Mission and Goals: USING STANDARD ONE TO DRIVE OPERATIONAL DECISIONS

Mission Statements

Not the most exciting topic for discussion Often mission and goals are taken for granted, infrequently

consulted How do we make them central to the organization in the day-to-

day operations of the institution?

The Standard: Requirements of Affiliation:

7. The institution has a mission statement and related goals, approved by its governing board, that defines its purposes within the context of higher education.

Standard 1: Mission and Goals The institution’s mission defines its purpose within the

context of higher education, the students it serves, and what it intends to accomplish. The institution’s stated goals are clearly linked to its mission and specify how the institution fulfills its mission.

The Penn College Mission Statement

Pennsylvania College of Technology is a public institution providing comprehensive, hands-on technical education at the baccalaureate and associate degree levels. Every member of our College community endeavors to create and sustain excellence in a student-centered environment that promotes personal growth, social awareness, a shared commitment to diversity, and lifelong learning, all of which help prepare our graduates for success.

The Penn College Mission Statement

Pennsylvania College of Technology is a providing comprehensive,

at the levels. Every member of our

College community endeavors to create and sustain excellence in

that promotes personal growth, social awareness, a shared commitment to diversity, and lifelong learning, all of which help

.

The Penn College Vision Statement

Pennsylvania College of Technology, a national leader in applied technology education.

The Penn College Values These core values guide Penn College to accomplish our mission and achieve our vision: Hands-on Education: We believe the best preparation for a successful career is a learning

environment emphasizing applied, real-world instruction. We provide experiential learning in small classes and labs with state of the art equipment, mentored by skilled faculty with business and industry experience.

Student-Centered Environment: Our students' best interest is the priority influencing our decision making. As an open enrollment college, believing in the dignity and worth of every individual, we strive to provide a holistic experience that fosters educational, physical, personal, and social development.

Business and Industry Partnerships: As an entrepreneurial institution, we develop cooperative relationships with business and industry to ensure our curriculum remains current, encourages lifelong learning, and prepares our graduates to compete successfully in the global marketplace. This provides opportunities for faculty to enhance their skills, students to acquire work-based experiences, the College to receive technology and scholarship support, and the community to benefit from a highly qualified workforce.

Community of Respect: We are committed to diversity, inclusiveness, tolerance and civility. We recognize that respect of individual differences is the foundation of civil behavior across the College community.

Why Are (Good) Mission Statements Needed?

Dr. Christopher K. Bart says that “the power of mission statements rests in their ability to achieve two key results: 1) to inspire and motivate organizational members to exceptional performance – that is, to influence behavior; and 2) to guide the resource allocation process in a manner that provides consistency and focus.”

And: “Mission statements are the most widely used management tool in the world - and most of them are just plain lousy. Is yours delivering the results you need?”

What Do They Do?

Provide a sense of purpose and direction Ensure the interests of key stakeholders are not

ignored Sharpen a firm’s (business )focus Enable better control over the employees Promote shared values and behavioral

standards

Implementing the Mission: Strategic Goals

Our original (before 2008) strategic plan was impractical: Too many goals Too many details Difficult to update Difficult to tell if progress was being made Most often used as a record of accomplishments and

not an operational document: it looked to the past rather than providing guidance for the future.

Followed by two pages of detailed accomplishments…

An Operational Strategic Plan In 2007, the president charged a Planning Review Work Group (PRWG) with a

review of all planning processes. The group recommended an initiative-based Plan. This model commits the College to continuously identify initiatives that would comprise the Strategic Long Range Plan (Plan).

The PRWG took the initiative in developing the new approach to planning. At each step, approval was received from College Council, often following extensive opportunities for campus wide input, and by the College’s Board of Directors. Approved in 2010, the components of the Plan include: Mission

Vision

Values

Strategic Goals

Strategic Initiatives

Success Indicators

All components of the Plan require approval of College Council and the College’s Board of Directors. While drafted annually, the Plan is envisioned as a three-year document: Mission - The College’s Mission states its purpose and aim, identifies the

primary recipients of its services as students, and defines both the nature of those services (baccalaureate and associate degrees) and the standards to which the College aspires in delivering them.

Vision - The vision captures the essence of the College’s Mission in both current and aspirational terms.

Values - The College’s operating principles comprise its Values, which guide internal conduct as well as the College’s relationship with its operating environment.

Strategic Goals - These are specific targets that the College strives to attain in fulfilling its Mission.

Strategic Goals Strategic Goals by their definition may be relatively long lived

within the Plan, for example “Provide a distinctive educational experience that engages students.

Goals may also be of shorter duration such as the introduction of the programs and recommendations that were drawn from the Foundations of Excellence process. Strategic Initiatives - These non-routine operational objectives

contribute to the achievement of Strategic Goals in a measurable fashion.

Success Indicators - These are quantifiable or documentable milestones that mark the achievement of a Strategic Initiative. They are crafted to complete the following thought: "During our future assessment, we will consider this initiative achieved if...“

Strategic Goals

Strategic Initiatives and their Success Indicators are viewed as more transient components of the Plan. On an annual basis, the College set its initiatives which will reside in the Plan until complete. In many cases, this may require more than one year.

Strategic Goals: Focus on Mission Simplified, overarching, drive individual division plans. Our current strategic goals:

Provide a distinctive educational experience that engages students

Invest in the development of all College employees to engage them in the advancement of the College’s mission and vision.

Assure the long term financial strength of the College through sound stewardship of all College resources.

Promote the College’s mission and vision to both a regional and national audience.

Accessible to the college community on our portal:

How Are They Used?

All divisions develop plans that incorporate and support the strategic goals.

Let’s look at Academic Affairs Student Affairs Institutional Advancement General Services (Facilities)

Academic Affairs

Annual Academic Affairs plan developed through regular meetings of Deans’ Council

Comprehensive review during summer retreat

Strategic Plan

Academic Affairs Plan

School and Department Plans

Academic Affairs Three Year Plan:

Template for School Plans

Moving from Goals to Resource Allocation:

All departments can request budget funds to explore new ideas, processes, or innovations.

Budget request is tied to strategic initiatives and forwarded to area vice presidents for consideration during budget development.

New Program Development New programs or significant revisions to

existing programs require the developer to address the relation to mission and goals.

Curriculum

The Results:

Penn College’s first graduate degree offering…

Enrollment Management

Plan generated every three years

Ties to Strategic Plan On portal site for

community access Updated annually

Institutional Advancement Charged with developing relationships with business, industry,

donors , and alumni Strategic initiatives explicit in Plan:

Institutional Advancement mission:

Office processes tie strongly to planned capital needs for facilities and equipment. MEL List

Site and Facilities Plan

Special initiatives (Maker Space)

Student Affairs

Student Affairs generates a 3-year strategic plan, driven from College plan and initiatives

Student Affairs Assessment reports

based on College and Student Affairs strategic goals is prepared annually and submitted to President and QTA committee.

Other divisions prepare similar assessment reports.

Facilities

Major facilities projects are developed from initiatives within the strategic plan.

Operational renovations are originated through school and department plans to address initiatives related to school and department plans.

Project requests are submitted to Division Vice-Presidents for consideration by President’s Council.

Rationale must tie back to strategic plan.

The plan is available to the college community on the Assessment Research, and Planning Department portal.

Plan is available to College community on portal:

Plan applies to multiple division plans

Plan is updated regularly

Renovation Requests are made annually to address elements of the long range facilities plan.

Plan looks toward the future as resources become available.

Capital Needs: Anticipating the Future

Many majors have unique and expensive capital requirements for effective instruction.

We value and cultivate relationships with business and industry.

We eliminated a grant-writing department, opting for a professional out-sourcing firm to search out and write grants.

A Master Equipment List (MEL) focuses and matches resources to needs.

Master Equipment List (MEL) PURPOSE:

To collect and document instructional equipment requests for equipment with a useful life of 1 year or more AND that following value minimums: Single items must be valued at $5,000 or more ($3,000 or more for

Perkins).

Multiple units of an item valued at less than $5,000 ea. can be capitalized if the total value of all requested units totals $20,000 or more.

Each school generates and maintains their list. Items are prioritized according to need. Resources are matched to needs

Master Equipment List MEL Lists are available to all Academic Affairs faculty

and staff as well as Institutional Advancement and Financial Operations staff.

Schools anticipate capital needs. Grant opportunities written to known needs Donation opportunities are matched to known needs. Some items are purchased through budgeting resources

MEL Lists are updated as needed. Faculty generate new MEL items as they determine instructional

needs.

Summary The mission and goals are widely publicized and

known by the college community. All departments use them as a focus for

operational decisions and budget formation. All elements of the mission, goals, planning

documents are public within the college community.

They provide a framework for daily decisions for all staff.