Mission Statement

Our mission at Metropolitan Community College is to serve our community with distinction. We are a role model in higher education. We will deliver:

• Quality learning opportunities.
• Lifelong educational programs.
• Services that support personal and professional enrichment and training.
• Programs and services which stimulate economic and workforce development.
• Courses and programs which provide a transferable path to baccalaureate institutions.
• Career/vocational education supporting business and economic partnerships.
• A positive learning environment that promotes student success.

Overall Strategies to maximize mission achievement:

1. Understand current, emerging and future needs in our service area
2. Champion service area constituent access (reduce barriers) to education, awareness and need fulfilling opportunities
3. Excel at assessment
4. Proactively uncover and encourage community potential
5. Seek quality outcomes through personal, social and economic enrichment
6. Leverage all available resources to best serve our mission and strategies

Primary Priority

A vast majority of MCC’s resources are rightfully committed to ongoing activities of teaching, student support and other organizational support services that allow the college to function. It is the efforts of all faculty and staff to excel in performing their daily duties that assures MCC provides quality service to our community.

The following is the executive summary of what is planned to help us build on what we already do so well, as we continuously work to improve our mission achievement outcomes.  Additionally, Area and Cost Center MAPs, as well as other operational and infrastructure plans such as Budget and the Master Facilities Plan, are all important components of our Institutional MAP.

The major initiatives in FY 2011-12 are to continue to expand our capacity to meet the demand for MCC’s services and to progress on our Higher Learning Commission accreditation project.

Executive Summary MAP:

Category 1, Helping Students Learn and Faculty Teach

• Continuously respond to enrollment growth and monitor the relevancy of program offerings to ensure delivery of educational services that are aligned with employment and other needs/opportunities in our four-county area
  • Investigate new markets within MCC's service area and when appropriate, consider other regional and national specialized training if it provides local benefits
• Improve and expand online delivery and assessment
  • Work with, train and hire faculty who can create and support online and other virtual classroom/lab content and tools; provide additional resources as needed
• Improve graduation rates per the Pathways Project
• Improve learning support services, including developmental education
• New programs/curriculum
  • With the opening of the Washington County Center, fully implement Process Operations Technology program
  • Continue to identify and seize opportunities to support the emerging green economy

Category 2, Accomplishing Other Distinctive Objectives

• Enhance grant and fund-raising capabilities and outcomes
  • Complete fund-raising feasibility study to assess levels of community support for MCC and its planned capital projects and program initiatives
  • Act on feasibility study recommendations, including advancing a multi-faceted, multi-year major gifts and capital campaign
  • Enhance college-wide grant management, accounting, and reporting capacity and expertise
  • Enhance college-wide program-level fund-raising capacity through involvement and training opportunities
  • Strategically grow the MCC Alumni Association, including membership development, communication, and involvement mechanisms
• Continue to advance cultural awareness and civic opportunities in MCC’s service area
  • Host civic activities that strengthen MCC’s community relationships/partnerships and improve opportunities for mission achievement
  • Enhance communication and engagement with neighborhoods

Category 3, Understanding Students’ and Other Stakeholders’ Needs

• Expand and enhance positive first contact and retention outcomes
  • Maximize web awareness, access and use, including effective use of online advising , orientation, and information gathering at enrollment; implement Datatel Portal and E-Advising, and provide necessary training
  • Monitor call center and other student support staffing/resources and recommend needed changes
• Increase student success by encouraging self reliance and personal responsibility
  • Leverage advising and other support services to best serve student development
  • Continue implementing improvements to career services
• Seek ways to effectively use assessment tools to improve services to all constituencies
• Improve outreach and student access to needed services
  • Continue to make best use of scholarship/aid monies
  • Better align and improve all student financial services
  • Establish enrollment centers at all locations and continue to improve enrollment processes
  • Continue to implement steps to improve transportation and parking at all locations

Category 4, Valuing People

• Enhance faculty and staff training and development
  • Continue to implement a college-wide employee training system
  • Provide training online when merited
• Continue to advance a culture that promotes equity, diversity, access and inclusion
  • Bridge the gap between disadvantaged communities and academic achievement by providing a culturally sensitive and ethnically diverse faculty and staff

Category 5, Leading and Communicating

• Pursue a state aid funding formula that is fair to MCC’s service area
• Further advance inclusiveness and communication within MCC and with external stakeholders
  • Encourage communication and freedom of expression among students, staff, faculty and other stakeholders
  • Continue to integrate planning, budget and operations, so the emerging planning/budget process effectively supports each work process and each person’s job
  • Consistently acknowledge the importance of teaching, serving students and other key processes; and communicate an appreciation for everyone who helps MCC achieve quality outcomes
  • Improve the ability to effectively collect and address external input and emerging expectations/opportunities
• Focus on high-level desired outcomes to guide funding priorities and assessment of operations
• Continue Higher Learning Commission Pathway accreditation project

Category 6a, Supporting Organizational Operations

• Constantly evaluate and deploy support resources to best leverage the capacity of areas that directly serve students
  • Strategically position MCC to support effective and efficient digital delivery of quality instruction and services, including internal cloud access that best benefits students, teaching, and operations
  • Initiate review of each department's technology needs
  • Continue supporting industry standards for information technology security and strategy
• Complete disaster recovery and business continuity plan for technology areas

• Evaluate best practices and improve processes as appropriate
  • Evaluate priorities based on need
  • Enhance Datatel Colleague system use
• Continue implementing sustainability practices

Category 6b, Providing Physical Facilities Infrastructure

• Evaluate and respond with appropriate remedies to any facility barriers to MCC services
• Position information technology infrastructure for long-term growth and efficiency
• Work the Three-Year Facilities Plan that is provided in the Board packet each month
  • Implement Facilities Master Plan as it is prioritized, with an initial emphasis on the Fort Omaha and Elkhorn Valley Campuses
  • Complete other capital projects, including emerging initiatives, as prioritized
• Develop and implement recommendations to best leverage MCC's facilities and infrastructure
• Strengthen facility planning and work safety coordination
• Continue implementing effective sustainable practices
  • Begin study for state grant on energy savings: Fort, building 10; South, Mahoney building; Elkhorn Valley building; and begin implementation as possible in 2011-12
• Open first Transitional Education Center; will be located in a South Omaha neighborhood

Category 7, Measuring Effectiveness

• Review data used to measure student outcomes and improve as appropriate
  • Define important units of measurement, such as retention and completion
• Use PACE (workplace climate) survey to guide improvement and communication efforts

Category 8, Planning Continuous Improvement

• Further enhance the Mission Achievement Planning Process (MAPPing), including:
  • function descriptions, expectations and measurement documentation, and continued development of supporting systems and processes
  • periodic institutional quality analysis and technology reviews of each significant function
• Provide opportunities that:
  • advance understanding of MAPPing and continuous improvement
  • encourage individual and work group thought and input, facilitated by effective college/division/area/cost center/work group/supervisor communication
• Work to align job descriptions and performance reviews with desired outcomes, including continuous improvement

Category 9, Building Collaborative Relationships

• Collaborate with external stakeholders to increase awareness and subsequent enrollment of disenfranchised community members (including low-income and first generation)
• Continue to grow partnerships with high schools and others to provide programs/services that enable early college opportunities and improve post-secondary education awareness
• Partner with four-county chambers of commerce, area businesses, non-profit organizations, and/or Nebraska Workforce Development to develop training programs for the professional training of the employed, pre-employed, and under-employed
• Partner with community organizations and educational vendors to provide expanded life-long personal enrichment education that meets the changing demographics of MCC’s service area
• Maintain and expand transfer articulation agreements with regional/national universities
• Strengthen relationships with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies
• Collaborate with community organizations to create educational programs and demonstration projects distinguishing MCC as a leader in sustainable practices
• Effectively engage community advisory groups to assist in the identification of curriculum improvements and enhanced MCC services
• Work with governmental agencies, foundations, and private individuals to expand the availability of scholarships, grants, and other educational funding resources
• Build collaborative relationships with local government, state legislature, and fellow community colleges to foster collective support of equitable funding solutions and local control/accountability