The use of data for making educational decisions and to assess educational outcomes has been legislated by political bodies and codified by accreditation. Faculty have always used data to inform the grading process--data is gathered throughout the term to inform the letter grade assigned at the end. However, in today's educational environment,…

This paper considers noncredit instruction in the California Community College System. It identifies three related concepts: a state need for increased levels of education that noncredit instruction is well placed to supply, several changes that begin to facilitate that response, and additional changes that are needed to ensure success. The…

Project USHER is designed to help community colleges implement a humanistic management system. This objective is to be achieved by giving each participating college the capability to redesign its own educational system through implementing a planning, programming, budgeting, and evaluation system (PPBE) within the context of participative…

A study was conducted to determine whether the strategies and tactics employed in the implementation and continuation of well-established honors programs at selected community colleges followed the five stages that Martorana and Kuhns identified as phases in the life cycle of academic innovation (i.e., exploration, formulation, trial, refinement,…

This paper reports an overview of Project FOLLOW-UP, whose purpose was to develop, test, and validate a statewide management information system for follow-up of Texas public junior and community college students. The system designed is for use by machine or manual processing and is thus useful to small and large institutions while interfacing with…

An overview is provided of the development of a program review process and instrument, and the subsequent validation of the process on three programs at Delgado Community College (DCC) in Louisiana. First, introductory material describes DCC's commitment to the development of a program review process as a means of enabling the college to respond…

This document is the annual effectiveness improvements report for Austin Community College in 2003. The report summarizes which improvements have been implemented and whether they have been successful or not. The seven areas of improvement that are looked at are: (1) workforce education; (2) transfer programs; (3) continuing education; (4) adult…

Following a brief description of the development of Florida's statewide program review process for community colleges, this booklet offers information on the campus-level review plan of the Mitchell Wolfson New World Center Campus. Introductory materials indicate that the purpose of the campus review process is to highlight exemplary programs and…

This document begins with a brief overview of what assessment is, including a definition, purpose, brief history, and important process considerations in creating a successful and effective assessment effort on each campus. The three key questions in creating an effective assessment for each school are: (1) what do faculty members expect students…

Project FOLLOW-UP was conducted to develop, test, and validate a statewide management information system for follow-up of Texas public junior and community college students. This activities manual provides an overview of the resultant student information system (TEX-SIS) and its characteristics. Seven subsystems comprise SIS, each with its own…

This report highlights and summarizes accountability activities and initiatives submitted by Illinois' 49 community colleges. It is designed to assure that programs and services offered by the colleges are high-quality, cost-effective, and support the mission and priorities of each institution. The first section of this report, "Priorities,…

As an institution having undergone many changes over the past 13 years in the Maricopa Community College District, Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) in Arizona has developed and implemented its strategic planning process, institutional effectiveness and student outcomes assessment model, and resource allocation (budget) process over the…

In order to design a long-range plan for developing and evaluating career education programs and services at Frederick Community College (Maryland), the following steps were taken: (1) 210 representatives of education, business, industry, and community organizations were selected to participate in a Delphi survey to define the goals of career…

A comprehensive plan for program assessment by students in the San Mateo, California, community college district is described. Results compiled from the 29-item questionnaire identify the unique characteristics and problems of each college, and provide recommendations for improvement. The survey instrument is included. (BH)

Atlantic Community College (New Jersey) undertook to track the educational needs of adult students in its region. There were three purposes: (1) to improve and expand existing educational programs and services; (2) to gear potential new programs and services to specific community educational needs; and (3) to base all institutional plans on an…