Institutional Effectiveness Committee

Charge

Effective January 2021, the Accreditation Steering Committee will be renamed the Institutional Effectiveness Committee (IEC). The IEC will continue to be responsible for guiding Highline College through the accreditation process. (According to the NWCCU Handbook of Accreditation, this process consists of “applying evidence-informed standards and processes to support continuous improvements and promote student achievement and success” (NWCCU Handbook of Accreditation 2020). The change in name from Accreditation Steering Committee to Institutional Effectiveness Committee reflects Highline College’s goal to strengthen our approach to improving institutional effectiveness, as described in Standards 1.B.1 through 1.B.4.

Membership

Representatives from each of the following areas (Academic Affairs, Administrative Services, Institutional Advancement, President’s Office (e.g. IT and HR) and Student Services) will be appointed by Executive Cabinet. A representative from the Equity Task Force shall be selected by ETF. A faculty member will be selected by Executive Cabinet to chair the committee based on an open application process.

Specific responsibilities of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee

1) Oversight of the Mission Fulfillment Report process

Help establish objectives for core themes (or the equivalent) grounded in Highline’s commitment to equity and the college’s strategic plan
Propose to Executive Cabinet meaningful, assessable, and verifiable metrics for each objective, including using student-level disaggregated data whenever possible
Draft language for the Mission Fulfillment Report, including core themes, objectives, and metrics, with the goal of helping the campus understand how we are doing in meeting our mission; revise based on campus feedback and finalize for year one report; publish annual updates
Review the MFR annually, and based on assessment results, prepare an annual report with recommendations for focus areas to campus leadership; as needed, propose updates or changes in metrics and/or objectives to Executive Cabinet
Gather feedback on MFR draft from campus groups/units, including those represented by IEC members, in first year and mid-cycle
In concert with campus leadership, engage campus stakeholders in discussion of the MFR results—results of assessments, analysis of results, steps taken to improve results
Engage in professional development (shared readings, trainings, etc.) that keep us informed of accreditation needs and provide best practices for our charge to oversee the MFR process
Prepare campus for the accreditation process through all the stages (year 1 to year 7)

2) Oversight of the Institutional Effectiveness Reporting

Establish structures and practices for assessing institutional effectiveness for non-instructional programs and services
- Create and revise the IE data and plan forms in response to October 2020 NWCCU Peer Evaluator Report:
  “Highline College is not consistent in effectively or comprehensively evaluating student achievement based on the assessment of program or degree outcomes, nor does the college consistently use assessment to improve academic or learning-support services to enhance student achievement” pg. 48
  “Evident lack of long-term planning in many areas of the college creates a concern for the ability of the college to effectively reach its objectives. Employees were oftentimes unable to produce documented goals beyond one year” (pg. 51).
Request all programs working directly with students to use disaggregated student-level data for assessment and process improvement planning, with the goal of improving processes and closing equity gaps in service delivery
Revise the timeline for the IE data reports and plans to maximize opportunities for meaningful input from all stakeholders in the work group.
Simplify the form, and highlight the twofold process of assessing last year’s performance and identifying process improvements and goals for the upcoming year.
Provide and/or identify support and coaching for areas on an as needed basis in preparing reports (i.e. support the development of meaningful and verifiable metrics to guide the design, implementation, assessment, and ongoing improvement of those efforts; access the data sources we have; connect departments to campus assessment resources)
Review submissions in order to improve the IE planning process and structures.

Institutional Effectiveness Membership

Committee members 2022-23

Lisa Bernhagen — Faculty Chair
Theresa Duhart — ITS/President's Office
Steven Sloniker — Human Resources/President's Office
Dave O’Keefe — Institutional Advancement
Rickitia Reid — Equity Task Force
Ay Saechao — Student Services
Shannon Waits — Student Services
Jesse Aspree — Student Services
Zach Lambert — Administrative Services
Marco Lopez-Torres — Administrative Services
Emily Coates — IR/Academic Affairs
Justin Dampeer — Academic Affairs
Maribel Jimenez — Academic Affairs
Tanya Powers — Academic Affairs
Cathy Cartwright — Academic Affairs
Gayatri Sirohi — Academic Affairs
Christie Knighton — ELCAP Academic Affairs
Emily Lardner — Accreditation Liaison Officer/Academic Affairs

Current Work

In winter of 2022, the IEC checked in again with campus groups whose work is represented in MFR measures. IEC and IR worked to reduce MFR measures to represent the college-wide, big-picture mission fulfillment areas the college is committed to improving to increase student success. IEC revised the IE reports and plans and created an annual IE Timeline for IE reporting. In spring, the IEC will begin connecting unit work in IE Plans to measures in the MFR, illustrating how the work of units supports the college-wide measures of mission fulfillment. With feedback from the Equity First Strategic Planning Core Team, IEC can review the MFR again at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.