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AQIP NEWSLETTER TEAMWORK AT MCC
Issue #12
 February 2007



 

Newsletters

MCC's AQIP Home Page

 Quote of the month:

“The undertaking of a new action brings new strength.”

                                                     ~ Evenius
 

Systems Portfolio Update
by Greg Thomas

Things are progressing well with the MCC AQIP Systems Portfolio. Working under our new deadline of May 1st, 2007, has accelerated the pace we have had to move at, but everyone involved has risen to the occasion, which makes me very proud to work at this institution. 

And just who is involved? At this point, it is the AQIP Writing Team and MCC’s Strategic Planning Team. The Strategic Planning Team has been heavily involved in the initial “information gathering” stage, and just submitted their work at the end of January. During this stage, we have been addressing how MCC meets the 9 AQIP Criteria (and to what extent we do). This has involved talking to a lot of people on the campus and at the Centers, identifying supporting documentation, and so forth.

The second stage is to compile the information, eliminate redundancy, identify gaps in our knowledge, and produce a first draft of our portfolio, which as you recall, will be a 75-100 page document that eventually will be posted on our website.

As writers, The Writing Team has the challenge of writing for a dual audience: the Higher Learning Commission, who evaluates us and decides if we are worthy of reaccreditations, and the general public who come to our website to find out more about us.

The third stage will be to gather feedback from internal and external readers. This will take place during the month of March, during which time we will also be indexing the document according to the standards set by the Higher Learning Commission.

In April we will enter the fourth phase; we will revise the document, incorporating the input of our various readers, and get it ready for final submission.

And then, on May 1st, we submit the document.

The document is not promotional – its purpose is not to make us look good, but to provide an accurate depiction of how we operate. In the review process it will be examined by peers at other institutions, who will make astute recommendations as to how we can improve as an institution. This will only support us in our ultimate goal: to serve the students, who are our reason for being here.

I want to extend special thanks to the members of the Strategic Planning Team. They have knocked themselves out gathering the information we need for this document and deserve at the very least a weekend in Vegas. Maybe we can hold our next Strategic Planning meeting at the Bellagio!

I am confident we will meet our deadline and that reaccreditations will be a matter of course because of the steady, disciplined efforts of the people involved in the AQIP Systems Portfolio writing process.

 

Actions Projects Update

MCC staff will be given the opportunity to participate in an action project at our Professional Development Day on February 19th. Be thinking about what team you would like to join to help us move forward in our accreditation process.

As you know, we have identified three new Action Projects to work on in the next phase of AQIP. They are:

  1. Institutional Assessment
  2. Optimizing Institutional Effectiveness through Communication
  3. Creative Solutions to Rural Needs

Action Project #1: Institutional Assessment, is co-chaired by Phyllis Gertge and Kathy Frisbie. The project will certainly involve MCC's existing Assessment Team, but there is plenty of room for additional project members.

Phyllis offered these comments concerning this Action Project: “This team will focus on ways to strengthen assessment and evaluation processes to improve institutional effectiveness. The Assessment Plan will link with both our Academic Plan and Master Plan, setting institutional outcomes for continuous review and improvement. The goal is to have everyone understand assessment and its value to MCC and how it defines who we are and where we need to go.”


Action Project #2: Optimizing Institutional Effectiveness through Communication
As defined by Kent Bauer, co-leader, this project “will enhance our sense of community at MCC by providing opportunities for more effective communication. We will enhance stakeholder understanding of our various initiatives and provide opportunities for individual input. Expanded communication will be key to this action project.” This is a crucial area for all of us, one that will require well-defined, clear goals. Now is the chance to join this team and make a difference!

Action Project #3: Creative Solutions to Rural Needs
Co-leaders are Betty McKie and Ruth Tryon. Dean McKie stated, “This action project will allow us to focus on the diverse needs of our rural service area. We might explore the best ways to gather information on possible new programs, expansion of current programs, and identify delivery methods that would help us reach across the service area.” The team currently has three members, but more are needed to fully develop this project, so put on your creativity hat and join the group.