Action Projects
 

Action Projects are specific projects selected from our strategic plan and drive our quality and continuous improvement initiatives.  The action projects are directly supported by elements of the nine AQIP criteria  and promote learning and cultural change campus-wide.  Annually, we will report our progress to NCA-HLC for consideration, feedback, as well as to post our progress on the AQIP website for collaboration with other AQIP institutions.

In 2003, JCC selected the first Action Projects for its inaugural year in the AQIP methodology for accreditation.  The AQIP Coordinating Group selected six initiatives based on Strategic Plan initiatives and feedback from the JCC Community, attended a Strategy Forum in February, and narrowed the selection, with NCA-HLC's help, to three Action Projects:

AP1: Adjuncts was first piloted in 2004-05 and since has more fully implemented.  Some of the project’s recommendations include improved communications, increased support services to adjuncts, and adjunct office space for class preparation.  As a result, the project is housed in the Deans’ office, and an Adjunct Coordinator has been hired to facilitate communication and assimilation of adjuncts into the processes of JCC.  One of the most significant recommendations was an increase in Adjunct pay, which was implemented in increments starting in 2006-07.

AP2: General Education is in implementation phase. Since the committee’s inception, the Statement of Philosophy and Associate Degree Outcome(s) ADOs have been redesigned and approved by Board of Trustees.  Consequently, the committee is currently working with faculty to ensure that ADO’s are included in all courses and that the new general education requirements are included in all program degrees and certificates.  The changes to the catalog will take effect in 2007-2008.

AP3:  Academic Advising was first redesigned and piloted in 2003-2004.  After assessing the results, the committee decided to redesign the recommendations and approach the advising system from another angle.  To date, five strategies have been identified to improve academic advising:  pre-admission advising, first year advising, freshman year seminar courses, second year advising, and online services. The first three strategies are developed and in place, whereas the last two strategies are being more fully developed.  We expect to widen the scope of the implementation in 2007-2008.

AP4:  Sustaining a Quality Culture was launched in April of 2007.  As a result of feedback from employees who participated in the first Action Projects on campus, as well as comments from our Systems Appraisal Feedback Report and discussions at our most recent Strategy Forum, it became apparent to the Coordinating Team that as a College community we lack a clear understanding of quality tools and strategies that could be consistently used by all teams. Conversations about new Action Projects invariably led to the fact that we have not institutionalized a quality methodology and, because this is central to our success as an AQIP organization, we determined that an Action Project focused on the creation of a Quality Tool Box with a plan to train facilitators could lead to significant institutional improvement. Through this effort, we hope to develop a common vocabulary, a standard process and an approach to improvement projects that can be applied by all of our institutional and departmental teams and committees. Our objective of making data-informed decisions will be realized through quality tools.

AP5: Measuring Effectiveness was launched in October 2007 and focuses on laying the foundations for measuring effectiveness. This project will work hand-in-hand with AP4: Sustaining a Quality Culture, as part of that project is the use of quality methodologies, one of which is measuring effectiveness. We hope to identify benchmarking needs and increase accessibility to reliable, valid, credible, and timely data.