Area 1: Enrollment

1.1. Continue to strengthen relationships with K-12 partners to increase the percentage of high school graduates who attend college and who attend Mid. Mid’s Recruitment Plan^[14] lays out operational objectives for maximizing this opportunity.

1.2. Diversify the enrollment profile across locations, gender, age, and targeted populations. Mid ’s Marketing Plan^[15] identifies initial approaches for maximizing this opportunity.

1.3. Proactively increase and manage Mid’s enrollment by improving its prospect-to-enrolled student yield, encouraging full-time enrollment, and identifying and responding to emerging educational markets.

1.4. Analyze and adjust our enrollment, orientation, and advising processes, remembering that Mid is more about how students experience the College than it is about how the College processes its students.

1.5. Expand the outreach to nontraditional students through approaches like distance education, competency-based education, summer course offerings, and short-term certificates.

1.6. Continue to identify and reach out to special-target markets such as international students, non-traditional students, those enrolling through Michigan Colleges Online (MCO), and guest students from state universities.

1.7. Reinforce our commitment to affordable higher education through tuition and financial aid strategies, student employment opportunities, and the pursuit of lower textbook costs. For further discussion of this opportunity, see Enduring Goal #4.

^[14] Mid Recruitment Plan, 2015:https://drive.google.com/a/midmich.edu/file/d/0B5RM-mfdgVmFTnkweDVJTUlybW8/view?usp=sharing

^[15]Mid Marketing Plan, 2015: https://drive.google.com/a/midmich.edu/file/d/0B5R...

Area 2: Placement and Developmental Education

We know that many community college students, including some at Mid, arrive with test scores and grades below average. They are at high risk when colleges fail to find the appropriate course sequence and support services for them. Some have not yet experienced a passion for learning. Evidence shows that no single metric can predict student success. Mid has already moved to a more holistic approach for student placement in order to maximize student success in developmental coursework. This work must continue as we pursue the following objectives:

1.

2.

2.1. Identify and implement multiple measures, both cognitive and non-cognitive, to provide students and faculty with the information they need to maximize student success.

2.2. Identify and implement measures that build on the strengths of each student to progress beyond developmental coursework.

2.3. Continue the successful strategies identified through the Title III grant and implement the Student Services Success (SSS) Grant from the Department of Education, providing particular support for first-generation, high-risk students.

2.4. Continue to identify and implement ways to shorten the developmental pipeline and promote enrollment in college-level coursework.

Area 3: Progress

Enrollment in courses is necessary but not sufficient for student success. Success is achieved when students progress to a broader and deeper understanding of increasingly complex material. In our society such learning is documented by the award of a grade, a skill-based certificate, or an Associate ’s degree. The acquisition and verification of knowledge and skills combine to give students the maximum return on their educational investment. Nationally, fewer than 30% of community college students complete an Associate ’s degree within 6 years of enrollment. At Mid, the percentage is below 20%.^[16] In its 2014 Reaffirmation Report, the Higher Learning Commission called upon Mid to improve its persistence and completion rates. ^[17]

Over the last four years of the Noel Levitz survey, students have told us that they need greater support to achieve their goals and that they are concerned about the accuracy and effectiveness of academic advising. Our students report the need for more timely feedback about their programs and a need for early alerts when their efforts fall short of the mark. They report concerns about the quality of instruction. And, as is the case at many community colleges, students report concerns about the course schedule.

As it looks to the future, Mid must strengthen the student experience through the following objectives:

3.1. Analyze and adjust the course schedule for greater effectiveness and efficiency on both the Harrison and Mt. Pleasant campuses.

3.2. Improve student course evaluation mechanisms and classroom observations to provide useful feedback on instructional quality.

3.3. Improve feedback to students regarding their progress by using Moodle and Early Alerts.

3.4. Foster student engagement through co-curricular activities and active learning strategies.

3.5. Advance Mid’s work with the Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) and Tuning ^[18] as well as the T-Shaped Professional^[19] strategies to ensure that learning intensifies across the curriculum.

3.6. Use assessment results to assist instructors in improvements to the structure and delivery of course material.

3.7. Determine what level of proficiency students should obtain in the use of technology and develop learning outcomes to achieve that goal.

3.8. Monitor achievement results for all demographic subsets of Mid’s population to ensure equity in all educational programs.

3.9. Maintain and improve the quality of Mid’s academic programs by meeting accreditation standards for its career-focused programs.

3.10. Identify and implement opportunities for undergraduate research, honors programs, and other best-practice strategies to enhance the academic quality of the student experience.

^[16]The Voluntary Framework of Accountability. Mid Michigan Community College Report. https://drive.google.com/a/midmich.edu/file/d/0B5R...

^[17]The Higher Learning Commission, https://www.midmich.edu/files/26/2015 MidMichiga... (accessed November 19, 2015).

^[18] The Lumina Foundation. The Degree Qualifications Profile and Tuning, http://degreeprofile.org/new-to-the-dqp/, (accessed November 19, 2015).

^[19] “T-Shaped Professional,” Collegiate Employment Research Institute, http://www.ceri.msu.edu/t-shaped-professionals/ (accessed November 17, 2015).

Area 4: Transfer and Completion

As is the case at many community colleges, students find themselves in an academic maze with too many choices and too little direction. An analysis of course enrollment patterns shows that 75% of Mid enrollment occurs in 67 of the more than 400 course offerings. ^[20] Of these, too many do not transfer to Michigan’s universities. Through its participation in the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) Guided Pathways Project, Mid has already embarked on a shift from a course-centered focus to a more coherent curriculum. In doing so, the College recognizes that today ’s college students often swirl from college to college, requiring that our transfer policies reflect both transfer from and transfer to Mid. Mid has identified the following strategies to support student completion and transfer:

1.

2.

3.

4.

4.1. Continue and complete Mid’s work with the Guided Pathways initiative.

4.2. Identify courses in the curriculum with limited transfer value and take steps to address the situation.

4.3. Continue to work with Mid’s primary university partner, Central Michigan University, to strengthen academic collaboration.

4.4. Identify new courses and programs that could contribute to bachelor degree completion opportunities.

4.5. Identify momentum points and milestones to program and degree completion and provide recognition and reinforcement to students along the way in order to incentivize completion.

4.6. Analyze and address the situations of those students who earn 45 or more credits at Mid but who do not complete their degrees.

4.7. Analyze and address enrollment and completion by academic program area. See Strategic Goal #4.

4.8. Build laddered non-credit and customized training programs that lead to certificates and degrees.

^[20] Mid Michigan College Annual Instructional Report. May, 2015. https://www.midmich.edu/application/files/2414/313...

Area 5: Workforce Preparation and Employment Opportunities

Mid plays a leading role in preparing local residents for jobs in our communities and across the state. Workforce preparation incorporates both credit and non-credit offerings such as customized corporate training and community education. Whether they remain in our region or seek employment in national or international settings, Mid graduates must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to achieve their goals.

As a part of Michigan’s eight-county Prosperity Region 5, the College has participated in a strategic planning process for regional economic development. ^[21] The strength of higher education in the region (including Mid, Central Michigan University, Delta College, Saginaw Valley State University, Alma College, and Northwood University) has been identified as a key asset for the region. The East Michigan Council of Governments (EMCOG) report highlights five areas for economic growth in the coming decade:

• Advanced Materials Technologies for the automotive industry, including plastics
• Clean energy technology including biomass, solar, wind, battery storage, and oil & gas
• Agricultural logistics and processing
• Health sciences
• International workforce training and higher education services

Mid Michigan College is also a part of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance (GLBRA). The STEM Impact Findings ^[22] identified by GLBRA focus on the key process elements that will be required to build the talent pipeline for these career areas. These elements include:

• Driven by employer demand
• Powered by career-ready and college-ready students
• Focused on strengthening technical skills need for the economy
• Sustained by a culture of STEM

Mid sees the following objectives in this area:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

5.1. Provide students with recommended course selections that are relevant to each area of study.

5.2. Construct academic advising guides that integrate general education and program-focused courses.

5.3. Develop a system of skill-based certificates that ladder to academic degrees.

5.4. Develop experiential learning options for students in each academic program. Such options include but are not limited to internships, apprenticeships, service-learning, and clinical coursework.

5.5. Undertake an analysis of the role that technology and distance education should play in the academic curriculum and adopt appropriate strategies to fulfill that role.

5.6. Be more intentional about Mid's use of competency-based education.

5.7. Ensure that Mid's laboratory settings and equipment enable students to develop the skills needed for future careers.

5.8. Develop a career center to support student exploration and pursuit of meaningful careers after graduation.

5.9. Develop academic programs that align with the region ’s economic development and anticipated workforce needs.

5.10. Expand Mid's customized corporate and community-education offerings.

5.11. Find ways to be ahead of the curve on emerging trends and technologies.

^[21] TIP Strategies and Eastern Michigan Council of Government, “ Regional Prosperity Strategy A 5-Year Strategic Plan for East Central Michigan, 2014.” http://milmi.org/?PAGEID=67&SUBID=230

^[22] Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance. Stem Impact Findings . 2014. http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1428934&backurl=/shelf/my.