Accreditation - Hartnell College!!

Institutional Self Evaluation – 12-05-12
IV.B.2.b
The president guides institutional improvement of the teaching and learning environment
by the following:
Establishing a collegial process that sets values, goals, and priorities.
Ensuring that evaluation and planning rely on high quality research and
analysis on external and internal conditions.
Ensuring that educational planning is integrated with resource planning and
distribution to achieve student learning outcomes.
Establishing procedures to evaluate overall institutional planning and
implementation efforts.
Descriptive Summary
Both of Hartnell‘s presidents during this accreditation cycle have guided the institutional
improvement of the teaching and learning environment by employing collegial processes,
ensuring that evaluation and planning rely on high quality research and analysis, and
integrating educational planning with resource planning and distribution.
The current president arrived at Hartnell just at the time when new planning documents and
data collection were needed. Despite budget constraints, his recommendation to create a new
position, the Dean of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness, who could assist the college in
all of these processes, on November 1, 2012.
This enthusiasm is testament to the fact that the college has already embraced a culture of
fostering student learning that must be measured, communicated, and improved. Indeed, the
college has used grant funds to create and launch tools that can deliver some of this data at a
section, course, program, and institution level (IV.B.92). This encourages data-driven
decision-making, and enables a constant focus on achieving positive educational outcomes
for its students. Remarkably, this has been done with only one full-time institutional research
analyst working with grant-funded consultants and an Access and Success Research Group
committee comprised of faculty and supported by Title V (IV.B. 92A).
The previous president mobilized the college community swiftly and collaboratively to
address accreditation concerns in 2007. Not only were courses and programs revised, and
student learning outcomes developed, but faculty and staff took ownership of their own
professional development. Hartnell employees developed and led flex days, in contrast to the
previous practice of hiring expensive motivational speakers (IV.B.84). A College wide
retreat was held in September 2008 at which employees set district values, goals, and
priorities (IV.B.85). The shared sense of commitment to students and instruction persists to
this day.
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