Kaua‘i community college

Goal II: Learning and Teaching

3. In response to the Case Management Committee’s recommendations, the college hired a faculty member for the College Success Center whose job includes coordinating and developing learning communities to promote student success. These learning communities include remedial (ABE) level cohorts of students, who take a full schedule of linked courses as a group, as well as paired classes with an integrated curriculum offered for students at the developmental, or pre-college level. Members of learning communities also are afforded the extra support of peer tutoring services in the Learning Center; computer and software-assisted instruction as a complement to their schedule of courses; coordinated advising and counseling by a case management team; and ongoing evaluation and assessment.

4. The college obtained a Title III grant to assist with the College Success Program, which participates in a college-wide effort to expand service to the increasing number of under-prepared students, a high percentage of whom are of Native Hawaiian origin. The creation of a case management-based Success, Transition, And Retention (STAR) initiative provides for the training of faculty mentors, increased staffing and outfitting of a math/science lab, and the purchase and installation of an improved assessment, tracking and reporting system (Title III Grant Updates).
5. The college has continued to offer a Summer Bridge Program that focuses on basic skill development, self awareness and self esteem, goal setting, vocational development, career and academic planning, study skills, and time management for new students.
6. The nursing program has also conducted a National Science Foundation EPSCOR-funded Nursing Academy program to prepare interested students to qualify for admission into the LPN/RN program. The cohort of pre-nursing students is enrolled in a program that includes a series of integrated full-semester courses designed for that specific learning community. Courses include developmental courses and learning skills as well as nursing-specific support courses. There have been 3 cohorts with a total of 84 students. The Fall 2005 term was the first semester that students had completed the Academy and were eligible for entry into the Career Ladder Nursing Program. There were 12 students who entered in the fall of 2005 and all 12 have successfully completed the first semester.
7. The college has committed to reviewing 20 percent of its courses per year to include measurable Student Learning Outcomes.
Goal III: Workforce Development
8. The Rural Development Project (RDP) coordinator, the OCET coordinator and the chancellor meet regularly with industry leaders and organizations, such as the Kaua‘i Workforce Investment Board, to identify workforce needs. The result is training and courses funded by RDP grants and/or offered through OCET specifically for workforce development. RDP has offered more than 200 workforce development courses for more than 2,600 students since 1998.
9. The University of Hawai‘i College of Education has an office on campus and coordinates teacher education for the island. This program include:

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  Baccalaureate, Elementary Education
  

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  Post Baccalaureate Certificate, Secondary Education
  
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  Post Baccalaureate Certificate, Special Education
  
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  M. Ed, Special Education
  
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  M. Ed, Educational Technology
  

• M. Ed, Science

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  M. Ed, Administration
  
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  M. Ed, Counseling, Guidance, and Rehabilitation
  

10. In addressing the national as well as local need for workforce development in health care, the college financial plan has budgeted for an increase in faculty positions to increase enrollment in the nursing programs. In 2005, 2 additional nursing faculty positions made possible the admission of 32 first-level students into the program. This is a significant increase in enrollment compared to previous years. For example, enrollment for 2004 was 27 students; 2003, 27 students; and 2002, 18 students.

11. A Photonics specialization is being developed as an option for Electronics Technology students as a direct response to future industry workforce needs at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF).

12. The college has moved forward with revamping the Facilities Engineering Program (FENG). The program curriculum includes Construction Technology as well as Electricity, Welding, Machine Shop, and Air Conditioning.

Goal IV: Personal Development
13. The Professional Development Committee organizes various professional development activities on campus. Workshop topics for staff and faculty professional development are selected based on needs expressed in the KCC Strategic Plan for Information Technology, program review and APRU action plans, Division Chair meetings, unit staff meetings, and recommendations from members of the KCC Professional Development Committee.
14. On June 27-29, 2005, funding from RDP and a Perkins grant sponsored an “On Course” seminar that provided college educators with learner-centered structures for empowering students to become active, responsible learners who can prosper in a learner-centered environment. As a result of the training, college participants formed support groups and made a commitment to implement at least one teaching strategy in their curriculum for the Fall 2005 semester. In addition, participants presented what they had learned to the faculty and staff at the College Convocation in August 2005.

Planning Agenda

The strategic plan was developed for the 7-year period from 2003-2010. The College Council determined the performance indicators for the year 2010. Although there are early signs these indicators are being achieved, it is too soon to identify a trend.

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  The college will continue the process of redefining and setting specific goals for which action plans will be developed as part of the SP process.
  

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  The need for gathering, storing, and interpreting data for all of the college's self-assessment activities will continue to grow. An Institutional Researcher was hired to make this process more efficient.
  

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  We have had some success with marketing and outreach to the high schools, but we could improve outreach further by developing a campus-wide, integrated plan.
  

I.B.3. The institution assesses progress toward achieving its stated goals and makes decisions regarding the improvement of institutional effectiveness in an ongoing and systematic cycle of evaluation, integrated planning, resource allocation, implementation, and re-evaluation. Evaluation is based on analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data.