Office of Planning, Research and Accreditation (OPRA)

The Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation (OPRA) is here to help guide our college's growth and success! We provide data, research, and insights that enable leaders and departments to make informed decisions benefiting students, faculty, and the entire campus community. In addition, OPRA takes the lead in institutional planning and is an integral part of our college’s accreditation process, ensuring we meet key standards. OPRA is dedicated to supporting data-driven strategies that propel our college forward.

OPRA's Responsibilities

Planning responsibilities include leading the development of the College's Strategic Plan, overseeing its implementation, monitoring progress toward achieving goals and objectives, evaluating the planning process, and assessing the achievement of plan outcomes.
Research responsibilities include working closely with college constituencies, instructional units, and administrative units, to develop and implement a research agenda that addresses college strategic planning goals, State initiatives and accreditation requirements. As well, the department supports data analysis in the areas of outcomes assessment, program operations, and program impact. OPRA also supports college data collection and reporting needs as these activities relate to required state and federal accountability initiatives and compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.
Accreditation responsibilities include providing support for the self-study that is conducted every six years and the mid-term report every three years. Additionally, OPRA monitors the implementation of planning agendas and recommendations, and plays a lead role in developing the ACCJC annual report.

We look forward to assisting you!

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Accreditation

Saddleback College is affiliated with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), the branch of Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) which accredits community and junior colleges. All colleges and universities must reaffirm their accreditation every six years.

"The accreditation process requires the college to do a self study. This self study is a three-part process of accrediting an institution. This process includes an institutional self appraisal, an on-site visit by a team of peers, and a review and a decision on the accredited status of the college by the Commission."

Please visit our Accreditation page for more information.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Saddleback College is committed to protecting the welfare, rights, and privacy of all persons who participate as subjects in research projects conducted under its auspices, and to ensuring that the subjects of such research are fully aware of their rights and of the protections available to them.

The body charged with this task is the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB) which is guided in its work by the Federal Regulations on human subjects research adopted by seventeen federal agencies and known as the Common Rule.

Steps to IRB Approval

Step 1: Submit a Saddleback IRB Application. Review this application carefully to ensure that all sections are complete and that all required attachments are included (NOTE: you will need to provide a bio-sketch to illustrate your qualifications and experience that demonstrate you are fit to conduct the research activities in your proposal).

The IRB chair will notify you about missing information or documents through email only. The check boxes indicating "Expedited", "Exempt", "Full Board" require you to examine pages 6-12 in Saddleback College's IRB Standard Operating Procedures (extracted here). Do not worry if you are uncertain, the IRB will make the final call.

Step 2: Register for CITI training. Note, Saddleback has a hosted site. The IRB administrator will assign you training ONLY after you register first. Incomplete training will not be considered for review beyond initial screening. This means your study will not be approved unless you complete the training.

Step 3: Wait for your protocol review #. Your study proposal will be assigned a protocol number. Save this for your records.

Step 4: Wait for information about your study and its level of review required from the IRB Chair. You may need to provide additional information to the IRB at any point in time. This includes before, during and after your study is: submitted, in process, approved, approved subject to restrictions, tabled, or disapproved.

Changes to Approved IRB Protocols

Once a human research study has received Saddleback IRB approval, federal regulations require that any subsequent changes to that study must be reviewed and approved by the IRB prior to implementation, except when the change is necessary to avoid an immediate hazard to a subject. If a change is necessary to avoid immediate harm to a subject, implement the change and submit a protocol modification after the fact as soon as possible.

Changes to an approved protocol should be submitted via the Saddleback IRB Application.

Common changes to an approved protocol include, but are not limited to:

Changes to the research team (adding or removing team researchers, including student researchers)
Revisions to study documents or informed consent
Revisions to study procedures or survey questions
Revisions to recruitment materials or the addition of new recruitment materials
Increasing or decreasing the number of subjects to be enrolled
Changes to the study population

If you have any questions related to this process, please email us at scirb@saddleback.edu.

Planning

Utilizing external and internal scans and other planning documents, decisions are made about the strategic directions of the college and the goals and strategies needed to move in those directions. Once a strategic plan is finalized, it will largely inform budgeting and other resource allocation decisions in conjunction with the needs of instructional programs and administrative units on campus as expressed in completed Program and Administrative Unit Reviews. The strategic plan will not predetermine decisions. Instead, it will provide a guide or framework within which decision making will take place.

View Our Mission, Vision, and Values

2020-2025 Strategic Goals

Goal 1: Ensure Student Equity In Access And Achievement
- Objective 1.1: Reduce and eliminate the achievement gap among underrepresented students
- Objective 1.2: Reduce and eliminate the achievement gap for completion rates in transfer-level math and English
- Objective 1.3: Reduce and eliminate the achievement gap between online and traditional classroom classes
- Objective 1.4: Increase equity of access into college
- Objective 1.5: Reduce and eliminate student Fall to Spring and Fall to Fall retention equity gaps
- Objective 1.6: Cultivate culturally responsive and inclusive learning and working environment free from explicit/implicit bias
- Objective 1.7: Cultivate a culturally responsive and inclusive learning and working environment free from institutional bias

Goal 2: Transform Lives Through Learning And Achievements
- Objective 2.1: Increase the number of students annually who earn associate degrees, certificates, or 9 units in a CTE program that prepare them for an in-demand job
- Objective 2.2: Increase the number of students transferring annually
- Objective 2.3: Increase completion rates in transfer-level math and English
- Objective 2.4: Increase course success in online and traditional classroom classes
- Objective 2.5:Increase spring to spring and fall to fall retention
- Objective 2.6: Increase the percent of exiting CTE students who report being employed in their field of study
- Objective 2.7: Reduce average units accumulated by students who complete degrees
- Objective 2.8: Implement educational programs and student services to Indicator non-traditional students
- Objective 2.9: Increase and support the number of outside classroom learning opportunities available for students in each division (and participation in those opportunities)
- Objective 2.10: Create and support inter-disciplinary learning opportunities both within and across the colleges
- Objective 2.11: Increase the number of professional development opportunities for faculty and staff

Goal 3: Engage With The Community Through Athletic and Cultural Events, Enrichment Programs, And In Creating Economic Prosperity For All
- Objective 3.1: Strengthen and expand industry engagement to support student learning, program development, and regional economic development
- Objective 3.2: Increase the number of students who reporting obtaining a job closely related to their field of study that strongly support the regional economy
- Objective 3.3: Increase participation in extended learning (community and adult education programs, and emeritus institutes)
- Objective 3.4: Increase the number of students who earn college credits while still in high school
- Objective 3.5: Increase partnerships with higher education institutions
- Objective 3.6: Increase community participation in civic, athletic, and cultural events

Goal 4: Optimize Our Institutional Design And Structure With A Student-Centered Focus
- Objective 4.1: Identify and streamline all institutional policies, practices, and processes pertaining to facilities and technology
- Objective 4.2:Develop an organizational culture of collaboration across the district
- Objective 4.3: Create a sustainable and robust participatory governance evaluation process
- Objective 4.4: Provide enhanced student support with a student-centered design
- Objective 4.5: Develop and build out the ATEP vision for the colleges including public-private partnerships

Collegewide Plans

Strategic Planning

Student Equity Plan

Participatory Governance

College Dashboards

Public

College Profile Dashboard

This dashboard was designed to display the demographics of the college’s student population (such as ethnicity, age, gender, employment hours, average units enrolled, enrollment status, city of residence). Dashboard has several filters that allow users to limit the data.

Internal

Administrative Unit Review (AUR) Dashboard

This dashboard is primarily used by instructional schools to complete their administrative unit reviews. Data can be drilled down to the department-level to view trends related to key metrics (such as FTES, success, retention, productivity, enrollments, fill rates, award completions, etc.) across the last five years.

Application to Enrollment Dashboard

This dashboard was designed to identify and monitor students that may be experiencing access issues, specific to those who apply to the college and don’t enroll in classes. Dashboard includes program of study, learning pathway, educational status, and educational goal, and has several filters that allow users to limit the data and has an export function.

College Profile Dashboard

Instructor-Level Equity Dashboard (I-LED)

This dashboard was designed to provide instructors course success data particular to the classes that they teach. The data provided includes achievement gaps by disproportionately impacted students along with demographics (such as probation status, special populations, high school GPA, etc.). Dashboard has several filters that allow users to limit the data.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Dashboard

This dashboard is used to monitor progress on key metrics over time. Some of these metrics include FTES, enrollments, headcount, 1st year experience, awards, transfers to four-year universities, and time to completion. Dashboard has several filters that allow users to limit the data.

Learning Pathways (LP) Dashboard

This dashboard is used to monitor progress on key metrics related to the college’s schools/pathways over time. Some of these metrics include FTES, enrollments, headcount, 1st year and 2nd year cohorts, awards, transfers to four-year universities, and time to completion. Dashboard has several filters that allow users to limit the data.

Non-Credit Dashboard

This dashboard was designed to provide non-credit instructional programs (such as Adult Education and Emeritus) data related to their programs for completion of program review and scheduling. This dashboard contains data related to demographics, positive attendance, conversion of non-credit students to credit, productivity, etc.). Dashboard has several filters that allow users to limit the data.

Program Review (PR) Dashboard

This dashboard is primarily used by instructional units to complete their program reviews. Data can be drilled down to the course level to view trends related to key metrics (such as FTES, success, retention, productivity, enrollments, fill rates, award completions, etc.) across the last five years.

Student Needs Dashboard

This dashboard reflects the demographics and needs of the college’s credit students (primarily focused on non-academic needs) who completed the Student Needs Survey, which is administered every semester. Additionally, through a direct triage process, the dashboard reflects data on the percentage of students who have been contacted by services. Dashboard has several filters that allow users to limit the data.

NOTE: All dashboards require login authentication.

External Data Sources

Saddleback College research staff maintains a list of links to external data sources useful in developing and making comparisons to college data. As well, the information contained on these external sites allows college staff to obtain information related to our local high school population and higher education more generally.