Saddleback College adheres to the mission of the South Orange Community College District (SOCCCD), as adopted by the Board of Trustees and published in the 1997-1998 Saddleback College Catalog (Ref. 1.1). The goals of Saddleback College, which are stated in the Catalog, are derived from the District mission statement. Underlying the mission of the District and goals of the College is a commitment to provide a comprehensive post-secondary education and a full range of student services. These objectives are achieved through the College's general education curriculum, associate degree programs, occupational-vocational education certificate programs, provision of remedial instruction, English as a Second Language instruction, lower division transfer education, student educational support services, the Emeritus Institute, and Community Education offerings.

The College goals undergo an annual review by the Saddleback College Strategic Plan Steering Committee. In the Fall of 1994, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee was charged with the responsibility for reviewing the District mission and College goals with input from all governance units. This review resulted in a reaffirmation (Ref. 1.2 ) of the College's commitment to the mission of the District and the goals of Saddleback College as published in the College Catalog.

The College goals should be reviewed and revised annually to reflect changes in the District mission, philosophy, and function statements. The Saddleback College goals clearly define the Emeritus Institute as a College program. In July 1997, the Board of Trustees unilaterally took action to place this instructional program under the administrative aegis of the District. This placed a College function (the Emeritus Program) under the direction of the Board of Trustees, in contradiction to stated College goals. There are concerns that because the Emeritus Institute is no longer part of the College, the College will not be in compliance with Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) terms and conditions.

The College must recommend changes to the District's mission statement so that the District's and College's newly-mandated responsibilities for economic development and work force preparation (Ref. 1.3) are clearly defined.

During the annual review of the College's Strategic Plan, the Steering Committee should review the mission statement in light of any new legislation affecting the mission. This will ensure that the College acknowledges its role in providing training and job development to meet local community needs.

a.   The College will work to broaden awareness of its goals by publishing them on the College Web page and in the Governance Manual.

b.   The College will work with the District to ensure the return of the Emeritus program to the College.

c.   The Strategic Plan Steering Committee will continue to evaluate the College philosophy and goals on a regular basis, revise it as necessary and make recommendations to the District.

The goals of Saddleback College emphasize providing open access to a changing and diverse student population. Academic success and student achievement are joint responsibilities of the students, the staff, and the College.

The Strategic Planning process defines the students being served at Saddleback College and the students the institution intends to serve as those in need of lower division higher education, occupational education, remedial and developmental instruction, community education, and lifelong learning. The College administration makes planning decisions in consultation with all governance units of the College.

The College works with the local high schools to encourage students to pursue post-secondary education. Funds from various grant sources such as the Philip Morris Company (Early Start Project), Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, and Tech Prep (State Chancellor's Office school-to-work program), have provided opportunities for these students to enroll in Saddleback College. Advisory boards for each of the College's vocational programs assist in identifying the students the institution intends to serve.

The District Resource Allocation Model provides resources based on student participation in previous years. However it does not allocate resources based on programmatic need.

There is no coordinated College-wide plan or program for institutional research, and the College relies on anecdotal student data, advisory board data, and on data gathered and produced by the District, which has been operating without an institutional researcher since 1995. With the emergence of new technology, District research is more dispersed. Access to the Internet has provided links to data which were previously very difficult to obtain.

The College goals should reflect the changing student population, based on appropriate demographic studies of current students, future students to be served, the economic development plans of surrounding businesses, varying community needs, and state and federal initiatives and legislation related to economic development and welfare reform.

a.   The 1998 Accreditation Self Study report will be sent to the Saddleback College Strategic Plan Steering Committee, which is responsible for reviewing all College plans for consistency with the Strategic Plan. Planning Agenda items will be incorporated into future strategic plans.

b.   To support the College's need for data collection and analysis, the College will recommend that the District establish the position of Dean of Development/Planning and Research.

In February, 1996, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee affirmed the College's commitment to the mission and the philosophy of the District for a three-year period ending in 1999. The Committee established six Planning Tasks and Topic Subcommittees (Philosophy, Institutional Staffing, Organizational Structure, Balance of Programs and Educational Plan, Program Review, and Institutional Survey), aligned with the newly revised WASC accreditation standards. The President's Council later added a seventh subcommittee, Facilities and Physical Plant.

The link between the Strategic Plan and the College goals guides decision-making at the College. To better facilitate this process, in 1996 the Planning Tasks and Topics Subcommittees were aligned with WASC accreditation standards.

One question from the Institutional Effectiveness Survey (Ref. 1.4) specifically linked the mission statement to institutional planning: ("Institutional planning and decision making are guided by the mission statement"). Of the 175 people responding to the survey, a little over one-third agreed with this statement. Almost two-thirds disagreed or indicated they did not have enough knowledge to express an opinion, which makes a strong case for more widely publicized information about the planning process. Planning must become part of the institutional culture. There needs to be College-wide clarification of how the recommendations of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee are seriously considered in the College decision-making and planning processes.

A critical assumption of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee Report was that the process of reorganization should be long-term and collegial with College-wide input from all governance units. During the summer of 1997, the Board of Trustees significantly rearranged the College's organizational and administrative structure, and moved the administration of the Emeritus Program to the District offices This action was taken unilaterally by the Board of Trustees without any input from shared governance units (Ref. 1.5).

The recommendations of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee help to shape decision making at the College level. However, despite sincere and concerted efforts at the College level, coordination between the College and the District (whose administrative decisions directly affect the College's own decision making) must be improved.

a.   The College will reaffirm annually the approval of the Board of Trustees for the recommendations of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee.

4.   The institution evaluates and revises its mission statement on a regular basis.

Description

Historically, the Board of Trustees reaffirms its commitment to the mission of the SOCCCD at its annual Board Organizational Meeting in December. The Board is working on developing a process for ongoing review of its goals. They met most recently in November 1997 to review Board goals and objectives. The College reviews its philosophy and goals statements annually at the first Strategic Plan Steering Committee meeting of the academic year.

With the implementation of the 1996-1999 Strategic Plan recommendations, the College has established a process by which it regularly reviews its philosophy and goals, and links them closely to institutional planning. Annual revision is essential, especially in light of recently approved legislation which now mandates an economic development program for the California Community Colleges (Ref. 1.3). The Saddleback College goals statement has not yet been revised to include this function.

a.   The College will revise its goals to include the new mission of the California Community Colleges' economic development program.

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Last Revision: 20 APR 1998