Kellogg Community College has a new, three-pillar, strategic plan.
The plan, titled “Ahead of the Curve,” is designed to guide institutional strategies and objectives for the next three years, KCC staff wrote in a Monday press release.
The three focus areas of the new plan are student success, operational success and culture.
KCC President Dr. Adrien Bennings was the driving force behind the construction of the new plan.
“At its core, KCC’s strategic plan is about students,” Bennings said. “It’s about understanding the fullness of the student experience at KCC and designing systems and practices that will empower students in their educational journeys en route to a bachelor’s degree program or a fulfilling career.”
Eight months ago, Bennings and a team of KCC staff and students began developing a new plan that would outline the direction of the college for the next three years, until 2023.
“It’s about cultivating an environment at KCC in which all campus constituents feel they can trust the institution as a partner in building their future,” she said. “It’s about embracing data and creating infrastructure that support student success.”
During the development process, Bennings and her team conducted student surveys, sat down with a student focus group, hosted employee input sessions and spoke with multiple other individuals, including community members and KCC staff members.
No external help was contracted to develop the plan, Eric Greene, KCC chief communications officer, said.
After conducting the surveys and Planners then meshed the information with a professional economic impact study and program demand gap analysis, among other reports.
“We poured over the details of reports and honed our plan into a few specific objectives,” Greene said.
Each of the three pillars listed in the plan has corresponding success strategy areas.
Student success strategy areas include student programming, Bruin quality focus and developing a sense of belonging for students.
Operational success strategy areas include infrastructure, data governance and financial viability.
Culture strategy areas include communication, partnerships with local organizations and talent development.
“KCC is poised at the beginning of this strategic plan to deliver precisely the higher education that people across our service area need in order to advance efficiently and meaningfully in their college career or work setting,” Bennings said.
With each pillar, KCC staff released a theme statement. Those are as follows:
Student Success: KCC understands that student success is influenced by the individual student experience, including the systems, protocols, departments, faculty and staff that students encounter in their educational journey. We inspire learning through collaborative efforts to support the academic, social and economic success of our students.
Operational Excellence: Through a culture of continuous improvement, Kellogg Community College promotes the responsible management and utilization of resources supported by sustainable infrastructure and fair and equitable policies and practices.
Culture: Kellogg Community College cultivates an environment of trust as a foundation of our culture of enrichment, engagement, transparency and accountability. Through shared leadership and collaboration, we model the importance of productive working relationships and professional partnerships.
“We know where we want to go and who we want to be,” Greene said.
The KCC Board of Trustees formally approved the strategic plan during a regular meeting held virtually Aug. 19.
The plan was launched during an all-employee livestream presentation Aug. 25.
The full 103-page plan can is available at Kellogg.edu/strategic-plan.
“As we launch our new plan for the benefit of our students and our community, we are passionate about staying ahead of the curve as an institution,” Bennings said. “With our new plan in place, we believe we will continue to fulfill our mission, no matter what comes our way.”
