RVCC 2019 NECHE Self-Study

Description
Planning and evaluation at RVCC has taken a variety of paths over the past few years.
With the turnover of administration, it became difficult to maintain a steady trajectory with
regards to the College’s areas of focus. Despite this challenge, the College has done work
at many levels of planning and evaluation that have strengthened and streamlined the
academic offerings, improved financial processes, and identified areas of focus for the
future. While the College operates in four locations; the main campus, two academic
centers, and online; college-wide planning takes into consideration each of these locations
simultaneously and as a whole. Planning for each location does occur independently, but
only in consideration of the college-wide plan.
Planning
RVCC’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan identified four strategic directions which included
Student Access, Student Success, Teaching & Learning, and Sustainability. Each
department based their own strategic plans on the same four strategic directions and all
faculty were encouraged to incorporate the four strategic directions in their Individual
Professional Growth Plans (PGPs). The four directions were utilized as a basis to guide all
planning and decision making at the institution. In the RVCC 2015 Progress report, River
Valley identified goals related to continued strategic planning. Changes in leadership,
including the departure of the President in 2016 and the appointment of an Interim
President shortly after, made it difficult to continue the direction of the 2016-2020
Strategic Plan; and in 2017 work began on a new strategic plan. This work began at a
Strategic Planning Retreat in February of 2017 which included representation from multiple
areas of the RVCC faculty, staff, and the community. This process will be discussed fully
later in this Standard.
RVCC’s main method of communication to ensure all college parties are aware of
information is the use of the All-College Staff Meeting. This once-monthly meeting, which
is held in Claremont but utilizes online technology to allow the LAC and KAC to participate,
is the meeting by which updates on all college activities are distributed. Any member of
the institution can request an item be placed on the agenda and the meeting allows for a
means of open communication. At least once per semester, representatives of the CCSNH
System, including the Chancellor and Chief Human Resource Officer will attend the All-
College Staff Meeting to communicate updates from the System to the RVCC Community.
Often, these meetings provide opportunities for the college community to be updated on
evaluation and planning at the College and the System level.
For example, one area of concern expressed across the campus was lack of transparency
and understanding of the budgeting process. While topics related directly to the budget
process will be fully explained in Standard 7, it is important to note that over the past
year, one of the areas that has improved greatly in regards to campus evaluation and
planning is the implementation of regular budget updates from the College Business Affairs
Officer (BAO) at our All-College Staff Meeting. The BAO is a regular presenter at these
meetings. She also provides weekly and monthly budget updates to Program Directors.
This has been particularly important in regards to our current enrollment trends and the
impact that enrollment has on funding of the College. This change came as a result of
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