results and insights gained

The Program Annual Update process incorporates information collected each fall as a part of theProgram Effectiveness Profile policy. A copy of a sample profile is included in the evidence file andincludes data comparisons at the institution, division, department, and program level. The topicsinclude current degrees and curriculum, enrollment comparisons for five years, retention andcompletion rates, persistence and graduation rates, employment data, and cost of instructionaldelivery. Faculty and administration interpret this information for the Program Annual Update andFive-Year Review, and they share insights gained through small and large group meetings, likeAssessment Days, as a part of that process.

2I2 IMPROVEMENTS

In Spring 2011, as a part of the Learner Success Agenda, Kirkwood began identifying opportunitiesfor students to move freely from non-credit to work to credit programming as many students from lowincome areas or with low skills could benefit from short-term training with options to move to long-term degree programs at a later time. The College goal was to help students recognize that learningand credentials may work to benefit the individual. Although the beginning process was slow as eachcredit and non-credit course needed to be mapped for both competencies and student learningoutcomes, much has been completed in the last three years to define and implement pathway models.(4.C.3)

Next steps include:

Implement CIVITAS analytics to identify key trends related to student success, predictiveidentification of students who need additional support, evaluation of efficacy of currentinterventions, and models that help to provide tailored instruction and student supports.Review course sequencing and selection based on analysis of course maps and plans andexpand the number of options for both articulations from non-credit to credit programs andcredit to non-credit certificates.Coordinate Student Learning Outcomes and assessment plans for defined programs in bothcredit and non-credit, and ensure faculty credentials are consistent with HLC and stateguidelines.Identify gateway courses for each program and determine appropriate student services that canhelp students make a career choice with clearly defined pathways to completion.


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Sources

1-Program Profiles 5-year Retention Rate_Real Numbers2017 Current Student Survey Report (with comments)2017 Graduate Follow-up Survey Report (with comments)2-Program Profiles 5-year Fall-to-Spring Persistence_Real Numbers3-Program Profiles 5-year 150 Percent Graduation_Real Numbers4-2016-2017 Program Effectiveness Profile Quartile Summary with Median Wages5-Academic Discipline Retention Persistence CompletionAY2018 Leaver Survey Report (with comments)Chart 2R2.1Learner Success Framework Student Experience Survey Results Summarized


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2.3 - Key Stakeholder Needs

Key Stakeholder Needs focuses on determining, understanding and meeting needs of key stakeholdergroups, including alumni and community partners.

2P3: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for serving the needs of key external stakeholder groups. This includes, but isnot limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Determining key external stakeholder groups (e.g., alumni, employers, community)Determining new stakeholders to target for services or partnershipMeeting the changing needs of key stakeholdersSelecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess key stakeholder needsAssessing the degree to which key stakeholder needs are met

2R3: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if key stakeholder needs are being met? The results presentedshould be for the processes identified in 2P3. All data presented should include the populationstudied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how oftenthe data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. Theseresults might include:


2I3: IMPROVEMENT


Responses2P3.1 Determining key external stakeholder groups (e.g., alumni, employers, community)

Kirkwood’s long term goal has been to be the “communities’ college.” Serving our seven-countyregion effectively invokes the question: how does this action serve the needs of our students andcommunity? To this end, the College recognizes a number of external stakeholders--people orentities--that have a vested interest in the welfare and success of our programs and our learners:

Businesses, employers who hire our students. Employer stakeholders (local, regional, state-wide, or national) vary by program. Many are represented on advisory/sector boards.Sector Boards. Employers who help advise career areas and workforce trends.Internship, Field Experience, Clinic, and Job Shadow placement sites. These include ourWorkplace Learning Connection department that serves the regional school districts to


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coordinate career exploration activities for K-12 students, financial literacy, and careercoaching.University and College partners and other receiving institutions. Kirkwood maintains bothgeneral and discipline specific articulation agreements with all three Regent’s institutions andmany private Iowa colleges. In addition, several border state colleges have articulations forspecific transfer programs, often accepting all of the credits earned.The community. The geographic nature of Kirkwood’s “community,” our seven county servicearea, has evolved over the years. As with employers, each program has its own community ofprospective students, their families, businesses, and other organizations who may benefit from,and are thus vested in, our success.Local school districts/feeder institutionsCurrent students’ familiesProspective students and their familiesDonors who provide scholarships or other resourcesOrganizations that provide grant fundsElected officials, board membersAlumni and Foundation boardsDepartment of EducationEconomic development organizations

In all instances, key stakeholder groups are identified for the values they bring to the accomplishmentof our mission.

2P3.2 Determining new stakeholders to target for services or partnership

Kirkwood’s goal with determining new stakeholders is make sure the partnership is meaningful andcontributes to the accomplishment of our mission. Potential new stakeholders may be identifiedthrough interactions with current stakeholders listed above or by participating in regional partnershipmeetings focused on economic development, workforce development, and other educational planning.Employers or industries may also approach the College to help address needs for qualified talent. Often based on emerging occupations and employment trends, the College will organize area businessgroups to share ideas and future directions as best suited to meet their changing needs. An analysis ofpotential harm and benefits are conducted prior to agreeing to a new partnership.

2P3.3 Meeting the changing needs of key stakeholders

Data on changing needs of stakeholders can trigger a variety of potential responses. Core to Kirkwoodis making sure that addressing a change in key stakeholder needs aligns with the College mission,vision and values. This concept became a prime College goal established with the mission reviewbeginning in 2015. Without a clearly defined connection, the College will not maintain a partnershiprelationship.

Recent examples of meeting the changing needs of stakeholders include:

Developed a new Medical Lab Technician program. Previously a joint program with anothercommunity college, the number of graduates could not meet the regional need.Developed a CNC Accelerated pathway, a non-credit to credit partnership to address thechanging workforce need of regional employers. The current unemployment rate in the regionhas created a critical need to increase the number of students at an operator level (certificate ordiploma) and a CNC programming level (2-year degree).Developed pathway models to align curriculum in non-credit and credit courses in IT, Industrial


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Tech, and Business.

2P3.3 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess key stakeholder needs

Listening to external stakeholders happens through a variety of methods, both formal and informal--quantitative and qualitative. (1D1, 1D3)

The College Advisory Committees help Kirkwood to improve offerings community membersmost value. Members complete a brief survey through IR after each meeting.Through the Kirkwood Board of Trustees, Facilities Foundation Board and theFoundation Board. As representatives of the community, the Boards provide importantfeedback on community perceptions of strengths and gaps in meeting external stakeholderneeds.Alumni Feedback through the Alumni Organization and survey. Through close relationships with our feeder institutions and receiving institutionsSector Boards provide feedback on changing industry requirements and the employee skillsneeded in occupational areas informing programmatic and curricular changes. Feedback from internship placement sites.Other employer feedback is gathered through employer satisfaction surveys, focus groups,and individual conversations with employers. (See Skills 2019)Graduate feedback is gathered through the annual Graduate Survey as well as informallythrough program coordinators or other faculty conversations with graduates.Market analysis. Before launching a new program or service, the College conducts a marketanalysis to determine the size and scope of the need and whether the College is the best entity toaddress that need.Post event surveys/debriefs. Departments or programs that offer services to the communitygather feedback through surveys or staff debrief sessions. Examples would include the libraries,tutoring services, IT support, and so on.

Analysis of these various surveys typically happens immediately after results are gathered. Inaddition, Kirkwood’s aligned planning process, detailed in 4.2, guides departments, programs, and thewhole institution in systematically analyzing the changing needs of our key stakeholder groupsannually.

2P3.5 Assessing the degree to which key stakeholder needs are met

Many of the same processes used to assess needs (2P3.3) are also used to determine how effectivelythe College is meeting those needs. The College tracks a number of outcome measures that reflecthow well programs and services are meeting stakeholder needs.

Employment ratings of Kirkwood graduatesTransfer student success and satisfactionGraduate student surveyProgram participation, credit and noncreditAttendance at theatre programs, music program performances, athletic events or other eventsHaving clean Department of Education Financial auditsMeeting Gainful Employment standardsDonor and alumni satisfactionWorkforce training impactRegional economic impact


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While Kirkwood conducts regular graduate and employer surveys, many programs find the informal,face-to-face or phone conversations with students and employers more valuable. Contacting eachgraduate provides in-depth information about specific aspects of programs that are most beneficialand those in need of improvement. These personal conversations also strengthen the relationship withthe graduate or employer and, hopefully, increases the possibility of their seeing Kirkwood as apartner in “lifelong learning.”

2R3.1 Summary Results of Measures

There have been a number of changes in communications (4I1).The College has invested in the Kirkwood Foundation with personnel, software infrastructure,and strategic planning with goals for increased donations to strengthen student scholarshipfunding (5I2). Skills 2014 and Skills 2019 inform employer future needsProgram Effectiveness Profiles have been improved to provide data for each programParticipation in KICK Camps, our interactive summer program for children

The College identifies partnership values with the Community Impact Assessment rubric.

GradingCriteria

Awareness

1 point

Critical Mass

2 points

Quality

3 points

Institutionalized

4 points

EconomicDevelopmentPartnerships

No economicdevelopmentpartnerships exist. The organizationis aware of theeconomicdevelopmentorganizations inthe region.

Economicdevelopmentorganizationsand Kirkwoodnetwork dialoguerelated toworkforce talentpipeline.Currentlysystemsapproachpartnerships donot exist.

Economicdevelopmentpartnerships exist.Strategies foreach organizationdrive thepartnership.Systematicdeployment ofjoint strategiesdoes not exist.

Economicdevelopmentpartnerships exist.Involvedorganizations workcollectively to driveidentified regionalstrategies. Thepartnerships arefully deployedthroughout theregion.

LegislativePartnerships

No legislativepartnerships exist.There is norelationshipbetween thecollege and stateand locallegislators

Fewrelationshipsexist between thecollege andlegislators.Information isoccasionallyshared

Multiplepartnerships existbut there is nosystematiccollaboration orsharing of ideas

Multiplepartnerships existwith activecollaboration andsharing of ideas.Input is solicited ona frequent basis

Chair and CoChair positionshave been

Employer led withstructured chair/co-


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Sector BoardEngagement

Sector Boardexists in nameonly with little tono regularemployerattendance orinvolvement. Nospecific goalshave beenidentified or havebeen achieved

Sector Board hasregular meetingsbut with sporadicattendance.Small number ofregular attendees.No specific goalshave beenidentified otherthan a commonpain point.

identified andfilled by employerleaders; Subcommittees havebeen identified; Successfulattainment ofgoals aresometimes met;Employerengagementfluctuates withoccasionallysporadicattendance

chair roles. Executive team thatsets agenda anddirection for thesector board. Coregroup of regularlyattendingemployers. Grouphas identified goals,action steps andidentifiedindividuals that aredriving attainmentof goals

Community-BasedPartnerships

No awareness/nopartnership...notsure what CBOsprovide and noconnectivitybetween CBOsinto KCCprograms andvice versa

At microlevel...awarenessof each other,each educatescustomers on theothers services,and makesappropriatereferrals

Strong knowledgeand awareness ofeach other’sservices, plan outservices andprojects togetherto target a specificpopulation orprogram...helpinglink a group orpopulation withneeded services. May involveadjustingprocesses toaccommodate

Multiple partnersworking together,gatheringcommunity inputand feedback, todevelop aseamlesslyintegrated approachto blending togetherservices andtraining, eliminatingduplicate intakesand processes,making a customerfocused/centeredsystem bringing aholistic approach toservice delivery andimproving socialdeterminants.

These are programswe are developingstrong, programbased,interconnected


The Foundation sets fundraising targets annually with the help of the Foundation Board. TheKirkwood Foundation ranks 10th in the country for community college endowments. Last year theCollege collected $2,405,189 and the current endowment is at $29,083,626.


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Continuing Education and Workforce Development measures success by connections to businesstraining. Internal benchmarks are established as a part of the Division planning process.


As noted previously, Kirkwood believes the connection to the community as paramount in supportingour students, and our partnerships with other external entities helps the College meet goals for studentsuccess. Departments review reports regularly as a part of our continuous improvement process,including reports from external groups. The fall 2017 passage of a 64 million dollar bond withroughly 76% voting in favor reflects the positive perception of the community in the work Kirkwoodis doing.

2I3: IMPROVEMENTS In particular since the last Portfolio, Kirkwood has worked to ensure thatconnections the College makes with stakeholders throughout the world contribute to our studentsuccess, our focus on community service, and our mission and vision. To that end, the College has:

Participated in area Sector Boards activelyOrganized Alumni to Champion the CollegeEngaged in partnerships with area colleges and universitiesSupported student success with K-12 partners through Regional and County Centers, theWorkplace Learning Connection, and STEMhub offeringsAdvisory Committee Survey collection process and involvementPartnership in Global Education NetworkParticipation in Community Colleges for International Development

Sources

2P5.4 Community Impact rubric- final (1)2P5.4 Sector Board Engagement Level Pyramid2R3.1 Advanced Manufacturing Sector Board Accomplishments2R5.1 Skills 2019 Talent ForecastAY2018 Advisory Committee Survey Reports (with comments)CE_TS Scorecard as of July 20Sector Partnership Charter Framework - DRAFT


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2.4 - Complaint Processes

Complaint Processes focuses on collecting, analyzing and responding to complaints from students orkey stakeholder groups.

2P4: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for collecting, analyzing and responding to complaints from students andstakeholder groups. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for thefollowing:

Collecting complaint information from studentsCollecting complaint information from other key stakeholdersLearning from complaint information and determining actionsCommunicating actions to students and other key stakeholdersSelecting the tools, methods and instruments to evaluate complaint resolution

2R4: RESULTS

What are the results for student and key stakeholder complaints? The results presented should be forthe processes identified in 2P4. All data presented should include the population studied, response rateand sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the data is collected,who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results might include:


2I4: IMPROVEMENT


Responses2P4.1 Collecting complaint information from students

The College has a transparent process for collecting and acting on complaint information fromstudents which is detailed in the Student Policies and Student Rights section on the public website. The policy includes processes for addressing:

General complaintsConcerns about the behavior/conduct of Kirkwood students, faculty, or staffGrade complaints

The policy notes the existing review committees: Special Appeals Committee, Academic Policies andProcedures Committee, and the Student Conduct Hearing board. General complaints received via the


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online Student Complaint Form are managed by either the Vice President, Student Services, or theVice President, Academic Affairs. The record is maintained in the VP, SS office. ContinuingEducation collects feedback on improvements and suggestions through their ”What’s On Your Mind”survey.

General Complaints The primary responsibility for resolving student complaints resides withthe staff/faculty member or department where the complaint originates. The Dean of Students officeserves as a resource for students seeking advice on filing complaints, including how and where acomplaint should be filed. The academic deans and department heads serve as points of contact forescalated complaints not resolved at the individual staff or faculty level. Students who have exhaustedthat process without satisfaction can file a Student Complaint Form, which is routed to the vicepresidents for academic affairs and student affairs for review and response.

Behavior/Conduct matters or Mental Health concerns

Student conduct violations are administered by the dean of students and the associate dean ofstudents. The College has made significant improvement in policy development, and the studentconduct code has undergone extensive revision to improve due process and to standardize rules andprocedures for managing student conduct. Behavioral concerns are reported to the Dean of Studentsoffice by faculty, staff, and students. Each allegation of student misconduct is investigated andadjudicated according to the procedures established in the student conduct code, and each case ismaintained in an online database called Maxient.

In addition, a student sexual misconduct policy has been developed that complies with all federal andstate laws and rules related to sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. Sexual misconductallegations are investigated and adjudicated in accordance with this policy under the direction of theCollege Title IX coordinator. To be proactive, Kirkwood launched the “Not Anymore” initiative fornew students, described in this portfolio.

Complaints about unfair grading As mentioned earlier, the Academic Policies and ProceduresCommittee reviews final grade appeals. Grading questions prior to the completion of the course aremanaged through the individual department offices.

2P4.2 Collecting complaint information from other key stakeholders

Collecting complaint information from other key stakeholders such as employees and members of thepublic tends to be departmentalized based on the nature of the concern. Complaints from the generalpublic may come through the Office of the President or another department and are either addressedby the office staff or routed to the appropriate person in another area of the College. Members of thepublic may also voice concerns during the Public Comment portion of all Board of Trusteesmeetings. Key stakeholder complaints are logged in the Dean of Students office and the VicePresident of Student Services office.

2P4.3 Learning from complaint information and determining actions

Kirkwood takes all complaints seriously and works to consider what improvements might be made toCollege policy or practice as a result of this review. Administrators are trained to work with eachstudent so as to listen and provide assistance beyond the simple complaint filed. This process hashelped to resolve issues in a timely manner with the student understanding ways the College canprovide support both in and out of the classroom. In more serious complaints against a faculty or staffmember, investigations are conducted to ensure that all actions were in compliance with College


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policy. In some rare instances, a faculty or staff member may be required to participate in training soas to become more aware of how their actions might offend or discourage a student or communitymember.

2P4.4 Communicating actions to students and other key stakeholders

Since all informal student complaints are handled through face-to-face conversations at thedepartment or classroom level, the outcome or action is communicated directly through the finalmeeting. For actions involving committee review, decisions are communicated in writing, per policy.

2P4.5 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to evaluate complaint resolution

Student complaints are thoroughly investigated and resolved in an appropriate manner. The complaintform on the Website is used most often when a student is frustrated with a class or process. This toolhelps to communicate to the student options to consider as well as relevant policies. The student codeof conduct violation process is well defined and managed through the Maxient software effectively.

Kirkwood conducts ongoing evaluation of our student support systems through surveys and focusgroups. After analyzing complaints, if the affected area determines there is a gap to address, an actionplan is created, documented, and tracked on the area’s annual program review documents commentfield.

Similarly, the College has multiple methods of listening to employee and external stakeholder needsand concerns outlined in 3.2 and 2.3 respectively. This feedback is an important component ofKirkwood’s continuous improvement process.


The Maxient software notes that for the academic year 2017-18 the College processed 146 conductissues. 133 of these were academic dishonesty and 13 were other areas. The following table reflectsthe number of complaints received through the webpage complaint form.

Type of Complaint 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

Academic Issues (i.e. grades,tests, faculty concerns, etc. 3 1 3 8 1 8

Student Service Issues (i.e.dissatisfaction with non-classroom services, non-faculty personnel, etc.)

4 4 0 2 3 1

Miscellaneous Issues 0 0 0 2 2 0

The consistently small number makes analysis of little value at an institution the size of Kirkwood;however, each is reviewed, responded to, investigated (if necessary), and resolved.

As described, the Academic Policy and Procedures Committee reviews end course grade appeals. Theprocess is described in more detail on the College website and in the catalog. The appeal process


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includes a formal hearing, if the complaint is deemed valid by the committee, with both the studentand instructor given time to present their case.

Total Number of Academic Appeals- 2014-2018

Granted 13 22.4%

Denied 20 34.5%

Dismissed 25 43.1%

Total 58 100%

2R4.2 Comparison of results with internal and external benchmarks

Kirkwood collects student compliant information and follows policies as applicable to the situation;however, the college has not established internal or external targets or benchmarks related to studentcomplaints. The College would hope that during the academic year no complaints would be received,certainly a goal.


Although complaints are documented and tracked, the College does not have a formal review processto interpret results. As noted, repeated concerns about classroom instruction are dealt with at thedepartment level and some may invoke professional development activities or training. Thisinterpretation, however, is at the individual level rather than the institution level.

2I4 IMPROVEMENTS

The dean of students has worked to refine college polices related to students so as to ensure equityand consistency in managing complaints. The Academic Policy and Procedures (AP&P) committeehas also formalized the process for end course grade review so as to be consistent and transparent tothe student and faculty member. When issues may be related to a department policy, the committeewill make recommendations directly to that department.

Maxient implementation and expanded useMandatory completion of “Not Anymore” during first semester for all new, full-time students. Need to schedule complaint review meetings annually between the vice president, academicaffairs and vice president, student services to review complaints and identify any trends.

SourcesThere are no sources.


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2.5 - Building Collaborations and Partnerships

Building Collaborations and Partnerships focuses on aligning, building and determining theeffectiveness of collaborations and partnerships to further the mission of the institution.

2P5: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for managing collaborations and partnerships to further the mission of theinstitution. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Selecting partners for collaboration (e.g., other educational institutions, civic organizations,businesses)Building and maintaining relationships with partnersSelecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess partnership effectivenessEvaluating the degree to which collaborations and partnerships are effective

2R5: RESULTS

What are the results for determining the effectiveness of aligning and building collaborations andpartnerships? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 2P5. All data presentedshould include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include abrief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how theresults are shared. These results might include:


2I5: IMPROVEMENT


Responses2P5.1 Selecting partners for collaboration

Partnerships enrich our program offerings and benefit our students and community, which is clearlymission relevant: “Kirkwood Community College identifies community needs; provides accessible,quality education and training; and promotes opportunities for lifelong learning.” The College selectspartners for collaboration based on the value-add to benefit the mission and our students/community. As noted previously, partnership requests are measured against a value rubric. In many cases, newpartnerships reflect the changing face of our community, and in all instances, the key selection criteriais mission relevance.

2P5.2 Building and maintaining relationships with partners


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K-12 Partners

The Executive Dean for Distance Learning meets with the area school superintendents on amonthly basis.Each regional center director is responsible for working with area school districtsThe Workplace Learning Connection provides career exploration opportunities to over 24,000students annuallyPer NACEP accreditation, two professional development days are provided each summer forhigh school faculty teaching duel enrollment courses.

Community Organizations

College administrators serve on area boards and are active in clubs and organizationsKirkwood partners with organizations to provide services to students such as transportation,healthcare, and so on.The Continuing Education division provides professional development and lifelong learningopportunities throughout the region.

Business and Industry

The College participates in six regional Sector Boards which helps to define employer needs,both current and future.Kirkwood has produced “Skills” reports every 4-5 years which provide survey results fromregional businesses. These reports are produced in partnership with key workforce andeconomic development stakeholders in the region.The College partners with Iowa Workforce Development to provide training opportunities forlow income community members.

Government Agencies and Elected Officials

The president and board members are actively involved with government efforts related tocommunity colleges.The Board of Trustees participates in both the Iowa Area Community College Trusteeorganization and the American Association of Community College Trustees.Kirkwood provides educational opportunities at two regional penitentiaries.

Colleges and Universities

The College collaborates with the other 14 community colleges in Iowa and the three regent’sinstitutions regularly. HF 815 provides guidance to some interactions and the Liaison AdvisoryCommittee on Transfer Students (LACTS) agreement ensures transferability of courses.Kirkwood has a number of articulation agreements and joint programs with area privatecolleges and universities.

2P5.3 Selecting the tools, methods and instruments to assess partnership effectiveness.

As noted previously, partnership relevance is measured by the value-add to student programming andmission alignment. The value-rubric provides a guide for selecting and approving new partnerships,but only a guide. When a partnership is no longer relevant to the College mission, it can be mutuallyagreed to discontinue that relationship.

2P5.4 Evaluating the degree to which collaborations and partnerships are effective.


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Kirkwood does not collect specific information related to individual partnerships except when thoserelationships divert away from the intended purpose. However, College administrators are activelyinvolved with community partnerships, and the Foundation collects community input through alumnisurveys and foundation board meetings. Most important is the community connections and servicesprovided to our students.

Kirkwood does facilitate and convene the region’s sector boards forming strong partnerships andcollaborations. Sector strategies have shown promising practice through the development,implementation, and on-going collaboration of the boards. The board continuously improves byestablishing strategic goals and metrics, by-laws and charters, assessing against the Sector BoardEngagement Level Pyramid, and training for sector board members and partners. The boards havesupported new program development, curriculum review, student interviews, and career pathwaydevelopment.

Kirkwood’s Continuing Education and Training Services has sought to assess and strategically buildpriority partnerships, and in FY18 the division implemented the “Community Impact Metric” whichassess collaboration for four primary stakeholder groups: Economic Development Organizations,Legislator Relationships, Opportunity Center Partners, and Non-profit human/social service partners.Work and evaluation is ongoing to maintain engagement levels and specific goals are determined forpartnerships desirable to increase engagement levels.


The Skills 2019 Talent Forecast survey completed in April 2018 polled 558 regional businesses witha 25% response rate. The survey is modeled after the Skills 2014 survey which was the last collectioncycle. The survey is conducted in partnership with regional economic development and workforcedevelopment organizations. The results are shared not only internally with faculty and staff but alsowith the community. The Talent Forecast is now scheduled to be completed every two years.

Measures of our success in building collaborations and partnerships is evidenced by the number oflong time relationships Kirkwood has maintained and the amount of organizational donations to thefoundation. Last year, the foundation collected $2,405,189 and the current endowment is at$29,083,626. The College also awarded over three million dollars in scholarships during the 2017-18academic year.


Kirkwood has established benchmarks related to building collaborative relationships as noted throughthe value rubric and Sector Boards. The College general target goal to serve the region however andwhenever possible.


The Skills 2019 results provide insights that direct the region to future employer needs. The report iswell recognized by the region and helps to inform college programming in both credit and non-credit.

2I5 Improvements

Although the College does ensure that partnerships align with the mission and vision, the benefit ofeach individual partnership has not been assessed regularly. A plan to create a rubric that is missionaligned and relevant to our four framework areas will benefit our student experience and help to


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maintain worthwhile partnerships.

Kirkwood publishes a variety of reports through marketing, career services, and the foundationin order to keep the community aware of programming and activities. Review of the value-addof these materials could be beneficial.Sector Boards and Advisory Committees are active and benefit the College’s understanding ofour changing culture. Sustaining the levels of involvement and the synergy is important.Being the “Community’s College” is a part of the culture and all employees connect to thisphilosophy as a benefit to the region. However, the College also must continue to monitor andrecognize with limited resources, the College cannot be all things to all people.

Sources

2R5.1 Skills 2019 Talent Forecast


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3 - Valuing Employees

3.1 - Hiring

Hiring focuses on the acquisition of appropriately qualified/credentialed faculty, staff andadministrators to ensure that effective, high-quality programs and student support services areprovided. The institution should provide evidence for Core Component 3.C. in this section.

3P1: PROCESSES

Describe the process for hiring faculty, staff and administrators. This includes, but is not limited to,descriptions of key processes for the following:

Recruiting, hiring and orienting processes that result in staff and administrators who possess therequired qualification, skills and values (3.C.6)Developing and meeting academic credentialing standards for faculty, including those in dualcredit, contractual and consortia programs (3.C.1, 3.C.2)Ensuring the institution has sufficient numbers of faculty to carry out both classroom and non-classroom programs and activities (3.C.1)Ensuring the acquisition of sufficient numbers of staff to provide student support servicesTracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

3R1: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if recruitment, hiring and orienting practices ensure effectiveprovision for programs and services? The results presented should be for the processes identified in3P1. All data presented should include the population studied, response rate and sample size. Allresults should also include a brief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved incollecting the data and how the results are shared. These results might include:


3I1: IMPROVEMENT


Responses3P1.1 Recruiting, hiring, and orienting processes that result in staff and administrators whopossess the required qualifications, skills and values

Kirkwood’s goal is to recruit and hire staff and administrators who are committed to the College


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mission and to learner success. The second goal is to engage new staff and administrators so that theywill envision their future career at Kirkwood. To this end, Kirkwood prioritizes hiring the mostqualified applicant for each position, based on the duties and qualifications listed in the jobdescription.

Any time a new position is proposed or there is a vacancy, the position is reviewed at the departmentand Cabinet level to determine if the position should be created/filled. This review considersenrollment trends over the last five years, availability of adjunct faculty/part-time staff, studentemployment options upon graduation in the field of study, and any other factors relevant to theposition. If the position is not necessary, then it is either reallocated to a higher demand area oreliminated as a budget reduction.

When hiring faculty or a full-time staff member, the hiring manager must have the approval of theCabinet member who overseas that department. The process is now using a software called NEOGOVwhich has made the process paperless and streamlined. In general, the hiring department submits apersonnel action form to post along with an updated position description to Human Resources. Thisensures that the key responsibilities, job requirements, essential duties/responsibilities, performanceexpectations, required and preferred licenses/certifications/registrations, minimumeducation/experience qualifications, and descriptions of physical activities involved remain updated. All position descriptions also share a common goal of “advancing the college’s mission, vision,principle/values and strategic initiatives through continuous improvement decisions” which is toensure we’re hiring staff and administrators who possess our desired values. Human Resources thenposts the position on its website and advertises where appropriate.

The next step for HR in ensuring a rich candidate pool is marketing. To that end, HR ensures that jobpostings are multi-faceted, broad-based, and aligned with position type and market segment (i.e. webposts with local recruitment sources, professional associations, college affiliations, etc.). The Collegehas unlimited, automated postings with Higher Ed jobs and the Higher Education RecruitmentConsortium. Other job posting partners include but are not limited to Career Builder, CorridorCareers, USA Today, Indeed, and LinkedIn. The College also has accounts with niche job boards,newspapers, associations, etc. as needed for specialized positions. The goal is to recruit a diverse andqualified candidate pool.

The applicant review committee then reviews and rates applicants as they apply and decides whom tointerview based on the job description qualifications. The committee chooses interview questions andrates the responses to the questions on a scale of 0 to 5 with 5 being superior, 3 being average, 1 beingminimal, and 0 being that they didn’t answer the question. Once the interviews are completed, thecommittee deliberates and the hiring manager selects a final applicant based on the committee’srecommendations. The hiring manager then conducts the three references that are required using thereference guide provided. All documents are provided to Human Resources along with a personnelaction form and approvals. (3.C.6)

Once the hiring manager selects a final applicant (in consultation with the committee), the EEOofficer must also approve the decision and looks at the experience, education, minority and disabilitystatus of all applicants interviewed. If an applicant with more experience and education of a minoritystatus isn’t chosen, then a conversation with that hiring manager is held. Once all signatures arereceived, an approval to offer is sent. From there, new hire paperwork and a background check arecompleted in order to begin working at the College. After the offer has been made and accepted, thenew hire information is added to the Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting Agenda, and a separatedocument with the new hires’ education and most recent experience is provided as well.


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When hiring a part time staff member, the hiring manager must have approval of the Cabinet memberand send a personnel action form to post along with an updated position description to HumanResources, just like full time positions. References are recommended but optional. After approved bythe Cabinet member, the supervisor sends the interview notes and a personnel action form to HumanResources and an approval to offer is sent. From there, new hire paperwork and a background checkare started and completed in order to begin working at the college. (3.C.1, 3.C.2)

Orientation for full-time staff employees is held every two weeks, usually on the new hire’s secondday of employment. This is an opportunity for the College to ensure that employee needs are takencare of as soon as they arrive at Kirkwood, as well as to help educate employees about Kirkwood’smission, vision, and values. Topics covered during the first part of orientation include payroll andtimesheet information; information on how to access policies; important websites in the KirkwoodInformation Network; general employee benefits like vacation, tuition assistance, and holidays;retirement benefits; health care benefits; and life and long-term disability benefits. The second partof orientation covers Kirkwood’s mission, vision, and values and Kirkwood’s learning anddevelopment programs. Orientation for faculty is offered twice per year in August and January.(3.C.6)

3P1.2 Developing and meeting academic credentialing standards for faculty, including those indual credit, contractual and consortia programs

In order to ensure that faculty are properly credentialed, all faculty transcripts are sent to the VicePresident of Academic Affair’s office, reviewed by the appropriate discipline dean/faculty, and theform is approved before scanning into the College’s database. In determining whether faculty areappropriately credentialed, Kirkwood follows the rules prescribed in Iowa Code and the HLCguidelines. To guide this analysis, Kirkwood uses materials published by the Iowa Department ofEducation which defines what discipline and sub-discipline fields count toward the 18 creditrequirement. This process applies to all faculty teaching for Kirkwood, regardless of location ormodality. The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships accreditation requires thatdual enrollment faculty have the same credentials. (3.C.1, 3.C.2)

3P1.3 Ensuring the institution has sufficient numbers of faculty to carry out both classroom andnon-classroom programs and activities.

The College uses the Program Annual Update process to ensure sufficient numbers of faculty andstaff are available to provide classroom and non-classroom programs. After the dean and facultyreview, or the non-classroom department review, new positions are proposed as a part of thebudgeting process. Factors such as availability of adjunct faculty in the region, faculty to studentratios, safety in labs and work areas, and so on contribute to the rationale provided to Cabinet duringthis planning and budget review process. Projected enrollment, number of full-time and part-timestaff by department, contractual obligations, and other factors are also part of the review process. Asnoted previously, open positions not deemed as significant may be reassigned to other areasthroughout the College. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that the human resources are what is neededto support the community and student learning experiences, while sustaining a level of fiscalresponsibility to our students and taxpayers. (3.C.1)

3P1.4 Tracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools.

The College has recently implemented a new application to hire process (NeoGov) that is making thehiring process paperless and more efficient. The software communicates directly to review teammembers and provides several tracking tools. The software has only been implemented campus wide


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since May 2018 and is still in process. HR offers exit interviews to all full-time employees whodecide to leave the College. This exit interview is summarized and reviewed by the Board of Trusteesas well as administrators to identify if there was something the College could have done differently toretain the employee.


Kirkwood Human Resources tracks a number of data sources to determine if our recruitment, hiring,and orienting practices are effective. This includes annual tracking of completed applications as wellas maintaining rates of new hires and turnover for full-time, board approved employees. For over 20years, Human Resources has maintained employee demographics. Each year as the College preparesfor potential salary increases, Cabinet is provided with detailed information on employees, number ofindividuals by pay band, salary information, and years of service to be used in their analysis inmaking decisions regarding salaries and budget. Additional reporting information is provided tocabinet and hiring managers as requested to provide information to facilitate decision-making.


Although the College has not established internal targets for employee retention, employee turnover isa metric that is tracked on a regular basis. While turnover at the college is relatively low, patterns forleaving the institution have been identified.

Employees who separate employment due to resignation or retirement are given an opportunity toprovide feedback on their employment at Kirkwood, including their reasons for leaving employmentvia an electronic Exit Survey. 179 employees completed the exit survey between September 2013 andFebruary 2018. The exit surveys are reviewed by Human Resources and any employee relationsissues are addressed with managers or other employees as needed.

45.51% who completed the exit survey between September 2013 and February 2018 left for otheremployment opportunities. 44.12% of those who responded that they left to pursue other employmentleft due to a promotion or career advancement, 19.12% due to compensation, and 16.18% a careerchange.


An important set of data tracked and reviewed by the College centers around workforce diversity. TheCollege uses this data to inform its efforts to increase the diversity of our applicant pools and staffwhen recruiting new talent. (See Employee Race/Ethnicity and Gender and Average Age/Years ofService) Training for review committees has been enhanced, and the College plans a Diversity Dayin December to help inform our employee base about the changing demographics in our region andhow best to attract new, diverse employees to serve the changing student demographic.

3I1: IMPROVEMENT

The College has engaged in numerous process improvements in the area of talent acquisition that willimplemented over the next one to three years. To spearhead this process, the College created a newrole and hired a dedicated Talent Acquisition and Development Supervisor in 2017. The primaryfocus for improvement in talent acquisition over the next three years will be adopting a modernapplicant tracking system, improving our data and analytics, reinvigorating our efforts to diversify ourworkforce, and the development and implementation of core competencies into our hiring processes.


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A foundational piece of our process improvements over the next three years is the adoption of amodern and entirely web based ATS called NEOGOV. The adoption of this system started in the Fallof 2017 and was completed in the Summer of 2018. Among other things, the adoption of this ATSallows the College to move to a paperless approval system for both position creation requests and hirerequests. Combined with the ability to automatically screen out applicants who do not meet minimumqualifications (a process that currently is not automated), our new ATS will dramatically shortenKirkwood’s time to fill and make the talent acquisition process more transparent, consistent, andefficient for our stakeholders.

One area where we will see substantial improvement due to the adoption of a modern ATS will be indata and analytics. Currently the HR department must utilize IT in order to generate reports on ourcurrent ATS system. With the new ATS, these reports will be easily accessible by HR without theneed of outside assistance. The data and analytics reports available include diversity information; timeto fill; openings by manager, department, or division; applicant drop-off information, talent pool data,and much more.

Another improvement that Kirkwood started in FY-18 was the development of Core Competencies.Kirkwood generally defines Core Competencies as the behaviors the College expects to see exhibitedby all Kirkwood employees, regardless of position. These competencies were defined in FY-18 by adiverse group of Kirkwood employees. In FY-19, Kirkwood HR will be working to implement thesecompetencies into our talent acquisition processes (among others). This will include standardizing ourinterview processes to ensure that committees are using competencies to help identity top candidatesthroughout the recruitment process.

Sources

Employee Race Ethnicity and GenderFull-time Board Approved Avg Age and Years of ServiceFull-time Board Approved Employee InformationFY2017 Completed Applications by ClassificationMain Reason for Accepting Other EmploymentMain Reason for Leaving


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3.2 - Evaluation and Recognition

Evaluation and Recognition focuses on the assessment and recognition of faculty, staff andadministrators' contributions to the institution. The institution should provide evidence for CoreComponent 3.C. within this section.

3P2: PROCESSES

Describe the processes that assess and recognize faculty, staff and administrators' contributions to theinstitution. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Designing performance evaluation systems for all employeesSoliciting input from and communicating expectations to faculty, staff and administratorsAligning the evaluation system with institutional objectives for both instructional and non-instructional programs and servicesUtilizing established institutional policies and procedures to regularly evaluate all faculty, staffand administrators (3.C.3)Establishing employee recognition, compensation and benefit systems to promote retention andhigh performancePromoting employee satisfaction and engagementTracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

3R2: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if evaluation processes assess employees' contributions to theinstitution? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 3P2. All data presentedshould include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include abrief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how theresults are shared. These results might include:


3I2: IMPROVEMENT


Responses3P2.1 Designing performance evaluation systems for all employees

The current performance evaluation for all full-time employees and faculty members is based upontheir basic job description and for faculty, this includes key elements of the Quality Faculty Plan(QFP), a plan approved by the state Department of Education. The College has two separate


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electronic form processes: one for full-time faculty that is described in the faculty associationagreement and aligns with the Iowa QFP criteria; the other is for full-time staff and administrators andis aligned with job description competencies. The content in both forms was developed through crossdepartment committees and the database was programmed through the College IT department. Supervisors for staff and administrators receive an email 60 days prior to the review date, which is theemployee hire anniversary date, and then again 30 days prior. Faculty are typically reviewed duringthe spring term as per the faculty association agreement. Non-probationary faculty typically arereviewed on a three year rotation although they meet with their dean every fall and spring to discussgoals. The written evaluation is every three years. For probationary faculty, the review is annualthrough year four and includes mandated class observations and student feedback, per KFAagreement. (3.C.3)

3P2.2 Soliciting input from and communicating expectations to faculty, staff, andadministrators

Faculty and staff are assessed on a variety of job related skills in an annual performance evaluationdesigned to provide feedback and develop positive performance. A portion of the evaluation involvessetting goals. Employees reflect on their personal/professional goals for the prior year, providing theopportunity for discussion with the supervisor and closure on goals set. Employees develop goals forthe upcoming year which support both college-wide and departmental objectives throughcollaboration with their supervisor. Skills and performance are assessed by rating every full-timestaff/administrator on customer service, judgment, and reliability/dependability, quality/quantity ofwork, interpersonal /communication skills, teamwork, and support of College strategic initiatives. Learning opportunities are offered in a variety of means to encourage employee growth, bothprofessionally and personally. Faculty are reviewed on each tenet of the Quality Faculty Plan. Witheach form, faculty, staff and administrators may make comments prior to electronically signing off onthe review. (3.C.3, 3.C.4)

3P2.3 Aligning the evaluation system with institutional objectives for both instructional andnon-instructional programs and services

As noted previously, the goal setting focus in both processes requires the individual to align goals tothe Learner Success Agenda. As the process is intended to be individual, the supervisor works withthe faculty, staff or administrator to define clear and meaningful goals that are relevant to the Collegemission and vision. The next improvement focus will be to align the evaluation system as well withthe Core Competencies.

3P2.4 Utilizing established institutional policies and procedures to regularly evaluate all faculty,staff and administrators.

As noted previously, all full-time staff and administrators are reviewed annually on their hireanniversary date. The areas are noted in 3P2.2; however, the foundation document for the review isthe job description for which the individual was hired.

Faculty reviews are defined by the Kirkwood Faculty Association agreement which also aligns withIowa State Code. Faculty in their first four years are evaluated annually. This includes classroomvisits as well as student feedback using the institutional form. After the fourth review, faculty moveto a three-year cycle. Each faculty member, by agreement, is informed in the fall of each academicyear as to how they will be evaluated, and each year, faculty set goals and reflect on those goals as apart of the review process. For detailed description, see the KFA Agreement in the Evidence File,page 31. (3.C.3)


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3P2.5 Establishing employee recognition, compensation, and benefit systems to promoteretention and high performance

The College has a variety of award programs that recognize employees for their “extra efforts’ andacknowledges this good work, in some instances, with additional compensation or a gift certificateaward. The SPOT bonus program is designed to provide special recognition to employees for anextraordinary accomplishment or achievement. The program is separated into two differentprograms, KSTARS and MSTARS. The KSTARS program is designed to allow employees theability to recognize each other for extraordinary accomplishments or achievements. The MSTARSprogram is designed for managers/supervisors to recognize employees for extraordinaryaccomplishments or achievements.

At Kirkwood, the goal is to view compensation as just one component of an overall total rewardsprogram. The College understands that it takes more than salary and benefits to attract, motivate, andretain employees. To meet the various financial and motivational needs of our employees, Kirkwoodrecognizes a holistic approach is needed. For Kirkwood this means a total rewards program thatconsists of compensation, benefits, work life balance, employee development, and employeerecognition. The combination of these five components is key to attracting, motivating and retainingemployees.

Compensation increases are determined through contract negotiations with the faculty, and in the past,the settlement increase has been awarded to all employees, including part-time staff and adjunctfaculty. Many benefits are also included as a part of the faculty agreement and generally all wouldapply the same to staff (i.e. insurance options, retirement, and so on). The Faculty Handbook as wellas the KFA agreement details these benefits. The College is currently in the third year of a three-yearcontract and new negotiations will begin in spring 2019.

3P2.6 Promoting employee satisfaction and engagement

Kirkwood seeks to develop and encourage an engaged workforce. To that end, the College providesextensive professional development opportunities, many including awards to staff and faculty totravel abroad for service learning student trips, conferences travel, educational benefits for theemployee and family members, and many events/gatherings to encourage a shared familyenvironment.

Communication is a key tool used to keep employees informed about campus activities and publiclyrecognize employee contributions. The College surveys employees regularly to identify the level ofjob satisfaction.

3P2.7 Tracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

The following table lists activities and processes that increase employee satisfaction as well asrecognize employees. Each is regularly evaluated for benefit to the College.

Process or Activity Who is Involved Alignment Benefits


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KirkwoodInformation Network(KIN)

All employeesEvery employee hasaccess to a college-widesite and their department.

Portal to storeinformation thatpertains to allemployees

“Have You Heard” All employees

An electronic newsletter issent out every Tuesdayand Thursday withannouncements andinformation regardingcampus activities.

Serves as a college-wide communicationtool. Employees cansubmit items toMarketing to publish.

President Memo All employeesAn electronic memo issent from the Office of thePresident.

This tool is used toconvey criticalinformation andemployees areencouraged to replyand ask questions.

“Town Hall”Meetings All employees

Employees are invited toattend informationsessions.

The sessions addresspertinent informationabout the college.

Surveys All employeesSurveys are conducted tomeasure employeesatisfaction with topics.

Allows suggestions tobe communicated forimprovements.

Board Meetings andPresentations

Board members,Administration,interestedcommunity

The Board meetingpresentations areinformative and share newand ongoing activities.

Trustees areknowledgeable ofcollege programs andinitiatives.

RecognizedCommittees

Employeevolunteers

Committees haveestablished guidelines andprocesses that align withthe mission.

Employees from avariety of departmentscollaborate to planactivities.

Fall Kick-off All employees

The President’s office andMarketing coordinate thisevent to recognize thebeginning of the newschool year.

Recognizes theCollege’saccomplishments ofthe past year andpresents goals for theupcoming year.

MLK Jr. Day All employees College-wide activity thatpromotes diversity.

Promotes diversityamong students andstaff.


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Major AwardsEmployees arenominated andselected.

The EmployeeRecognition Committeesolicits nominations forPresident’s Award,Distinguished ServiceAwards and InnovationAward.

Peers and supervisorsrecognize employeecontributions to thesuccess of the College.

EmployeeRecognitionCeremony

Employee years ofservice awards.

Employees with 5, 10, 15,20, 25, 30, 35 and 40years of service arerecognized by the collegeat the MLK Jr. Dayceremony.

Employees are recognized foremploymentlongevity.

Kirkwood Difference Nominatedemployees

Emails are sent to recentgraduates asking them tonominate Kirkwoodemployees who havemade a difference in theirlife. Nominations arereviewed by the EmployeeRecognition Committee.

Employees arerecognized at theMLK Jr. Dayceremony.

Pig-Out Family Event All employees

The Events Committeeorganizes this familyfriendly event. The eventincludes dinner and avariety of activities.

Employees areencouraged to bringtheir families andmingle withcoworkers.

Holiday Reception All employees This activity is planned bythe Events Committee.

Employees areencouraged to bringtheir families andmingle withcoworkers.

Adjunct SpringSocial Adjunct faculty

This event recognizesadjunct faculty memberswith a reception at ourhotel.

Adjuncts arerecognized foremployment longevitywith years of serviceawards.

Retiree Luncheon New and pastretirees

HR organizes this event tohonor new retirees and tocelebrate with pastretirees.

Encourages newretirees to becomeinvolved with theretiree group.


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KCELT All employees

KCELT staff createsprofessional developmentopportunities which arealigned with the goals ofthe College.

Encourages lifelonglearning andprofessionaldevelopment.

Community CollegeLeadership InitiativeConsortium (CLIC)

Administratorsselected byCabinet

Develop administrativeskills in management andaddress current issues incommunity colleges.

Provides networkingopportunities with allIowa communitycolleges and regent’sschools.

Leadership Institutefor a New Century(LINC)

Faculty and entryleveladministrators

Development opportunitythat focuses on publicpolicy, leadership, andvision.

Provides networkingopportunities withIowa communitycolleges and regent’sschools.

Staff DevelopmentDays All employees Workshops held for

professional development.Promotes lifelonglearning.

CollaborativeLearning Days

Academic Affairsfaculty and staffwith others

Provides a one dayconference where facultypresent and learn

Faculty, staff andadministrators enjoy aday of learningtogether

Assessment Days Faculty—fall andspring

Assess the StudentLearning Outcomes usingcollected student artifacts

Brings cross disciplineteams together todiscuss studentlearning outcomes

Supervisor Training Hotel employees

Mandatory managementtraining opportunityspecific to hotelsupervisors.

Allows forprofessional growthand development.

Treats and Training Hotel employeesTraining offered viawebinars on topics ofinterest.

Provides an optionalopportunity forprofessionaldevelopment.

3R2.1

In order to track the effectiveness of our current evaluation and recognition processes, surveys havebeen conducted utilizing Survey Monkey. The surveys include exit interviews, retiree exit interviews,recruitment feedback, events feedback, diversity and engagement. As a result of the feedbackobtained, a variety of processes have been improved and new goals developed. Currently evaluations


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and recognition programs are tied in with The Learner Success Agenda.

The table depicts how the evaluation process is implemented.

Process Who is Involved Alignment

Performance Evaluation Form Employees

All full-time staff membersparticipate in an annual evaluation.The evaluation rates the employeeon specific skills and supports goalsetting.

Administrator QuarterlyConversations Leadership Team

Focused on strategic initiatives,goals, challenges and improvementopportunities.

Professional Preparation PlanNew faculty memberson a 3-yearprobationary period.

Per bylaws the Quality Faculty Plan(QFP) Committee has oversight ofthe QFP and approves theProfessional Preparation Plan (PPP)of probationary faculty, librarians,and counselors.

New Staff EvaluationsMonthly evaluationsduring the first sixmonths of employment.

The supervisor provides monthlyfeedback to discuss the newemployee’s performance.

The evaluation process includes assessment on initiatives set forth in the Learner Success Agenda. Employee goals are discussed in the formal performance evaluation meeting between the employeeand supervisor. Recognition and engagement survey results are shared college wide through“President’s Memo”. Employees are encouraged to share feedback and ideas for improvement. Surveys regarding employee events have resulted in several changes. Events had become stale andemployee suggestions have brought about changes that have refreshed employee events.


The College compares survey results with each event and activity to identify areas of improvement.As noted, many changes have been made over time based on the employee assessment of the event oractivity. These events are internal activities to support the Kirkwood community and the Collegedoes not benchmark internal events with external entities. The exception would be the Iowa “bestemployer” survey that is sponsored by the Des Monies Register; however, this survey relates to thequality of places you work and is not exclusive to higher education.


As noted, survey results are shared with those closest to the activity as a means for continuousimprovement. Every two years, the Academic Affairs administrators administer a supervisor feedbacksurvey that allows AA faculty and staff to provide feedback to any or all AA administrators. Using


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our student feedback system, the survey results are shared with individuals and mean scores for alladministrators allow for comparisons.

3I2: Improvement

One major initiative the College is undertaking is to improve employee performance evaluations.Kirkwood is planning to change the performance evaluation process to align with Core Competencies.In the fall of 2017, a committee made up of a diverse group of Kirkwood employees from differentdepartments was formed to develop five Core Competencies for the college, behaviors that all Collegeemployees will be required to demonstrate. The College plans to incorporate these competencies intomany areas, including performance evaluations.

In September 2018, a subcommittee will be formed from a group of managers who frequently performemployee evaluations. The HR department that oversees employee relations will lead thissubcommittee, and the group will evaluate the current process and begin implementing thecompetencies into the evaluation system. Many areas will be evaluated at the subcommittee levelincluding forms, timing, training managers, and our internal performance evaluation system. A rubricwill be developed to guide managers in evaluating employee behaviors, and goal setting for theupcoming fiscal year will continue to be included in the new performance evaluation form.

The KSTARS program will also be revamped, and the criteria to win a KSTARS award will bemodified to incorporate core competencies. The Employee Recognition committee will work with theMarketing department to develop marketing materials to promote the program on campus. Ourcurrent MSTARS program will also undergo changes to reflect the core competencies.

SourcesThere are no sources.


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3.3 - Development

Development focuses on processes for continually training, educating and supporting employees toremain current in their methods and to contribute fully and effectively throughout their careers at theinstitution. The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 3.C. and 5.A. in this section.

3P3: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for training, educating and supporting the professional development ofemployees. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Providing and supporting regular professional development for all employees (3.C.4, 5.A.4)Ensuring that instructors are current in instructional content in their disciplines and pedagogicalprocesses (3.C.4)Supporting student support staff members to increase their skills and knowledge in their areasof expertise (e.g. advising, financial aid, etc.) (3.C.6)Aligning employee professional development activities with institutional objectivesTracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

3R3: RESULTS

What are the results for determining if employees are assisted and supported in their professionaldevelopment? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 3P3. All data presentedshould include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include abrief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how theresults are shared. These results might include:


3I3: IMPROVEMENT


Responses3P3.1 Providing and supporting regular professional development for all employees

Kirkwood’s goal is to provide opportunities for all employees to develop and grow through theirwork. One of the four focus areas for the Learner Success Framework, “employee development,” isaligned with a focus upon mission impact, improved operational effectiveness, and a commitment toensure Kirkwood remains a highly attractive workplace for top talent. Learning and developmentdesign and delivery processes are being implemented so employees can understand how their dailyperformance efforts contribute to learner success at all levels.


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The College provides budget to support both in house and external professional developmentopportunities. KCELT offers sessions regularly that are open to anyone interested. Faculty havetravel funds at the department level as well as through the Professional Development Fund. Allemployees may enroll for free in a continuing education course or workshop each semester. Trainingsessions for staff are provided at both the job and service level in order to make sure all employeesunderstand their role and have the resources necessary to perform their work effectively. The Collegecommits well over $1.5 million dollars in the annual budget to support professional development. Inaddition, professional development is an expectation with every job description and evaluation.(3.C.4, 5.A.4)

3P3.2 Ensuring that instructors are current in instructional content in their disciplines andpedagogical processes

Kirkwood has several funding sources available to faculty to help maintain currency in theirdisciplines. The Kirkwood Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (KCELT) providesworkshops, webinars, blogs, seminars, and training opportunities for free. Faculty activities arerecorded through KCELT showing their participation, and the faculty agreement allows for additionalcompensation to be awarded by the Professional Renewal Committee once a specific number ofactivities have been completed. Every other year faculty may apply for the Professional DevelopmentFunds for tuition, research, conference travel or skill training. Perkins training dollars are alsoallocated through this same application process. Faculty submit in September for consideration by theProfessional Development Committee. Adjunct faculty may also apply for funds through the vicepresident's office for travel and tuition for courses. The College goal is to ensure that faculty have theresources to stay current in their disciplines every year. (3.C.4)

Starting in 2013, the academic affairs division provided an internal conference for faculty and staff.The original two-day event offered a nationally recognized speaker followed by three sets offaculty/staff/administrator presentations on topics related to instruction, curriculum, student services,demographics, technology and so on. The conference was designed by a cross-discipline committee(CLD). The second day of the conference was interactive and involved the various departments likeculinary, manufacturing, welding, horticulture, and so on. The CLD committee includes faculty, staffand administrators. Based on the post event feedback surveys, the conference evolved from two daysprior to Thanksgiving to one day in January prior to the semester start. Based on feedback, the firstday was changed to involve more panel presentations as opposed to one nationally recognizedspeaker. The audience heard from former presidents one year, alumni another, and so on. The CLDcommittee meets monthly to process the feedback and to make improvements to the event. (3.C.4)

3P3.3 Supporting student support staff members to increase their skills and knowledge in theirareas of expertise

Every department and service unit is required to provide at least eight hours each year of area-relatedskill development for all of their employees. This includes department planned workshops, college-wide activities, and travel learning opportunities. (3.C.6)

The College participates in a number of externally provided professional learning opportunities forstaff and administrators. Every year an employee is nominated to participate in Cedar RapidsChamber of Commerce program called Leadership for Five Seasons. In addition, aspiring communitycollege leaders participate annually in the Community College Leadership Consortium andLeadership Institute for a New Century sponsored by Iowa State University. These are only a fewexamples of opportunities provided to staff to make sure their skills are relevant when supporting theCollege mission. With the tuition support program, many staff earn advanced degrees with funding


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from the College every year.

3P3.4 Aligning employee professional development activities with institutional objectives

Four recent quality improvement process initiatives now serve as the design and delivery structure foremployee development. They include: 1. General Employee Development Events (college wideopportunities that promote awareness and cultivate a culture of learning); 2. Specific Learner Groups(targeted audience experiences built from explicit learning needs of client-participants);3. Compliance and Risk Mitigation (external requirements and employee performance standardscontributing to a culture of safety and accountability); 4. Self-Directed Personalized Learning(competency-based platforms, progressions, and pathways). (5.A.4)


Efforts over the past three years have included the use of college-wide, non-faculty survey data,creation of an employee development philosophy, a Higher Learning Commission Action Projectrelated to competency-based professional development, personalized new full-time faculty learning,deployment of six Gallup-certified colleagues and student strengths coaches, and integration of “just-in-time” learning experience platforms with TALON, the College’s Learning Management System. The purpose of KCELT is to engage all employees in professional development and training, andsurvey data is collected from each activity as a means for quality improvement.

3R3.1 Summary of results of measures

The results for determining how well employees are supported and impacted by internal professionaldevelopment are collected and analyzed by HR teams using common survey instruments andinterview protocols based upon five criteria: 1. Value, 2. Satisfaction, 3. Application, 4. JobRelevance, and 5. Sharing. These criteria inform the direction of future offerings, learningexperience designs, and creation of custom learning pathways. Additional results include: 1. GeneralEmployee Development Events; 2. Specific Learner Groups; and 3. Compliance and RiskMitigation.

KCELT maintains a continuous improvement perspective through direct participant feedback as wellas tracking general registration learning events through faculty attendance, number of offerings, andsession cancellations. This informs the Professional Renewal Committee work as they award salaryincreases based on faculty participation in growth activities, per the KFA agreement.

Collaborative Learning Days is evaluated by the CLD team who reviews the annual event feedback.Assessment day activities are also reviewed by the Assessment Champions based on the event surveyfeedback.


Based on the yearly planning related to professional development offerings, the HR team establishestargets each year and determines through participation and survey feedback how well the targets aremet. The College does not compare external benchmarks specifically in terms of professionaldevelopment as few colleges provide the robust set of offerings Kirkwood has.


As noted, the diversity of professional development opportunities provided at Kirkwood is significant,and the College has left the interpretation of results to the teams assigned. The broader college view


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through the HR team provides training, compliance, and enrichment for the entire campus. Individualdepartments hold annual or bi-annual retreats as a professional development activity, and the variousdivision and institutional events provided throughout the year also inform the committees responsiblefor their success. The College intent is to gather timely feedback and to empower change based onthat feedback. Administrators serving on the many committees linked to professional developmentactivities work to reduce barriers and seek necessary resources.

3I3: IMPROVEMENTS

To more positively and explicitly impact identified aspects of the Learner Success Framework,employee development personnel plan to continue their efforts to co-create job relevant, personalized,competency-referenced learning experiences with individual and group participants. The College iscommitted to strengthening employee development through three priorities over the next 1-3 years.

1. Integrate professional development more explicitly with key college performance anddepartment performance indicators: Rationale: Without unifying work unit areaperformance targets tied to the College’s direction, individual and group learning remainsepisodic, fragmented, disconnected, and distanced from more tightly coupled collaborativework.

2. Implement valid, reliable, and standardized evaluation measures to determine the degreelearning is transferring into job performance. Rationale: While multiple measures are beingused to assess perceived value, relevance, confidence, motivation, and sharing, a singleinstrument with a foundational set of criteria will allow deeper insights.

4. Expand Access to Modernized Learning Experience Platforms and Pathways Rationale: 70-75% of personnel indicate that they value informal and social learning opportunities availableto them at any time. Furthermore, they express a desire to share what they are learning withothers in the most convenient manner possible.

Sources

2016-17 KCELT Annual ReportAssessment Progression FinalCBPD Project ManagementClassroom ManagmentCompliance Risk ProgramDiverse LearnersGeneral Employee Development EventsGeneral Results Table 06112018Instructional PlanningKCC Survey Findings-8-31Specific_Learner_GroupsTechnology Related to Teaching Progression Final


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4 - Planning and Leading

4.1 - Mission and Vision

Mission and Vision focuses on how the institution develops, communicates and reviews its missionand vision. The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 1.A., 1.B. and 1.D. withinthis section.

4P1: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for developing, communicating and reviewing the institution's mission, visionand values, and identify who is involved in those processes. This includes, but is not limited to,descriptions of key processes for the following:

Developing, deploying, and reviewing the institution's mission, vision and values (1.A.1, 1.D.2,1.D.3)Ensuring that institutional actions reflect a commitment to its valuesCommunicating the mission, vision and values (1.B.1,1.B.2, 1.B.3)Ensuring that academic programs and services are consistent with the institution's mission(1.A.2)Allocating resources to advance the institutions mission and vision, while upholding theinstitution's values (1.D.1, 1.A.3)Tracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools (e.g. brand studies, focus groups,community forums/studies and employee satisfaction surveys)

4R1: RESULTS

What are the results for developing, communicating and reviewing the institution's mission, visionand values? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 4P1. All data presentedshould include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include abrief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how theresults are shared. These results might include:


4I1: IMPROVEMENT


Responses


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4P1 Developing, deploying, and reviewing the institution’s mission, vision and values

The Kirkwood Leadership team, comprised of more than 70 administrators, engaged in a yearlongleadership learning series devoted to developing a “Culture of Ownership.” At the culmination of thatyear, all 70+ college administrators unanimously supported a college-wide effort to revisitKirkwood’s mission, vision, and values which hadn’t been updated since the mid 1990s. The goal wasto strengthen shared ownership for the future direction of the College by drawing upon the expertiseand experience of current employees.

On August 21, 2015 (Kirkwood Fall kick off day), all staff, faculty, and administrators engaged in athorough review of the College’s mission, vision, and values through cross college, small groupdiscussions. All employee groups examined the current mission and vision statements to assess eachin terms of:

its’ relevance to the public good and higher education todayits’ use and impact on internal planning and process improvement efforts, andits’ ability to provide a clear, compelling direction or strategic advantage for the College.

Since every Kirkwood employee’s job description focuses upon the shared goal, “To advance thecollege’s mission, vision, principles and values and strategic initiatives through continuousimprovement decisions,” it was critical that all employees be actively involved in this process.

Through a voting process, the College administration determined that a majority of employeesthought the mission should be reaffirmed while the vision should be revised, and the number ofinstitutional values should be reduced. Feedback was gathered through the discussions and providedto a 12 member cross-functional planning team who took the input and revised the vision and values.A second all campus, small group discussion was held on November 23, 2015 (CollaborativeLearning Days) where the revised vision and values were presented, and employees provided input onthe revisions and an affirmative vote to adopt the changes ensued.

Following the vote, the newly revised vision and values were presented to the Board of Trustees onJanuary 14, 2016 for their formal review and all College marketing materials were subsequentlyupdated and distributed across campus. The website and all other areas where the mission, vision, andvalues are displayed were changed to reflect the new revisions. Documentation of the entire process isaccessible via the Kirkwood Information Network (KIN). Selected artifacts characterizing thisprocess are also located in this portfolio's Evidence File Sources.

Given the Board of Trustees' approval, the College's values, mission, and vision are now broadlycommunicated via a framework of its strategic priorities---Learner Success: defined by StudentExperience, Employee Development, Operational Excellence, and Community Impact. (1.A.1,1.D.2,1.D.3)

Our Values Our Mission Our Vision

RespectExcellenceResponsibilityDiversity

Identify community needs; provide accessible,quality education, and training; and promoteopportunities for lifelong learning.

Be the leader inregional, national,and globaleducation.


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4P1.2 Ensuring that institutional actions reflect a commitment to its values

Since January 2016, the College has engaged in a follow-up phase to ensure sustained understandingand application of the College’s mission/vision/values across academic programs and supportservices. Division/department leaders have planned, designed, developed, and deployed dialogues andlearning experiences to further align and integrate this directional work into employees’ daily workperformance. Thus far, this focus has resulted in the following expanded forms of communication.(1.B.1, 1.B.2, 1.B.3)

A new and improved employee recruitment, selection, orientation, on-boarding, learning anddevelopment model has been launched emphasizing performance expectations related to values,mission, and vision. (1.A.3)Each department’s mission or purpose statement has been assessed to ensure clear andintentional alignment with the College’s direction. Our “Foundations of Excellence” HLC Action Project recommendations are aligned with thecollege’s values, mission, vision, and strategic priorities which include engaging the diversestudent populations served. (1.C.1)Policy/procedure manuals, marketing materials, and reporting requirements are being modifiedto visibly unify college-wide processes with consistent communication to our students and thepublic. (1.B.1)

4P1.3 Communicating the mission, vision, and values

All decisions that relate to academic programming and resource allocations are grounded in thealignment to the College mission. The President’s challenge to all employees was to reflect often onhow their work reflects the mission and vision of the College. (1.B.1, 1.B.2, 1.B.3) As described inCategory 3, the newly created core competencies will help employees connect their daily work to themission and a required reflection will be a part of the employee review process. (1.C.1, 1.D.2) Inorder to ensure that all areas of the College understand and explicitly use the mission, vision, andvalues, four facilitated sessions for all College administrators were conducted.

4P1.4 Ensuring that academic programs and services are consistent with the institution’smission

As noted previously, the Academic purpose statements have been revised to align with the new visionstatement and values, and to ensure alignment with the mission. The core focus on Learner Success isfoundational to all academic programs at that College. As an open door community college, themission relevance guides our service in academics, support services, and continuing education toserve those who may see an ability to benefit from our programming. That Iowa Code directiveenriches our work to effectively serve all students who enter our doors. (1.A.2)

4P1.5 Allocating resources to advance the institutions mission and vision, while upholding theinstitution’s values

With the inclusive nature of the mission, vision and values review, the College implemented theLearner Success Framework that is inclusive and provides a strategic guide to the College planningand budgeting process. As noted previously, the four areas that define department planning andresource allocation relate directly to Learner Success and align with one of the four tenets: Operational Excellence, Employee Development, Community Impact, and Student Engagement. Inall instances, the commitment to our students and community by recognizing the impact of ourmission on the diverse population served daily is core to advancing our work to benefit the public


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good. The College goal is to connect the mission to each employee’s daily work. (1.D.1, 1.C.1,1.D.2)


The College frequently uses external marketing companies like STAMATS to complete focus groupstudies to inform our work and to guide our program and service development. The Liberal Artsprogram initiative where they studied students entering without a clear direction and also ourautomotive program example, described previously, where they interviewed our auto dealerships toidentify the skills for our student graduates are good examples. As noted previously, the Collegecollects and reviews survey data from a variety of sources to help inform the continuous improvementefforts.


Initial information about the mission, vision, and values and employees perceived connection betweenthem and their daily work was collected via several sources of data:

2015 Non-Faculty Employee Learning and Development Survey (n=462)2014 & 2016 Faculty Culture of Assessment Surveys (n=172)2014 Culture of Ownership Employee Survey (n=309).

Data from the above studies lead to the event planning of cross college small group discussions aboutthe relevance of the mission, vision, and values. During the initial discussion more than 600 sessionparticipants were divided into 66 cross college small groups. Of those, 68% of participantsrecommended that the College “reaffirm” its mission statement with 70% recommending “revision”to the vision statement. In terms of College values, qualitative data from participants indicated adesire for a fewer number of value statements with defined performance indicators to deepenemployees’ attention and ability to transfer desired behaviors into their daily work. During the secondsmall group discussion event, 100% of groups voted to adopt the newly revised vision and values,achieving the internal goal set by our president.


As the review of the mission, vision and values work has been ongoing for the last three years, theCollege internal target is to ensure the mission is connected to the work of each employee and eachlives the mission in their daily work. The College review included an environmental scan of othercolleges and universities to compare their mission, vision and values language to Kirkwood’s.


The review of feedback from the cross-department, small group sessions guided the 12 membercommittee on the revision of the vision and values. This work was informed through the survey andfeedback collection processes. Without this feedback, the committee could not have presented analternative values list along with a revised vision statement that would be accepted by the majority ofemployees.

4I1 Improvements

Over the next 1-3 years, the College will continue to document process improvements to ensure thatthe institution’s systems and processes have the necessary resources and assets (people, policies,funds, facilities, equipment, supplies, time, etc.) to more concretely support and advance the mission,


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vision, and four core values. The following are underway:

Each of the College’s four strategic drivers (Employee Development, Student Experience,Operational Excellence, Community Impact) is being refined to include key performanceindicators and metrics to inform quality improvement processes.Five universal core competencies for employees have been identified and are currently being tobe integrated with the College's mission, vision, and strategic drivers as well as the performancereview system.Performance dialogues and reviews are placing explicit emphasis upon employee contributionsto the College’s mission, vision, values, and strategic drivers.Advisory committees are now being oriented and informed on how the College uses its valuesand mission to achieve its vision.In support of the College’s mission, long and short term planning and budgeting priorities willbe identifiable in budget forecasting aligned with future strategic planning.

Sources

Learner Success Framework and Core CompetenciesMission-Vision Dialogues - Cabinet CommunicationMission-Vision Initiative ManagementMission-Vision Initiative Timeline and RecommendationMission-Vision Session Protocol


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4.2 - Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning focuses on how the institution achieves its mission and vision. The institutionshould provide evidence for Core Components 5.B. and 5.C. in this section.

4P2: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for communicating, planning, implementing and reviewing the institution'splans and identify who is involved in those processes. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptionsof key processes for the following:

Engaging internal and external stakeholders in strategic planning (5.C.3)Aligning operations with the institution's mission, vision and values (5.C.2)Aligning efforts across departments, divisions and colleges for optimum effectiveness andefficiency (5.B.3)Capitalizing on opportunities and institutional strengths and countering the impact ofinstitutional weaknesses and potential threats (5.C.4, 5.C.5)Creating and implementing strategies and action plans that maximize current resources andmeet future needs (5.C.1, 5.C.4)Tracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools (e.g. achievement of goals and/orsatisfaction with process)

4R2: RESULTS

What are the results for communicating, planning, implementing and reviewing the institution'soperational plans? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 4P2. All datapresented should include the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should alsoinclude a brief explanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the dataand how the results are shared. These results might include:


4I2: IMPROVEMENT


Responses4P2.1 Engaging internal and external stakeholders in strategic planning

The College values broad inclusion of its employees, external stakeholders, and students in itsstrategic planning processes, especially considering the large region served. Active advisorycommittees, influential workforce sector boards, and dedicated employee membership on community


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boards are vital assets that shape planning, decision making, and resource allocation. Theaforementioned boards and committees are required to meet annually, but often meet more frequently,and provide the College with updates on labor market trends. Information from the advisory boards isevaluated at a department level and communicated to the appropriate vice president to determine whatchanges to credit, non-credit, or service programming should occur. Meeting minutes from thesevarious groups are maintained within the Kirkwood Information Network, annual program updates,and an historical college archive situated in the college library.

The nine member Board of Trustees represent the region served and provide input to the planningprocesses at the College. The BOT were involved in the mission, vision and values discussions andhave affirmed the Learner Success Framework as our College focus moving forward. As notedpreviously, all full-time employees and many adjunct/part-time were involved in the three-yearreview, providing much input to the process that lead to the final design. (5.C.3)

4P2.2 Aligning operations with the institution’s mission, vision and values

The Cabinet provides leadership to aligning operations with the mission, vision and values. Thiscross-division team meets weekly and agendas are aligned to reflect the Learner Success Framework. The Cabinet also provides guidance to the larger Leadership Team which includes Directors andabove and meets four times a year. Although the meetings are more strategic than operational, manyactivities and table discussions are intended to help leaders reconnect regularly to the mission, visionand values. In addition, the Cabinet informs the Leadership Team regarding budget allocations andplanning for the future. This process keeps all employee levels and locations well informed andmission driven. (5.C.2)

4P2.3 Aligning efforts across departments, divisions and colleges for optimum effectiveness andefficiency

The College’s annual planning process consists of a thorough review and update of departmentstrategic priorities, the College’s Performance Profile, and a review of department and programoutcomes, plans for improvement, and recommendations for new College priorities. Theseinformation items are reviewed by the President’s Cabinet. Based upon this review and analysis, a listof critical issues for future monitoring is shared with stakeholder groups for feedback, including theBoard of Trustees. Planning is based upon the assumption that student success is directly related toemployee success. Employees are viewed as the College's greatest asset in advancing these priorities.(See College Culture Survey results)

The intent of Kirkwood’s long term and annual planning process is to ensure that our budget andpolicy decisions link the strategic priorities to the mission and vision while upholding our values. TheCollege deliberately places a strong focus upon learner success and community engagement.

Planning begins at the department level so as to define strategies that impact students and customersmost directly. The departments channel their work through the divisions, and in collaboration withother areas, identify commonalities. The divisions are led by Cabinet members who share andmonitor department/division goals as relevant to the College mission and vision. The process isannual in nature although the plans at the department and division level tend to be 3-5 years induration with rolling revisions to meet changing needs. (5.B.3)

4P2.4 Capitalizing on opportunities and institutional strengths and countering the impact ofinstitutional weaknesses and potential threats


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Kirkwood has a well-defined budget forecasting model that considers a number of elements includingstate funding allocations, enrollment trends, utility costs, salary expenses, and so on. The modelallows the planning process to reach out five years with projections for both revenue andexpenditures, and the model can be easily adjusted to consider unanticipated external factors.

With a nationally recognized Continuing Education and Training Services division, the College canpilot projects or programs to test the interest within the region served. These new programs can belaunched quickly and with recovered costs prior to investing significantly in a credit program ofstudy. The Med Lab Tech program previously described is a good example of how this processworked to build on the College strengths and avoid potential threats. (5.C.4, 5.C.5)

4P2.5 Creating and implementing strategies and action plans that maximize current resourcesand meet future needs

Kirkwood works to align its resources with the mission so as to remain financially stable even duringfluctuations in enrollment or state funding. The College’s planning process also includes a majoremphasis upon facilities and technology to ensure present and prospective students have access tomodern learning environments that prepare them for a world beyond Kirkwood. These processesdirectly focus on student learning experiences as well as classroom instruction. Recently, faculty/staffsurveys and student focus groups were used to construct decision making analytics related to desiredclassroom layouts and specific program learning priorities. This data informed the decision-makingprocess to proceed with a public bond issue referendum for $64 million. As noted previously, thebond request passed at 70+% positive response, and facility needs more aligned with student learningneeds and business industry work readiness requirements are underway. (5.C.1, 5.C.4)

The College’s 2015-2018 Strategic Planning Process for Technology and its methodology is highlyintegrated into the College’s Learner Success Framework and Master Facilities Plan as the Collegestrives to respond to modernized student and employee learning needs. The growth of mobiletechnology, open education resources, personalized learning, and use of analytics are convergentelements in the College’s Technology Plan.


The Cabinet provides leadership for tracking outcomes and selecting tools for measures, although theprocess is inclusive and transparent to the broader community. The four broader Leadership Teamretreats allow for vetting and the expanded discussion relevant to inclusive decision making at theCollege. The Board of Trustees also holds two retreats per year where administration reports on newinitiatives, budget and funding predictions, and division planning goals and accomplishments. At thedepartment level, retreats are held typically once or twice a year to develop goals and review results inmore depth than a typical meeting.


An “Overview of Kirkwood’s Strategic Planning History” and other institutional initiatives from 2003– 2018 provides a process-results summary on how the College engages stakeholders, aligns itsefforts around the College mission/vision/values, and how performance is tracked. Coupled with theCollege’s Performance Profile, progress over the past four years has been positive. The College is inthe process of reconstructing its Key Performance Indicators based upon a deeper analysis of Collegeresources and after the completion of the mission, vision and values institutional review describedpreviously. The decision for a slower than normal process in planning is deliberate in order to counterfurther state fiscal year de-appropriations and allow for the onboarding of a new President.


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Completion of revised key performance indicators is expected to be finished by Fall 2019.


As noted in 4R2.1, the College has established goals and action items consistently with a focus ontargeted results. Although the College reviews comparison benchmark results from similar colleges asprovided through the National Community College Benchmark Program and CCSSE, Kirkwood hasdevoted more attention to the changing needs within the state and the region.


Several examples are provided through the planning overview linked in 4R2.1; however, the workdone jointly between Continuing Education, Student Services, and Academic Affairs through theFoundations of Excellence process has provided the most insight to our student and customerexperiences. New and continuing action items are in process that address the student experienceexplicitly and meaningfully. The Action Project to develop a Student Experience Leadership Team isunderway.

4I2 Improvements

The College underwent a two year Foundations of Excellence self-study through the John Gardnerinstitute from 2015-2018. More than 100 recommendations were identified during the process whichwill inform the future strategic plan of the College. The results will allow the College to identifyKPIs and select internal and external benchmarks against which to measure newly identified KPIs.

Currently a cross college team has been identified to align the initiatives to the current strategic plan.This team will also focus on developing timelines, affirming committee responsibilities, and holdinggroups accountable for systematic work.

Sources

2014-2018 Institution Profile2015-2018 Strategic Planning Process for Technology2018 Technology Planning TableAA Academic Master Plan CombinedAA Academic Master Plan SummaryFoE First Year Study Final Report with appendicesFoE Transfer Forward Final Report with appendix 12-7-17Kirkwood Master Plan Report DIGITALOverview of Kirkwood's Strategic Planning History FINAL v4TS HLC Response NarrativeValuing Employees - College Culture Survey Results


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4.3 - Leadership

Leadership focuses on governance and leadership of the institution. The institution should provideevidence for Core Components 2.C. and 5.B. in this section.

4P3: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for ensuring sound and effective leadership of the institution, and identify whois involved in those processes. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes forthe following:

Establishing appropriate relationship between the institution and its governing board to supportleadership and governance (2.C.4)Establishing oversight responsibilities and policies of the governing board (2.C.3, 5.B.1, 5.B.2)Maintaining board oversight, while delegating management responsibilities to administratorsand academic matters to faculty (2.C.4)Ensuring open communication between and among all colleges, divisions and departmentsCollaborating across all units to ensure the maintenance of high academic standards (5.B.3)Providing effective leadership to all institutional stakeholders (2.C.1, 2.C.2)Developing leaders at all levels within the institutionEnsuring the institution's ability to act in accordance with its mission and vision (2.C.3)Tracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

4R3: RESULTS

What are the results for ensuring long-term effective leadership of the institution? The resultspresented should be for the processes identified in 4P3. All data presented should include thepopulation studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanationof how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results areshared. These results might include:


4I3: IMPROVEMENT


Responses4P3.1 Establishing appropriate relationship between the institution and its governing board tosupport leadership and governance.

Iowa state code dictates the authority of the Board of Trustees, a nine-member Board elected to


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represent equal population segments throughout the region. The original divisions were intentionaland support the combination of urban and rural constituents representative of our Region. The Boardhires the president and gives administrative oversight to her and her team of administrators. TheBoard meets monthly and holds two retreats during the year. They are active in the state trusteesassociation as well as ACCT. Dr. Lori Sundberg assumed her role as the fifth president on July 31,2018, and the College has had only five presidents in its 50plus years of existence. (2.C.4)

4P3.2 Establishing oversight responsibilities and policies and delegating managementresponsibilities to administrators and academic matters to faculty.

The Board of Trustees is charged with implementing the mission of the College, setting Kirkwoodpolicy and ensuring the effectiveness of the institution by monitoring and evaluating strategicinitiatives and the financial stability of the College. The Board adheres to the responsibilities asdelineated by the Code of Iowa which includes approval and conferral of degrees, annual budget,investment reports, facility renovations and expansions, adoption of new academic programs, thelearner success framework (strategic framework), and supervision of the President. The Boardremains independent and avoids conflicts of interest as well as external influence that is not beneficialto the College. (2.C.3, 5.B.1)

While the board has decision-making authority, the members value the input of the College throughgovernance processes whereby employees develop divisional work plans that align with the learnersuccess framework. The board supports employee and student involvement in cross-collegeconstituency groups that support inclusion and transparency.

Additional processes that support leadership and governance include:

Evaluation of board performance and the performance of the president. The board completes aself-evaluation.The board remains accessible to employees through visibility and accessibility at not only boardmeetings open to the public but also college events, student activities, graduations, andcommunity meetings.The board follows communication procedures when requesting information from the Presidentand Cabinet leadership by addressing requests through the Office of the President.The Board’s authorization to establish an Audit committee for the board reflects governanceleadership related to the budgetary and financial matters of the institution. (5.B.2)

4P3.3 Maintaining board oversight, while delegating management responsibilities toadministrators and academic matters to faculty.

The board governs through administration and procedural policy. A full review of all board policieswas completed during the last three years to ensure relevancy and also as a practice that supportsboard understanding of board governance roles. (2.C.4, 2.C.3)

The board maintains oversight and delegates management responsibilities to administrators andfaculty. Structures that support this oversight and delegation include: (2.C.4)

All board meetings include presentation discussions from identified divisions working onlearner success initiatives and core work. (Board agendas are available on the College website.)Board retreats include reports from each cabinet member communicating and informing theboard of core work, strategy progression, and divisional accomplishments.Questions received by Board members from the public are referred to the president who


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forwards to the appropriate administrator to provide information to the board member.

4P3.4 Ensuring open communication between and among all colleges, divisions anddepartments

Kirkwood has a number of cross-divisional teams who include representatives from sites outside thelargest campus in Cedar Rapids. The Leadership Team meetings, public Board meetings, and internalcommunication strategies described previously all work to ensure open communication. ThePresident addresses the campus at least twice a year—prior to fall and spring terms; however, TownHall meetings are held whenever the College needs to be informed about important issues or changes. These presentations are streamed out to all sites and are archived on the College website.

4P3.5 Collaborating across all units to ensure the maintenance of high academic standards

The Curriculum Committee and the Assessment Committee facilitate collaboration that ensuresconsistent and high standards. These two standing committees oversee academic requirements andprovide collaborative structures that encourage conversation and discussion. The Assessment Dayactivities as well as Collaborative Learning Days focus on bringing together all faculty and staff toshare ideas and have meaningful conversations about learner success. These events are well receivedand feedback has been consistently positive. (See survey responses.) (5.B.3)

4P3.6 Providing effective leadership to all institutional stakeholders.

The College’s organizational structure supports effective leadership to stakeholders. The President ishired and evaluated by the Board of Trustees. The VP’s report to the President and make up thePresident’s Cabinet. The VP and Chief Academic Officer is responsible for all academic and relatedmatters within secondary programs as well as post-secondary programs. The VP and Chief FinancialOfficer is responsible for all financial operations of the college, risk oversight, and operationalcompliance. The VP for Student Services is responsible for all issues related to recruitment, studentsupport (current and prospective), and student experience. The VP of Advancement is responsible forsupporting the mission of the College through fundraising and scholarship activities. The VP andChief Information Officer is responsible for the physical and technological infrastructure of theinstitution to support employees and students. The VP of Facilities is responsible for the physicalinfrastructure and capital investment of the institution to support the student learning environment. The VP of Continuing Education and Training Services is responsible for the workforce andeconomic development strategies of the institution, regional outreach, and non-credit course delivery. This link provides the current reporting structure. This structure supports a direct line ofcommunication, leadership support, and decision-making related to the College’s learner successframework. (2.C.1, 2.C.2)

4P3.7 Developing leaders at all levels within the institution

Peer working groups and cross-functional committees provide leadership across the College. Theinstitution’s Leadership Team is comprised of more than 70 individuals in leadership positions (VPs,Deans, and Directors) that assist with strategy development and deployment. This Team meets fourtimes per year with a prescribed agenda including high-level communication and professionalleadership development.

In addition to internal stakeholders, the College provides leadership to external stakeholders throughparticipation in regional community visioning, sector partnerships, and community organizations. TheCollege supports leadership development at all levels through active participation in committees and


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training opportunities offered locally and nationally. (2.C.1, 2.C.2)

The President, Cabinet, Leadership Team, and Staff/Faculty are encouraged to participate and presentat national, state, and local conferences. This process assists in the development of leaders by growingsubject matter expertise, benchmarking skills and building leadership and collegial networks. Examples include team attendance at HLC, Competency Based Education, Workforce and Economicdevelopment, Innovations Conference, the Chair Academy, AACC, and a variety of student servicesconferences.

4P3.8 Ensuring the institutions ability to act in accordance with the mission and vision.

The College’s reaffirmation of the Mission, Vision and Values process has increased engagement anddialogue. As described in 4P1, all employees were provided opportunities to engage in conversationand provide feedback to the mission, vision and values review process. The former presidentchallenged the College to not only adopt the mission, vision and values but to incorporate theirmeaning into their daily work. This action ensures commitment to the goal of learner success asaffirmed by the BOT and community. (2.C.3)

4R3.1 Summary Results

The last Systems Appraisal Team feedback provided an opportunity to revisit and review theCollege’s mission statement and develop accountability measures. The M/V/V process described inCore Component 4P1.1 supports Kirkwood’s strong attention to this area and points to success inaccomplishing a review that was all inclusive of the College and community. Work continues toestablish core competencies that align to the mission, vision and values and to incorporate thesecompetencies as a tool for evaluation and accountability within the formal evaluation process.

Additionally, a process was developed to ensure consistent and equitable development of theinstitution’s internal policies. Since 2010, hundreds of board policies and college operational policieshave been modified and adopted in the Policy Manger software system. The software automaticallyreminds employees to read and review college policies, and in addition, reminders help policy ownersreview policies, and when necessary, make updates and revisions.

New Kirkwood policies created must follow a process to be adopted. First a new policy must bepresented to Cabinet for peer review and comment. Once passed the policy is reviewed by a crossdiscipline committee for policy structure and prevention of overlapping information in alreadyexisting policies. Once passed the policy is sent out in the President’s memo communication for allcampus review and comment. Once comments are answered and/or updates made, the policy isimplemented.

The College has numerous formal strategic communication methods to inform leadership, employees,faculty, divisions, and departments and between and among levels of departments. Formalcommunication mechanisms include: The President’s Memo, Town hall meetings, twice weekly e-newsletters to all internal employees (“Have you Heard”), as well as Kick off day and Martin LutherKing day events. Targeted communication is also provided to other internal stakeholders in a varietyof ways. Some examples include the hub (for students), The Kirkwood Report (Board of Trustees),Kirkwood Faculty Association (faculty), Kirkwood Staff Association (staff), Leadership TeamRetreats (administration) and many newsletters. These formal channels allow not only the Presidentbut also leadership, faculty, and employees to engage in updates as well as provide input to programs,initiatives, policies, and resources.


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Numerous informal, standing and ad-hoc committees as well as internal communication documentsadd to the effectiveness of communication between and among divisions and departments. Thesecommunication channels support maintenance of high academic standards in addition to weeklyAcademic Affairs meetings, Faculty Council Meetings, Faculty Association meetings, and LeadershipTeam Meetings.


Every two years, the Academic Affairs division administrators survey faculty and staff in order tocollect feedback on job performance and engagement. The survey was developed by a team of deanswith faculty input. Faculty and staff may provide feedback anonymously to any AA administrator byselecting the name. Equally, faculty and staff who work with many administrators may providefeedback to all. The reports are provided to each administrator showing mean responses for eachquestion, comments and a comparison to the overall administrative team score. Individualadministrators manage personal targets, and the overall feedback is used to define areas for teamprofessional development.


Responses to communications have provided insight into how the College community manages theamount of communication received on a daily basis. The College has worked to make communicationmore timely and beneficial to the audience. Professional development for leaders at the College isprovided through the four Leadership Team meetings.

4I1 Improvement

The Learner Success Framework continues to be developed through a series of strategically designedactivities and discussions. Building upon this framework to an institutional strategic plan is neededand will be addressed as the College transitions Presidents. The support of key performanceindicators to the Learner Success Framework will bring strength to department level strategies andplans currently in place and ensure alignment with the mission, vision and values.

A Learner Success action committee is working to evaluate all committees and recommend a processto define purpose and contribution to the identified action items relevant to learner success. TheStudent Engagement Leadership Team will be formed in Fall 2018.

Sources

Organizational Chart


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4.4 - Integrity

Integrity focuses on how the institution ensures legal and ethical behavior and fulfills its societalresponsibilities. The institution should provide evidence for Core Components 2.A. and 2.B. in thissection.

4P4: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for developing and communicating legal and ethical standards and monitoringbehavior to ensure standards are met. In addition, identify who is involved in those processes. Thisincludes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Developing and communicating standardsTraining employees and modeling for ethical and legal behavior across all levels of theinstitutionOperating financial, academic, personnel and auxiliary functions with integrity, includingfollowing fair and ethical policies and adhering to processes for the governing board,administration, faculty and staff (2.A.)Making information about programs, requirements, faculty and staff, costs to students, control,and accreditation relationships readily and clearly available to all constituents (2.B.)

4R4: RESULTS

What are the results for ensuring institutional integrity? The results presented should be for theprocesses identified in 4P4. All data presented should include the population studied, response rateand sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the data is collected,who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results might include:


4I4: IMPROVEMENT


Responses4P4.1 Developing and communicating standards.

Legal and ethical standards are communicated to stakeholders in a variety of ways. All employeesreceive communication through Policy Manager which houses the College’s formal policies. Eachemployee is required to read and abide by the policies identified, and as policies are created and/orupdated, employees are alerted via email and required to review and sign off that they have read theupdated policy within the Policy Manager system. If employees fail to acknowledge the policy


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notification, their supervisor is alerted for further action. The recent development of the corecompetencies will also formalize, standardize, and communicate to all College employees theexpectations of good service. New policies are vetted by the employees through a president electronicmemo.

In addition, the Faculty Handbook is a reference for faculty and administration on a wide variety ofCollege policies, procedures, and laws, and includes guidance on many legal and ethical issues as wellas references to the Kirkwood Faculty Association’s collective bargaining agreement. Topics in theFaculty Handbook include Discrimination/Harassment, Cheating/Plagiarism, Classroom andFaculty/Student Safety, Confidentiality, and many more. The Faculty Handbook is reviewed andupdated through Academic Affairs on an annual basis, and is available on the Academic Affairswebsite, and college wide on the Kirkwood Information Network (KIN).

The Student Handbook is the primary tool for communicating standards to students. The handbookcontains all of the policies and procedures that pertain to students, including the student code ofconduct, academic dishonesty, and the classroom learning environment expectations. In addition tothe Student Handbook, the College communicates expectations and standards to students usingstudent email, the college website, and through various departments. Students receive information onstandards during a required new student orientation program where they learn about expectations andtheir rights and responsibilities. Students also learn about program standards through their academicdepartments, many of which require students to participate in department-level program conferencesprior to the start of their classes. Departments also provide written information to students aboutexpectations, academic requirements, student resources, and support services. Additionally, studentslearn about standards via course syllabi, through regular email communication from departments, andthrough student life programming. After the start of each term, all students receive an email welcomemessage with a link to the student handbook and related policies and procedures.

4P4.2 Training Employees and Modeling Ethical and Legal Behavior across the institution

Kirkwood operates a training and development program for faculty and staff with a focus on legal andethical compliance. A recent example of college wide training was our mandatory training on FERPAin 2016 and 2017, which has been completed by 895 employees across the College as of May 2018.This training ensures that all employees are informed of their legal and ethical obligations on thecrucial issue of preserving student confidentiality when handling student information.

In addition to mandatory college wide training, Kirkwood has offered targeted and voluntary trainingto college employees on topics such as:

Mandatory ReportingPrevention of Sexual HarassmentOSHA trainingEmployee and Labor Relations trainingSafe Zone trainingNew Employee Safety trainingFinancial StewardshipMental Health awarenessHealth and Safety on Study AbroadSection 508 trainingImplicit bias trainingDiversity and Inclusion


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The College has a strong commitment to professional development and on-time training for allCollege employees.

4P4.3 Operating financial, academic, personnel and auxiliary functions with integrity, includingfollowing fair and ethical policies and adhering to processes for the governing board,administration, faculty and staff

Kirkwood has policies and processes in place for our Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, andstaff. This commitment starts at the top with our Board. At the Board level, the College has 54policies enacted to help ensure fair and ethical operations and oversight by the Board. These policiesare grouped into eight categories: College Mission, Board Operations, Administrative Functions,Student Personnel, Educational Program and Instruction, Business and Operational Procedures, andCommunity Relations. These policies are reviewed and revised on an as needed basis, and the Boardperforms a full review of policies every five years.

Kirkwood has more than 150 college policies to ensure that College employees and students areacting in an ethical and legal manner. These policies are broadly grouped into four categories:Employment, Facilities, Student Policies, and Hotel Policies. These policies encompass a wide varietyof topics at Kirkwood that inform and govern employees to ensure ethical and legal compliance whenserving our learners and community.

To manage College policies, Kirkwood has established a Policy Review Committee comprised ofemployees from across the College who are appointed by the Cabinet and serve two-year terms. Thecommittee meets approximately once a month and is responsible for reviewing existing policies,reviewing requests for new or amended policies, and overseeing the policy creation and amendmentprocess. Kirkwood’s policy creation process ensures that a policy cannot be created without theknowledge and consent of the Cabinet, Policy Committee, and relevant stakeholders. The processincludes an outside legal review of new and amended policies where appropriate. A public review andcomment period is also a key part of the policy creation process, in order to ensure that faculty andstaff have an opportunity to review and give input on new and amended college wide policies. (2.A.)

4P4.4 Making information about programs, requirements, faculty and staff, costs to students,control, and accreditation relationships readily and clearly available to all constituents

Kirkwood makes information available about programs, requirements, costs, and accreditationrelationships through a variety of means. Prospective students receive information about programs,requirements, and costs through printed materials, including the college prospectus, the catalog, andthrough online resources on the college website, including the college’s consumer informationwebsite.

The College hosts numerous visit days for prospective students and their families to help studentslearn about requirements, costs, and other information they will need to succeed. Visit days areconducted a variety of formats from individual one-on-one meetings with admissions advisors togroup campus visit days held throughout the year.

Current students receive information on programs, costs, accreditation, etc., through the CollegeCatalog, the Student Handbook, and through the College website. The College goal is to betransparent and informative to ensure that no student or family member is surprised by a requirement,cost, accreditations, or faculty information. (2.B.)



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Kirkwood’s goal is to have all faculty, staff, administrators, and students act in a responsible andethical manner. The policies support these actions and are reviewed regularly. The College alsorecognizes that some training, like FERPA described in 4P4.2 must be mandatory to ensure employeeknowledge informs practice.

As noted, the College monitors training provided through KCELT or through Continuing Education,and faculty and staff have access to transcripts noting dates, session titles, and training length. TheCollege offers hundreds of training and professional development opportunities each year.


Kirkwood’s internal target is for all employees and students to be 100% compliant with all ethicalpolicies and practices. As noted, this is emphasized in both the Faculty Handbook and StudentHandbook, and students are informed during orientation and through course syllabuses. Faculty learnabout professional expectations through orientation and the three-year Master Teacher Program. Thelow number of students charged with academic dishonesty (less than 1%) demonstrates thatinformation and training provided help Most students understand ethical decisions.


As noted previously, the College recorded 146 student code of conduct violations last through throughthe Maxient software collection process. 133 of those conduct violations were academic dishonestyand the number represents less than 1% of our credit student headcount.

4I4 Improvements

With the implementation of Policy Manager, the College established both a review and check-inprocess that has helped to keep policies up to date and relevant. Prior to the creation of the PolicyCommittee, polices were often outdated, or not accurate. The new process has added bothaccountability and awareness.

In the future, a formal review of incidents where academic integrity is questioned could help to betterinform our learning and support services, and may benefit future students through a more refinedorientation process related to integrity and student expectations. For example, in a course where astudent may have plagiarized a work, even after having extensive training, is this a lack of integrity ora lack of awareness related to the repercussions of their actions? The Student Appeals Committee caneasily review trends in the future and make recommendations. This process addition would notrequire a significant amount of committee time; however, the review and awareness will help toinform process improvement potentially in the future.

Sources

2016-2019 KFA AgreementExamples of Policy Committee Meeting Minutes


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5 - Knowledge Management and Resource Stewardship

5.1 - Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management focuses on how data, information and performance results are used indecision-making processes at all levels and in all parts of the institution.

5P1: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for knowledge management, and identify who is involved in those processes.This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Selecting, organizing, analyzing and sharing data and performance information to supportplanning, process improvement and decision makingDetermining data, information and performance results that units and departments need to planand manage effectivelyMaking data, information and performance results readily and reliably available to the units anddepartments that depend upon this information for operational effectiveness, planning andimprovementsEnsuring the timeliness, accuracy, reliability and security of the institution's knowledgemanagement system(s) and related processesTracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools (including software platforms and/orcontracted services)

5R1: RESULTS

What are the results for determining how data, information and performance results are used indecision-making processes at all levels and in all parts of the institution? The results presented shouldbe for the processes identified in 5P1. All data presented should include the population studied,response rate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the datais collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results mightinclude:


5I1: IMPROVEMENT


Responses


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5P1.1 Selecting, organizing, analyzing and sharing data and performance information tosupport planning, process improvement and decision making.

The College’s Learner Success Framework is providing a new level of clarity for college decisionmakers’ planning for improvement and innovation. From a knowledge and resource managementperspective, the Framework challenges College decision makers to function as systems thinkersmapping the cost-benefit-impact of integrated processes and financial decision making. Performancetrend tracking and process mapping to inform the decision making and continuous improvementprocess is essential.

From a practical level, institutional measures, metrics, and progress indicators are developed incollaboration with stakeholders; organized at the institution, division, department, and program levels;centrally processed and analyzed through Institutional Effectiveness; and shared with stakeholders foradditional analysis and application. These principles are embodied in the Program Effectiveness andEfficiency Review (PEER) policy, and for all academic programs, the Program Effectiveness Profilespreviously described. (See Effectiveness Profile Report - Accounting example in the Evidence File.)

5P1.2 Determining data, information and performance results that units and departments needto plan and manage effectively

At the institutional level, a College Performance Profile is a knowledge management source used bythe President’s Cabinet and others to inform decision making. The goal is to provide high quality,affordable educational opportunities consistent with the College Learner Success Framework’spriorities:

Student ExperienceOperational ExcellenceCommunity ImpactEmployee Development

At the program level, the PEER policy serves as a knowledge management, decision making, andplanning resource. Developed by a committee of staff, faculty, and administrators, this resourceprovides open, transparent access to program trend information which tracks student achievement andprovides for the evaluation of program offerings. PEER policy performance metrics include thefollowing:

Performance Category Measures Basis

Enrollment Fiscal Year Iowa Department of EducationReporting (MIS)

Academic Achievement

Course Retention Rate

Iowa Department of EducationReporting (MIS) and NationalCommunity CollegeBenchmarking Project(NCCBP)

Course Completer Success Rate

Fall-to-Spring Persistence Rate


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Fall-to-Fall Persistence Rate

Graduation Outcomes

Award Count

Integrated PostsecondaryEducation Data System(IPEDS)

150% Graduation Rate

150% Transfer withoutGraduation Rate

150% Transfer with GraduationRate

These metrics are disaggregated from the institutional level to the division, department, and programlevels. This provides unit perspectives on institutional external benchmarks and provides for thedevelopment of internal target benchmarks. Faculty and administrators both own the review processand information analysis; however, faculty drive the review and evaluation of their individualprograms, or as peer reviewers at the five-year review.

5P1.3 Making data, information and performance results readily and reliably available to theunits and departments that depend upon this information for operational effectiveness,planning and improvements

These metrics are compiled each year into Program Effectiveness Profiles (PEP) by InstitutionalResearch with the assistance of Application Support and Development, a unit of Technology Services.Each Profile consists of five-year trend line charts and corresponding tables for each metric at theinstitution, division, department, and program level.

The profiles are delivered around November 15th each year for decision making effecting operationalactivities and budgeting for the following academic and fiscal year. Each program and divisionreceives a copy of their profile in their folder on the Kirkwood Information Network (KIN). Aninstitutional level effectiveness profile is also provided on KIN and the Institutional Research website.(See 2016-2017 Institutional Effectiveness Profile in Evidence File) Condensed versions with allprograms represented are provided to the Cabinet and the Board of Trustees with Academic Affairspersonnel receiving more detailed compilation of program level information for planning and decisionmaking.

5P1.4 Ensuring the timeliness, accuracy, reliability and security of the institution’s knowledgemanagement system(s) and related processes

The Compliance Reporting Team (CRT) consists of a Compliance Reporting Manager and twoSystems Reporting Analysts who are collocated with Institutional Research. CRT works with subjectmatter experts from throughout the institution to ensure the timeliness, accuracy, and reliability of thereports on which PEP metrics are based.

The methodologies for PEP metrics were developed by the Director of Institutional Research andimplemented in collaboration with a Systems Reporting Analyst from Reporting Services. Theresulting information is monitored for signs of aberrations that may indicate issues with accuracy andreliability. When identified, anomalies are investigated with subject matter experts to determine if an


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issue exists. Base information for reports is located on a secure server along with the institution’sdata warehouse. The stored procedures and databases for profiles are located on the same server. Only aggregated information is retrieved using a secure instance of Microsoft SQL Server ReportingServices (SSRS) for dissemination. Additional information requests through Team Dynamix areconducted by Reporting Services in Technology Services using the same base data, hardware, andsoftware.

End user security levels dictate access using Active Directory Groups, and “Groups” are managed bythe system administrator based on user roles. Roles are defined by hiring managers based on jobdescriptions, and in some cases, data owners must also approve access.


The primary data source for compliance reports and PEP is the institutional data warehouse housed onthe Microsoft SQL Server. Additional data is collected from subject matter experts. Data in thewarehouse are transformed nightly, weekly, or monthly (based on the rate of change) from base tablesin Colleague by Ellucian. Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio is used for compliancereporting, Program Effectiveness Profiles, and additional disaggregation reports. PEP and additionalreports utilize Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) to display information, which isaccessible through the Kirkwood Information Network (KIN). Compliance report outcomes are alsoavailable on KIN as they are completed. KIN is a secure instance of Microsoft SharePoint.

5R1.1:Summary results of measures

Use of Program Effectiveness Profiles (PEP) by program faculty and deans is being tracked throughan internally developed application that records Program Annual Update (PAU) information. Eachyear program faculty are required to analyze program Enrollment, Course Completer Success Rate,Fall-to-Spring Persistence Rate and 150% Graduation Rate based on PEP information and theircontextual knowledge. (Program Review item 6b) Faculty are also required to set program goals forthe next year and targets for retention and persistence. (Program Review item 8b) Deans rate item 8band provide feedback on item 6b as a part of their review process. Other items within the review arerated using a four-point rubric (i.e., Initial, Emerging, Developing, and Highly Developed).


The 2017-2018 Program Annual Update (PAU) cycle marked a refinement in the analysis questionand the addition of specific metrics for which goals are required. For the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, amore general question was asked related to analysis of enrollment, retention, completion and otherprogram data; however, the same rubric was used. Percentages for each measure during those cyclesare provided in the table below as well as a target for the current cycle based on results from prioryears.

Measure 2015-2016 2016-2017 17-18 Target

Analysis of Metrics

Initial 3% 2% 1%

Emerging 11% 11% 10%


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Developing 55% 45% 60%

Highly Developed 26% 27% 29%

Missing 6% 16% 0%


The Curriculum and Assessment Specialist (a faculty position on release) rates the first two PAUareas and the area dean rates the other areas using the established rubrics. The ratings are thenreviewed at the academic affairs vice president office and feedback is provided. The results andinsights intentionally inform program changes, course development, budget allocations, marketingand recruitment, equipment purchases, professional development, and human resources. Programs atthe five-year review stage answer additional questions and are also reviewed by a peer faculty teamassigned from the Peer Review Committee. Their review follows the same sharing structure.


For the next iteration of PEP, to be delivered by November 15, 2018, several metrics will be added.These metrics include additional enrollment metrics and employment metrics to assist in workplacesupply and demand review. The metrics to be added are listed in the table below.

Category Metric Basis

Enrollment

Fiscal Year, Non-cohort

Iowa Department of EducationReporting (MIS)Fall Census

Fall Census, Non-cohort

Employment

Annual Regional Job Openings

EMSI: Labor MarketAnalyticsNumber of Regional Completers

Median Regional Hourly Earnings

Completer Employment Rate

Iowa Department of Educationand Iowa WorkforceDevelopment EducationOutcomes Report

For the November 15, 2019 iteration of PEP, metrics will be added that explore resource utilization


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and cost per credit hour. These metrics will include attempted credit hours in addition to instructionalcost per attempted credit hour, earned credit, and successful credit hour. Further metrics will bedeveloped by the Director of Institutional Research in collaboration with Academic Affairs, FinancialServices, and Technology Services to directly integrate financial indicators into PEP.

The PAU process provides a method for assessing PEP use at the program level. An annualassessment method needs to be implemented for decision making at the department, division, andinstitution levels. Assessment needs to involve deans, Vice Presidents and the President, with anincreased review beyond Academic Affairs.

Sources

2016-2017 Institutional Effectiveness Profile2016-2017FY Effectiveness Profile Report - AccountingLearner Success Framework 2017 (with competencies)Program Annual Update 2017-18 ItemsProgram Annual Update User GuideProgram Effectiveness and Efficiency Review (PEER) Policy (454_6)


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5.2 - Resource Management

Resource Management focuses on how the resource base of an institution supports and improves itseducational programs and operations. The institution should provide evidence for Core Component5.A. in this section.

5P2: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for managing resources, and identify who is involved in those processes. Thisincludes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Maintaining fiscal, physical and technological infrastructures sufficient to support operations(5.A.1)Setting goals aligned with the institutional mission, resources, opportunities and emergingneeds (5.A.3)Allocating and assigning resources to achieve organizational goals, while ensuring thateducational purposes are not adversely affected (5.A.2)Tracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

5R2: RESULTS

What are the results for resource management? The results presented should be for the processesidentified in 5P2. All data presented should include the population studied, response rate and samplesize. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the data is collected, who isinvolved in collecting the data and how the results are shared. These results might include:


5I2: IMPROVEMENT


Responses5P2.1 Describe the processes for managing resources, and identify who is involved in thoseprocesses.

Kirkwood maintains fiscal, physical and technological infrastructures sufficient to support operationsthrough the following processes:

Resource Use Group (RUG) – The RUG is a cross functional College team consisting of theVP-CFO, VP Continuing Ed, VP-IT, VP Facilities, AVP Academics, and Exec DirectorFinance. This group was put together at the direction of the president with support of theCabinet. The purpose of the group is to create a centralized review team to evaluate the


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utilization of various funds (WTED, Equipment Levy, Perkins, grants, etc.) at the College. Thecommittee’s purpose is to achieve a more comprehensive and proactive approach to utilizingthese funds in order to minimize future operating budget impact, ensure compliance with fundobjectives, and prioritize various requests for funding.Capital Master Plan – The Cabinet, led by the VP Facilities, began a campus planning processin August 2016 to develop the next 10 year master facilities plan. The team working on thisplan included all levels at the College from cabinet to hourly workers. (See Facilities MasterPlan) The purpose of the planning process was to identify critical student facility needs anddesigns to achieve productive learning environments.PC Utilization Study – The purpose of the study was to review computing assets for utilizationand optimize technology resources. Wireless connectivity has improved dramatically soreviewing regularly wired and dedicated PC assets for classroom use has merit. A substitute forwired and dedicated assets could be shared laptop or tablet carts using the wireless network.The PC Study team led by the VP IT included administrators, faculty and staff. They utilizedanalytical software installed over the KCC network to determine usage levels and frequency ofuse for every student used information device on campus.Annual College Wide Budgeting Process – The annual budgeting process is led by the VP CFOand members of the finance team. The annual budget process begins in February/March ofevery year for the following fiscal year. The College’s budget has been divided into sectionsrepresenting functional and academic areas so that specific needs of each area can be uniquelyaddressed for planning. There are over 50 different budget officers, each responsible for one ormore individual pieces of the combined budget. Prior to budget officers beginning work onareas of responsibility, online accessible on demand training videos have been developed toinstruct budget participants in key decision making aspects of their roles and how to use thedetailed budget files for planning purposes. Most important to the training is the connectionbetween the mission and resource allocations. Once each officer has completed training orrefreshing, if needed, then the budget officer will work with the dean/administrator andstaff/faculty of the area to develop detailed budget requests for the following year. Once alltemplates have been completed, the templates are rolled up and consolidated to determine theoverall College budget. Depending on the consolidated results and whether they are high orlow, an interactive process will begin with budget officers to make the necessary adjustments toensure that the budget will be balanced and priorities are addressed appropriately.Investments for Capital Planning Process – In order to ensure efficient use of available cashand to ensure that the College has funds available to meet the Capital Master Plan, a planninggroup consisting of the VP CFO, VP Facilities, Executive Director Finance and DirectorAccounting and Finance develop annual spending and investment plans. (5.A.1)

5P2.2 Setting goals aligned with the institutional mission, resources, opportunities and emergingneeds.

As noted in 5P1.1, several cross-department groups oversee the resource goals at the College andthrough the previously described processes, mission alignment is primary to all the evaluation cycles.Under the direction of the Cabinet, department and division leadership engage faculty and staff in thebudget and planning process. The Learner Success Framework guides the operational excellencephilosophy used in making resource allocation decisions at all levels. The goal is to ensure thatresource allocations appropriately support the educational programs and student support mission ofthe College. (5.A.3).

5P2.3 Allocating and assigning resources to achieve organizational goals, while ensuring thateducational purposes are not adversely affected


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The Resource Use Group (RUG) is a cross functional College team described in 5P2.1. Thecommittee’s goal is to achieve a more comprehensive and proactive approach to utilizing equipmentfunds and to minimize future operating budget impact, ensure compliance with fund objectives, andprioritize requests for funding. The group reviews institutional requests to ensure that educationalprogramming is top in quality and resources. (5.A.2)

Every year as part of the annual budgeting process, the complete long-term financing needs of theCollege are reviewed and projected. The Evidence file has a chart indicating the Long Term Debt asand the projected movements for FY 19. See Table 5P2.3.

In addition, the Long Term Debt/Financial Needs are projected out 5 years incorporating anticipatedfuture needs to support the student success initiatives and future maturities. This chart shows thehistoric and five-year projections through 2022. See Chart 5P2.3.

This process of long term planning is essential to maintaining the overall College financial strength.As noted in the evidence, each type of debt is assigned a specific repayment funding source such asFund 1, state code, or taxpayer voted. Fund 1 debt is simply that, debt that is guaranteed to be repaidthrough various Fund 1 general and enterprise operations. State code, 260E and 260C, are specificfunding sources allowed by the State of Iowa and does not impact current or any future Fund 1operations. The GOB debt is construction related debt that the taxpayers in our service territoryapproved through vote. The composite financial index (CFI) model takes into account all forms oflong term debt; however, the funding components of the CFI only include the current year taxrevenues for the non Fund 1 debt repayment resources. Not including guaranteed state fundingrevenue negatively impacts KCC’s CFI score. When considering the guaranteed future debtrepayment streams, the CFI scores are well above the zone as shown in the comparison chart in theevidence file.


The financial reporting team performs a detailed review of the monthly actual results compared tomonthly budgeted amounts. Variances that are unexpected or materially high or low are identified andsent to the appropriate budget officer for detailed explanation. As part of the monthly review process,the reporting team may meet with budget officers to discuss operating results on a year to date basisand identify any potential changes to the full fiscal year forecasted results. This monthly process ofearly identification allows the College to plan for changes as early as possible. Budget updates areposted to KIN monthly for budget manager review.


The RUG meets monthly throughout the year. During the April/May period, the budget for thefollowing year is set based on allocated resources from the tax levy process and the college widebudgeting process. Monthly, the RUG compares budget to actual expenditures and reviews all futureneeds to ensure adherence to the plan. Each RUG member is assigned specific tasks within their areaof responsibility. The creation of the budget at least two months prior to the start of the fiscal yearand the assignment of specific tasks has created an interactive process that promotes discussion oncurrent and future innovative needs. Through this discussion, the RUG has the ability to modify thespending plan to meet the needs of initiatives as they develop. The following are examples of specificassignment areas:

Financing of planCapital Items


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IT ItemsEquipment Levy Items

The College budgeting process for the past several years has promoted accountability and innovationat the operating department level. Identification of funding needs is driven by those individuals mostclosely involved in the day-to-day operations. By utilizing the zero based budgeting process, theCollege is able to ensure initiatives are funded and the highest priorities are met. The budgetingprocess combined with the monthly financial statement review has allowed individuals to quicklyidentify potential budget versus actual issues and develop mitigating plans accordingly.

The PC Utilization Study documented how little many computer classrooms actually utilize theequipment. When many were originally designed five years ago or more, stationary PCs were thenorm. Today, mobile stations and laptops are the standard. As shown below, the result of thisresearch sill save the College $1.4 million dollars over the next five years.

Year PC Replacement Cost Pre Utilization

2019 $ 966,227.15

2020 $ 1,531,241.25

2021 $ 1,385,832.28

2022 $ 357,216.35

Grand Total $ 4,240,517.03

Year PC Cost to Replace Post Utilization

FY19 $ 400,184.20

FY20 $ 763,214.60

FY21 $ 822,541.40

FY22 $ 835,848.40

Grand Total $ 2,821,788.60


The College has maintained and improved its financial strength each year through the aforementioned


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processes, and historically the College financial stability has been affirmed by the College’s upgradeddebt status. On March 30, 2013 Moody’s upgraded the College debt rating from Aa2 negative outlookto Aa2 stable outlook due to continued strong College reserves and strong hotel operating results. OnApril 19, 2017 Standard and Poors upgraded the College debt rating from AA- to AA. While the CFImodel penalizes the College’s debt structure, both bond rating agencies have upgraded our debtquality due to the overall College financial plan and continued performance.


As College has continued to implement increased understanding of financial terminology,collaboration and sharing of information continues to increase at significantly higher rates. Asindividual budget decision makers become more knowledgeable regarding the financial inter-connections, they have increasingly shared more relevant and timely information that has allowed thefinancial planning process to be more effective, allowing the College community to make betterinformed decisions supporting our mission and ultimately student success. As more individuals havebecome involved, comprehensive data elements have been developed making the monthly and annualbudget review process more meaningful.

5I2: IMPROVEMENT

Kirkwood has implemented or will be implementing the following process improvements:

Chrome River Expense Management Software – The implementation of Chrome River duringthe second half of 2018 will automate various College policies related to purchasing of allgoods and services. This automation will ensure efficient and effective adherence to the policywhile providing increased decision support for budget officers. In addition, this will assist inmoving the College to a paperless and greener environment.Revised Purchasing Policy and Approval – the College has recently reviewed and revised itspurchasing policy to update authorities and processes to facilitate overall college initiatives andefficiencies.The Capital Investment group, based on information from the Facilities Master Plan, willdevelop an annual cash flow plan for construction purposes and planned contractor paymentschedules to support remodeling funded through the 2017 bond referendum. Based on thisconstruction plan, the group will then develop an appropriate investment plan that ensuresinvestments mature at the proper time for disbursement, thus maximizing interest income oncollege funds.

Several new enrollment management strategies will be implemented to better forecast enrollment andareas where marketing efforts may need to be increased. As the College experiences flat enrollment ina region with very low unemployment, monitoring program viability becomes very important forfinancial stability. As noted, the Program Review process is designed to provide this oversight.

Sources

CFI ScoresChart 5P2.3Chrome River - February Leadership RetreatComputer Utilization Study 82018Financial PowerPoint for 5R2.1FY17 RUG Minutes_Approved


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FY18 Budget TemplateFY18 RUG Minutes_ApprovedFY19 Budget TimelineKCC General Obligation Bonds S&P Global Ratings APR2017Kirkwood Budget Allocation Process DescriptionKirkwood Master Plan Report DIGITALMasterplan Budget_2017Monthly Financial Statement EmailMoody's Published ReportPurchasing_July 1 2018 (002)Resource Use Committee Charter (002)Table 5P2.3Training Video links


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5.3 - Operational Effectiveness

Operational Effectiveness focuses on how an institution ensures effective management of itsoperations in the present and plans for continuity of operations into the future. The institution shouldprovide evidence for Core Component 5.A. in this section.

5P3: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for operational effectiveness, and identify who is involved in those processes.This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Building budgets to accomplish institutional goalsMonitoring financial position and adjusting budgets (5.A.5)Maintaining a technological infrastructure that is reliable, secure and user-friendlyMaintaining a physical infrastructure that is reliable, secure and user-friendlyManaging risks to ensure operational stability, including emergency preparednessTracking outcomes/measures utilizing appropriate tools

5R3: RESULTS

What are the results for ensuring effective management of operations on an ongoing basis and for thefuture? The results presented should be for the processes identified in 5P3. All data presented shouldinclude the population studied, response rate and sample size. All results should also include a briefexplanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how theresults are shared. These results might include:


5I3: IMPROVEMENT


Responses5P3.1 Building budgets to accomplish institutional goals

The goal of Kirkwood’s budget building process is to align with the mission and include all relevantemployees so that the process is inclusive and transparent. To keep the College well informed, thepresident has hosted budget town halls to present general funding issues and budget planning intendedto address those issues.

The annual budgeting process is led by the VP CFO and members of the finance team, as describedgenerally in 5.2. The annual budget process begins in February/March of every year for the followingfiscal year. The College’s budget has been divided into sections representing functional and academic


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areas of the college so that specific needs for each area can be uniquely addressed for planning. Thereare over 50 different budget officers, each responsible for one or more individual pieces of thecombined budget.

Prior to budget officers beginning work, they review online training videos that were developed toinstruct budget participants in key decision making aspects of their roles and how to use the detailedbudget files for planning purposes. Once each officer has completed training, the budget officer willwork with the dean/administrator, staff/faculty of the area to develop detailed budget requests for thefollowing year. The budget officer will ensure any initiatives or projects for the specific area areincluded and highlighted within the detailed budget templates. Once all templates have beencompleted, the templates are rolled up and consolidated to determine the overall all College budget. Depending on the consolidated results and whether they are high or low, an interactive process willbegin with budget officers to make the necessary adjustments to the budget ensuring that the budgetwill be balanced and priorities are addressed appropriately. Conversations occur regularly at Cabinetmeetings and Leadership Team meetings to make sure everyone is aware of state support changes,enrollment projections, and budget projections, and to ensure mission alignment.

5P3.2 Monitoring financial position and adjusting budgets

Monthly, the financial reporting team performs a detailed review of the monthly actual resultscompared to monthly budgeted amounts. Variances that are unexpected or materially high or low areidentified and sent to the appropriate budget officer for detailed explanation. As part of the monthlyreview process, the reporting team meets with budget officers to discuss operating results on a year todate basis and identify any potential changes to the full fiscal year forecasted results. (5.A.5)

5P3.3 Maintaining a technological infrastructure that is reliable, secure and user-friendly

Kirkwood is dedicated to providing technology access to all students and to help offset costs,instituted a technology fee of $25 dollars in 2014. The fee was raised to $50 for the fall 2018semester. Much goes to support campus/center wireless power.

In the fall of 2017, the College conducted a PC utilization study, as previously described. The purposeof the study was to review computing assets for utilization and optimize the PC footprint. In the past,many computer labs and classrooms were wired with stationary units provided to students; however,student use of these labs has continued to decline over the last five years. Wireless on the campusesand at the centers has improved dramatically so reviewing wired and dedicated PC assets forclassroom use has merit. A substitute for wired and dedicated assets could be shared laptop or tabletcarts using the wireless network. The PC Study team evaluated the results and shared their findingswith the academic deans and faculty, as well as the Board of Trustees. The study utilized analyticalsoftware installed over the Kirkwood network to determine usage levels and frequency of use forevery student used information device on campus. The results indicated that many computerclassrooms were not used regularly and alternative models could save significant dollars.

In terms of security, the College has experienced a number of attempts by outsiders to gain access tothe student records database. IT personnel are dedicated to keeping the network open and safe, and theCollege contracted in 2017 with an external vendor to ensure the stability and security of ourtechnological infrastructure.

5P3.4 Maintaining a physical infrastructure that is reliable, secure and user-friendly.

The College goal is to provide a quality classroom and support area environment that is safe and user


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friendly. Funding from state taxes is provided each year to support infrastructure improvements andrepairs, and the College maintains a strong and well qualified Facilities team who not only fix andclean facilities but also serve to help students whenever possible.

In 2016, the College formed a team to revise the facilities master plan and to develop the next 10 yearmaster facilities plan. The team, led by the Facilities VP, included all employee levels at the College,from Cabinet to hourly workers. The purpose of the planning process was to identify critical studentfacility needs that will directly or indirectly benefit student success. The Plan is provided in theEvidence section and was affirmed by the Board of Trustees in 2017.

5P3.5 Managing risks to ensure operational stability, including emergency preparedness

Kirkwood is committed to providing operational stability, even in emergency situations. This hasbeen demonstrated in the past during the Cedar Rapids and surrounding area flood in 2008. Additionally, the College has committed to taking a proactive view of potential emergencies andprovide training to employees and students to help mitigate any risk. The following highlight some ofthe actions taken since the last review. (5.A.5)

Creation of Director of Risk Transfer – Approximately five years ago the college created theDirector of Risk Transfer position. This position is responsible for identifying and managingoverall risk and mitigation of those risks.Creation of Director of Compliance – In 2016, the college created the Director of Complianceposition. This position is often thought of as a director of internal audit position, but the collegehas taken the approach to use this position more for identification of process improvementinitiatives. Compliance is still monitored and tested; however a heavy focus is on processimprovement. The director reports directly to the College board audit committee.Risk and Safety Committee – Until one year ago, Kirkwood Community College had twocommittees, one for Risk and one for Safety. A year ago, the two committees were combinedinto one and co-lead by the Director of Risk and the Director of Security. The combination ofthese two committees that were performing similar tasks has allowed the new committee todevelop a more focused communication strategy.


Identification of funding needs is driven by those individuals most closely involved in the day to dayneeds of meeting the learner success goal, the front line staff and faculty. By utilizing the zero basedbudgeting, the College is able to ensure initiatives are funded and priorities are met. The budgetingprocess, combined with the monthly financial statement review process, has allowed Collegeindividuals to quickly identify potential budget versus actual issues and develop mitigating plansaccordingly.

As an example, the Director of Risk developed a detailed tracking process related to workercompensation incidents and claims. As is seen from that source chart, the number of reportable claimshas decreased significantly and the worker’s compensation premiums have declined from over $1million per year to just over $400,000 per year in a relatively short five-year period. Tracking ofclaims and effective communication with college personnel about the cost and each person’sresponsibility to controlling this cost has proven effective in addition to the safety training describedpreviously. Tracking the results helps keep costs low and tuition low.

Year Number ofClaims Total Claim $ Incurred Workers Compensation

Premium


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2014 59 $197,649 $1,098,351

2015 35 $77,891 $986,750

2016 33 $248,040 $864,892

2017 34 $284,961 $488,298

In another example, the Director of Compliance performed an internal control assessment and rankingwith all cabinet members and cabinet member reports shortly after starting the role. The result of thework provided a prioritized framework of controls needing review and modifications. The results ofthe assessment were shared with Cabinet and the audit committee of the Board to ensure that allrelevant parties were fully informed. The results of the assessment formed the basis of the FY18compliance audit plan prepared by the audit committee. Action plans to improve these areas are inplace.

Summarized Assessment Results by Control Component and Assessment

Assessment Factor Average High Low

Control Environment 1.78 5 1

1. Integrity and Ethical Values 1.66 5 1

2. Commitment to Competence 1.67 4 1

3. Management's Philosophy and Operating Style 1.53 4 1

4. Organizational Structure 1.62 3 1

5. Assignment of Authority and Responsibility 2.11 5 1

6. Human Resource Policies and Practices 2.11 5 1

Risk Assessment 1.96 5 1

7. Organizational Goals and Objectives 1.83 5 1

8. Risk Identification and Prioritization 2.29 5 1

9. Managing Change 1.75 4 1


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Control Activities 1.95 5 1

10. Written Policies and Procedures 1.81 3 1

11. Control Procedures 1.93 5 1

12. Controls over Information Systems 2.10 4 1

Information and Communication 1.97 4 1

13. Access to Information 2.31 4 1

14. Communication Patterns 1.64 4 1

Monitoring 1.78 5 1

15. Management Supervision 1.82 4 1

16. Outside Sources 1.69 5 1

17. Response Mechanisms 1.63 3 1

18. Self-Assessment Mechanisms 2.01 3 1


The Director of Risk management, working with our insurance provider, sets internal targets andbenchmarks the College experience with other Colleges and area businesses of roughly the same size.These comparisons provide data to support reductions in insurance costs.

As noted, the monthly budget review compares actual expenditures to budget allocations, and eachbudget manager can compare benchmarks to the spending realities. This provides a clear picture thatis tracked during the year and also compares to the previous year spending patterns.


Based on the results reviewed in terms of safety and risk exposure, the College has implementedmandatory OSHA training for all facilities employees. The group participated in two days of training,along with related courses in individual work areas. The Director of Farm operations in conjunctionwith the academic dean and the risk management director instituted a farm safety program for allemployees, including student workers, based on observed actions of students on the farm. These aretwo examples of actions taken based upon insights gained.

5I3: IMPROVEMENT

The Risk and Safety committee is working to develop a Comprehensive Disaster Recovery plan with


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input from all areas, including all regional and county centers. Essentially, there is one major item thatcould negatively impact the College’s operations on a large scale and that would be a catastrophictornado taking a large portion of the college’s facilities off-line. The group working on the projecthas identified this event and is working through this scenario as the first situation to document a planof action.

Safety training has been an important part of the College culture and has been enhanced significantlywith the focus on risk management. Expansion of these training opportunities will happen over thenext three years and additional risk areas identified.

Sources

Business Continuity PresentationDirector - Risk Transfer Job DescriptionDirector of Compliance Position DescriptionEnrollment X Sq FtInternal Control Self AssessmentKCC Compliance CharterKirkwood Master Plan Report DIGITALMasterplan Budget_2017Risk and Safety Committee CharterRisk and Safety Committee Org ChartWorkers Compensation Chart


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6 - Quality Overview

6.1 - Quality Improvement Initiatives

Quality Improvement Initiatives focuses on the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) initiatives theinstitution is engaged in and how they work together within the institution.

6P1: PROCESSES

Describe the processes for determining and integrating CQI initiatives, and identify who is involvedin those processes. This includes, but is not limited to, descriptions of key processes for the following:

Selecting, deploying and evaluating quality improvement initiativesAligning the Systems Portfolio, Action Projects, Comprehensive Quality Review and StrategyForums

6R1: RESULTS

What are the results for continuous quality improvement initiatives? The results presented should befor the processes identified in 6P1. All data presented should include the population studied, responserate and sample size. All results should also include a brief explanation of how often the data iscollected, who is involved in collecting the data and how the results are shared.

6I1

Based on 6R1, what quality improvement initiatives have been implemented or will be implementedin the next one to three years?

Responses6P1.1 Selecting, deploying and evaluating quality improvement initiatives

The development of quality improvement initiatives happens at all levels of the College and is oftenthe outgrowth of normal continuous improvement efforts. The AQIP team seeks out initiatives andcomes to agreement as to which would benefit most from HLC external peer review. This teamdetermines Action Projects and assigns responsibility for writing, evaluating, and reporting on theproject. The Cabinet is informed about the project(s) so they can provide support as needed. TheAQIP team collects feedback on the project work, reviews the reports submitted to the HLC, vets thepeer reviewer feedback, and when complete, eventually retires the project.

For example, Kirkwood knew in 2015 that the College was not effectively attracting and retainingstudents. The new Vice President of Student Services had been involved with the Gardner InstituteFoundations of Excellence process and suggested Kirkwood could benefit from evaluating in depthour first year student experience and our transfer student experience. The College contracted with theGardner Institute and formed teams to address the nine dimensions. The process generated many


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recommendations, and some were immediately implemented. Other recommendations are beingreviewed by standing committees or administration to measure impact, resources, and cost. Thisinitiative involved over 200 faculty and staff and was pervasive throughout the culture. Theconclusion of this Action Project lead to the development of a new project related to addressing therecommendations made through the FoE process, a project developed at the February 2018 StrategyForum.

The purpose of action projects at Kirkwood is to fulfill our mission, and projects relate in somemanner to the four Learner Success Framework areas: Student Experience, Employee Development,Community Impact, and Operational Excellence.

6P1.2 Aligning the Systems Portfolio, Action Projects, Comprehensive Quality Review andStrategy Forums

Since the last Systems Portfolio feedback, Kirkwood has participated in two Strategy Forums, andeach team developed an Action Learning Project that was implemented on campus. The most recentForum was in February 2018 and the team was comprised of the President; Vice Presidents forAcademic Affairs and Student Services; the Deans of Student Services, Arts and Humanities, andSocial Sciences; the Directors of Student Services and Institutional Research, and one facultymember. The team continued to meet after the Forum to refine and clearly define the project whichwill be implemented in the Fall 2018 term: Developing a Student Engagement Leadership Team.

Kirkwood’s AQIP Team helps to coordinate Action Projects and is the primary reviewer for theSystems Portfolio. Members of the team have attended both Strategy Forums and were involved withthe quality review process. The team has evolved over time to be a permanent leadership group withrepresentatives from most areas of the College and is comprised of faculty, staff, and administrators.

6R1—What are the results for continuous quality improvement initiatives?

Based on the feedback received from the last Systems Portfolio review, the College has worked toalign quality improvement projects with the College mission and vision work. The AQIP criteria areconsistent with the Learner Success Framework that provides the guidance to our strategic planningand budget processes. Leadership at all levels recognizes the importance of the Plan-Do-Check-Actcycle and employs the process with all initiatives.

The First Year Forward and the Transfer Forward were included under one action project:“Implement the Foundations of Excellence Process.” The dimension teams included over 200 faculty,staff, administrators and students, and in addition to the standing teams, faculty and students weresurveyed by the Gardner Institute which gathered well over 600 responses. The nearly 40recommendations are in various stages: implemented, at committees, on hold, or not feasible at thistime. This action project has only now been retired as the end of AQIP continues to move forward.

Some successfully integrated quality initiatives would include:

Resource User Group—cross department review of equipment purchasesFirst Year Forward—Foundations of Excellence Review of first year student experiencesTransfer Forward—Foundations of Excellence Review of services to students planning totransferCompetency Based Professional Development—User defined professional development

6I1—Improvements


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The College has spent the last five years in a careful review of the mission, vision, and values; thestudent experience; the facilities and centers; the allocation of resources; and the review of curriculumand instruction. These initiatives are supported by feedback from student surveys, classroomfeedback on instruction, NACEP accreditation, CCSSE, Quality Matters implementation, AssessmentDay activities, and Collaborative Learning Days. The College is just beginning to prepare for its nextstrategic planning cycle which will further define the future direction of the College with developedKey Performance Indicators.

Sources

Action Project - Designing_Competency-Based_Professional_Development_07-24-18Action Project - Establishing a Student Experience Leadership TeamAction Project - First Year Experience FoEAction Project - Learning_Outcomes_Data_and_Analytics_07-24-18FoE First Year Study-Final Report with appendicesFoE Transfer Forward Final Report with appendix 12-7-17


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6.2 - Culture of Quality

Culture of Quality focuses on how the institution integrates continuous quality improvement into itsculture. The institution should provide evidence for Core Component 5.D. in this section.

6P2: PROCESSES

Describe how a culture of quality is ensured within the institution. This includes, but is not limited to,descriptions of key processes for the following:

Developing an infrastructure and providing resources to support a culture of qualityEnsuring continuous quality improvement is making an evident and widely understood impacton institutional culture and operations (5.D.1)Ensuring the institution learns from its experiences with CQI initiatives (5.D.2)Reviewing, reaffirming and understanding the role and vitality of the AQIP Pathway within theinstitution

6R2: RESULTS

What are the results for continuous quality improvement to evidence a culture of quality? The resultspresented should be for the processes identified in 6P2. All data presented should include thepopulation studied, the response rate and sample size. All results should also include a briefexplanation of how often the data is collected, who is involved in collecting the data and how theresults are shared.

6I2: IMPROVEMENT

Based on 6R2, what process improvements to the quality culture have been implemented or will beimplemented in the next one to three years?

Responses6P2.1 Developing an infrastructure and providing resources to support a culture of quality

Rather than use the AQIP accreditation process as a driver of the operational planning, the Collegehas embedded the six AQIP categories into the Learner Success Framework which is a natural guideto what the College believes in and what the College does to support our students and communities.All of our initiatives, regardless of division/department, function with a continuous qualityimprovement focus that aligns with our mission and learner success. The work done over the pastfive years has been inclusive and transparent, and even with the significant number of personnelchanges, the commitment has remained to support a culture of quality.

6P2.2 Ensuring continuous quality improvement is making an evident and widely understoodimpact on institutional culture and operations

Kirkwood’s documents the quality of its performance by soliciting feedback from our students,employees, and stakeholders. (See the “Survey Overview for Academic Programs” in the Evidence


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File.) Feedback helps to both define the effect of improvement initiatives and communicates to thebroader community.

The College focus on continuous quality improvement begins at the level where the work is beingdone. The College has worked to accomplish this goal for the last 25 years by empowering the facultyand staff to determine how best they can serve students. Beginning with the onboarding experienceand through the annual performance review cycle, the emphasis is clearly stated: do what is right andkeep the core question—“how will this benefit students”—at the forefront to what you do. Thisquestion was foundational to the initial College membership in the League for Innovation, core to thereason for being an early adopter to the AQIP process, and finally, the reason Kirkwood was selectedto be a Vanguard school many years ago. By establishing supportive systems with professionaldevelopment at the core, Kirkwood is a benefit to its students and region. (5.D.1)

6P2.3 Ensuring the institution learns from its experiences with CQI initiatives

The College learns from its experiences by encouraging a culture of careful risk taking andinnovation. No better example is present in the history of the College than the outcome of the LearnerSuccess Agenda Plan developed in 2012 and well documented in the 2014 Portfolio. The seven areaswere focused on improvement at all levels, and the end target was to increase the first-time, full-timedegree seeking graduation completion rate from 29% to 38%. The rate was determined by adding twostandard deviations to the mean. Although many changes derived from committee and grouprecommendations did impact student success (see retention and persistence tables in 1R3.1), the goalwas not achieved; however, as a College, much was learned to inform our onboarding and studentsupport areas. The “next steps” are taken after the College learns from these experiences. In thisexample, the next step was to contract with the Gardner Institute to use the Foundations of Excellenceexperience as previously described. (5.D.2)

6P2.4 Reviewing, reaffirming, and understanding the role and vitality of the AQIP Pathwaywithin the institution.

Although the AQIP pathway will no longer be an option in the future, the College has benefited fromthe feedback given to Action Projects, the Quality Check-up reviews, the Strategy Forums, and thepeer contact with other AQIP colleges. The work of AQIP is the work of Kirkwood, and the two havenever been separate entities but rather integrated practices. The AQIP Committee is a cross-department standing committee that meets monthly, reviews projects and initiatives relevant to theAQIP Categories, accreditation questions, action projects, and the assurance argument. In the past,the work on the next portfolio has always begun immediately after feedback is received from the lastportfolio. Updates and initiatives are often reviewed as a part of the Leadership Team retreats. Theseactions have made the AQIP process consistent and a vital part of the Kirkwood culture.

6R2 What are the results for continuous quality improvement to evidence a culture of quality?

As noted previously, several defined initiatives have guided the improvement process at Kirkwood forthe last five years.

Foundations of Excellence—both First Year Forward and Transfer ForwardBudget and Resource Allocation process—building from the smallest sub-unit to the largerCollege perspective is inclusive and transparentComputer Utilization Study—by tracking classroom computer use, areas where once the roomwas filled with computers can me adjusted to provide laptops as needed.Mandatory Orientation, restricted late-add policies, and mandatory advising impact student


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retention and persistence ratesNACEP Accreditation which ensures duel enrollment program qualityQuality Matters—60 online courses are reviewed by a team each semester with the qualityrubricKICK camp satisfaction surveys

Probably even more important is the employee satisfaction rating which placed Kirkwood as one ofthe top ten places to work in Iowa based on the results from a Des Moines Register survey.

6I2 Improvements

In a true sense, the quality culture at Kirkwood has shifted over the last ten years to become a muchless “top down” and a much stronger “bottom up” governance shift. This was evident with theparticipation eleven years ago at the launch of the Kirkwood Futures Initiative. This inclusiveconversation with over 800 college employees began the culture shift. Shared governance became amainstay from that initiative which was followed by the Learner Success Agenda, and in 2016, theKirkwood work with the Foundations of Excellence dimensions. The mission and vision discussionswere inclusive and parallel to the work at the College to improve student experience.

The next steps will be to refocus the Learner Success Framework into well-defined, key results to bemeasured over the next few years. Departments and divisions have aligned not only their planning buttheir daily work to fit within the dimensions of this framework. As the new president begins to set heragenda for the future, the culture will again be enhanced by her expertise and leadership.Improvements to the culture are inclusive and help define a common direction with the supportneeded to be successful.

Sources

1994 - Current Continuous Improvement History2018-19 Program Satisfaction and Feedback Survey OverviewFoE First Year Study-Final Report with appendicesFoE Transfer Forward Final Report with appendix 12-7-17Learner Success Framework 2017 (with competencies)


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Documents

Page 1 Kirkwood Community College - Systems Portfolio - 9 ...Kirkwood Community College - Systems Portfolio - 9/13/2018 Page 4. workplace and societal needs, including the Liberal