Institutional Effectiveness

Cerro Coso sign

Together, the following documents demonstrate Cerro Coso's commitment to ongoing self-reflective dialogue about the linkages among the College's mission, master educational vision, strategic direction, individual department and unit goals, community needs, and student success as reflected in learning achievement data, SLO assessment, and program review.

Accreditation

Accreditation Homepage

Accreditation is a voluntary, dual-purpose process that schools undergo to ensure they are worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high quality learning opportunities and clearly demonstrate continual self-improvement. An accredited school is focused on a mission and goals for students; it is student-oriented and examines its students' performance continuously; it accepts objective evaluation from a team of outside peer professionals trained by WASC; it maintains a qualified faculty within an effective organization; it collaboratively assesses the quality of its educational programs on a regular basis; and it plans for the future.

Contains: 2012 Self Evaluation of Educational Quality and Institutional Effectiveness, 2013 Follow-Up Report, 2012 Follow-Up Report, 2015 Midterm Report, Commission action letters, 2012 External Evaluation Team Report.

Contains Links to: Student and public complaints, previous self evaluations, and substantive change proposals

Planning Documents

Master List of Planning Documents

At Cerro Coso, multiple planning efforts are underway at a variety of institutional levels. The college mission drives the revision of the strategic plan once every three years. Instructional departments and operational units write annual unit plans which lead to section, division, and resource support plans--and ultimately to a yearly budget. The College submits special reports for state and federal agencies. And it prepares a variety of documents for internal and external constituents, such as the Participatory Governance Model and the annual Community Report.

Contains: Institutional Self-Evaluation Reports for Accreditation, Cerro Coso Community College Strategic Goals, Educational Master Plans, College Report Cards, Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative (IEPI) targets, Participatory Governance Model Handbooks, annual Reports to the Community, and State Chancellor's Office reports.

Contains Links to: Annual integrated planning documents (unit plans, section plans, division plans, resource request analyses, and mid-year progress reports) and college task force reports since 2011.

Outcomes Assessment

Outcome Assessment Homepage

Outcomes assessment is central to Cerro Coso Community College's vision to educate, innovate, inspire, and serve our students and community. Student learning outcomes (SLO's) are defined, assessed, and used as the basis for making improvements at the course, program, general education, and institutional levels. Non-instructional programs define and assess administrative unit outcomes (AUO's) of core operational functions. Some student services and learning support services assess a combination of both SLO's and AUO's. Outcome assessments are analyzed at least once every five years, depending on the unit, and used as a core component of program review.

Contains: Assessment Handbook; Planning Cycles; Tools, Resources, and Results.

Program Review

Program Review Homepage

Cerro Coso Community College employs Program Review as a major component of college planning for the improvement of student achievement. Program Reviews are conducted once every five years for instructional programs, student services programs, and programs in administrative services. In addition to degrees and certificates, instructional program reviews are also completed for basic skills, the Cerro Coso local general education pattern, the honors program, and departments and learning support units like the library and the Learning Assistance Center.

Contains: Completed Program Reviews and the Long-Term Program Review Cycle.

IEPI Targets

Institutional Effectiveness Partnership Initiative Homepage

The goal of this initiative is to help advance colleges' institutional effectiveness and in the process, significantly reduce the number of accreditation sanctions and audit issues, and most importantly, enhance the system's ability to effectively serve students. An important focus of the grant is to draw on the exceptional expertise and innovation from within the system in advancing best practices and avoiding potential pitfalls.

Contains: Goals, major components, and targets

The Progress Report

Progress Reports Homepage

In the effort to sustain a substantive, collegial, and transparent dialogue about institutional effectiveness, the Progress Reports are periodic communications to the college community on matters relating to institutional planning, outcomes assessment, student equity, integrated planning, strategic goals, and accreditation.

Contains: Back issues of The Progress Report