Broward Community College

Education Master Plan

Goal: 1

All administrative and curricular decisions made at the college are student and learning centered that support an educational philosophy that enables students to acquire and apply a broad foundation of integrated knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed to live productive, responsible lives. Decisions are based on the access and success of all learners of quality, affordable learning opportunities that match their needs and that promote a well-educated citizenry.

Rationale: BCC has a long history of service to students as well as a commitment to becoming a premier learning organization. However, its penetration rate for key age groups and market segments could be deeper. While there is great understanding of the students presently served by the college, there is less knowledge about those citizens of Broward County who are not currently served. Like all continuously improving learning organizations, the College’s overall performance can be enhanced in ways that ensure a tight match between the college’s operations and the needs of current and prospective learners. Such a course requires establishing and nurturing a culture of inquiry that will permeate the college. The college also faces significant competition for students from nimble proprietary enterprises.

Strategy: Purchase/acquire on-line cyber-advising software and increase the number of staff and faculty trained in advising.

Strategy: Examine the full breadth of university transfer programs and establish baseline data for degree completion to ensure that students complete degrees at BCC and successfully transfer to the upper division. Use these data to host joint two-year and four-year faculty meetings.

Strategy: Update demographic, social, and economic trends in Broward County and South Florida. Develop a college-wide model to use these data in programmatic decisions including establishment of new programs in new locations and with new formats.

Goal: 2

Respond directly to the current and projected racial, ethnic, and income patterns in Broward County.

Rationale: Broward County is ahead of the racial and ethnic diversity that will sweep the nation over coming decades. Including immigrants, the shift toward the increasing Black and Hispanic presence in the county is already experienced at the college. Further, at a time when a significant proportion of the county’s population is in transition, the income of families who move into the county is less than those who leave. These trends will accelerate within the county over the next ten years, ahead of even more changes in college operations, curriculum, and programming. The college’s penetration rates among categories of persons of Color in the county vary, but they can be improved substantially across the board. About 40 percent of the faculty and professional staff are anticipated to retire in the next five years, providing the college a substantial opportunity to respond to this goal.

Strategy: Create an international/multicultural center on each campus that incorporates ESL programming, cultural awareness and diversity activities and space for informal student networking.*

Strategy: Assist immigrant professionals with language and credentialing obstacles, especially learning the language of their profession.*

Strategy: Develop a five-year equity plan for all classes of employees.

Goal: 3

Target increased success rates for students placed in college preparatory curricula.

Rationale: More than 80 percent of BCC’s new students are not immediately ready to succeed in traditional college classes because of skill deficits in math, English, and/or reading. The success of these learners--many of whom are minority, first-generation, and/or low-income students--will determine the long-term viability of the college’s transfer and career and technical programs. Moving students through required college prep sequences, in an expeditious manner, while maintaining quality outcomes is a critical task facing BCC. For example, only about five percent of college prep students eventually complete an associate’s degree. The college is now in the first planning year of the national Achieve the Dream initiative and will prepare a proposal to the Lumina Foundation in March 2005 to participate in a national three-year project to improve the overall success rates of low-income and minority students through the associate’s degree. The college will need to show that this project is self-sustaining thereafter. (Since this was written, the college received a grant for the Lumina Foundation’s Achieving the Dream program.)

Strategy: Implement comprehensive tracking systems based on age, gender, ethnicity, race, academic progress, etc*

Strategy: Establish a coordinated program to meet the needs of college prep students collegewide. Identify pockets of innovation and best practices, align competencies between high school, college prep and credit courses, and review all support services to ensure consistency among all campus/center locations.*

Strategy: Develop a sustainable model to integrate Honors Institute students within college prep tutoring/mentoring, i.e. award credit.

Goal: 4

 Position Broward Community College to be the vehicle of choice for training Broward County’s workforce.

Rationale: There is an increasing need for an educated workforce that matches Broward

County’s steady growth. Broward Community College--through purposeful action and with its partners--can become the economic engine for Broward County. Although it is projected that most new jobs during the planning period will be in the service sector and produce low wages, the college can play a key role in assisting business and industry in the county to create new, higher paying jobs. Noncredit education is one vehicle to accomplish this and there certainly is more potential than is currently used in this area to increase service to the workforce. The credit program also has significant room to meet workforce needs. The future will be bright for BCC graduates with appropriate skills.

Strategy: Develop and implement revenue-generating activities through customized training, academic credit and non-credit courses tailored to business and industry and internal partnerships.

Strategy: Offer technical degree programs in accelerated, multiple formats.

Strategy: Convince the Florida Legislature of the long-term economic benefit of increased funding for workforce development (data-driven).

Goal: 5

 Increase entrepreneurial actions across the College by seeking new revenue sources

Rationale: Funding for community colleges has been counter cyclical. In economic downturns community college enrollment increases while state funding decreases. At the same time, most community colleges focus on increasing revenue rather than improving efficiency. In 2004, the State of Florida recognized the negative impact of prior funding decisions and improved funding for the community college system. This current favorable climate should be capitalized upon. While state assistance and tuition have provided stable support for Broward Community College to meet current operations, this revenue growth is generated by corresponding enrollments growth, leaving little flexibility to pursue new initiatives. Alternate revenue is a critical BCC need. The goals proposed by this plan as well as other realities that BCC will face will require additional resources. Recruitment and retention of increasing numbers of low-income and minority students while meeting the needs of current students, for example, cannot be accomplished without recognition of additional cost. Enhancements and alterations to curricula also are not inexpensive. To meet these challenges, BCC will need to develop opportunities that are before it and seek new pathways to increased revenue.

Strategy: Develop a formal structure to identify revenue-enhancing possibilities, such as facilities usage, development and sale of learning materials and consulting.

Strategy: Develop a college office to coordinate and facilitate grant writing.

Strategy: Develop a process to expand international partnership programs.

Goal: 6

 Strengthen the relationship with the Broward County Public School District.

Rationale: Broward Community College and the Broward County Public Schools have developed a strong working relationship. A significant proportion of BCPS graduates enter BCC immediately after graduation. At the same time, the secondary school dropout rate in BCPS is higher than the state average and only about half of all secondary school freshmen receive standard diplomas. It is time for both parties to address these issues head on by focusing of combined efforts. Establishment of the Holcombe Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence will serve as one springboard to accomplish this goal. So, too, will joint efforts to penetrate more deeply middle and high schools that serve minority and low-income students and their families.

Strategy: Implement a “Bridge Program” to address college readiness countywide. Fund and place BCC advisers in high schools.*

 Strategy: Create a mechanism to conduct regular meetings among BCC faculty, staff and students with their Broward County school district counterparts to align curricula and programs (credit, non-credit), and to establish and maintain long-term relationships.

Strategy: Create an Educator Preparation Institute (EPI) to offer alternative teacher certification in critical shortage areas in Broward County.*

Goal: 7

 Re-examine the format and delivery options for all courses.

Rationale: The objectives that learners seek vary widely and to satisfy those objectives they choose learning models that match their interests, available time, and resources. An increasing truism in American higher education is that talent knows no boundaries. Learners, including adults who commute to work in ever more congested conditions, are increasingly cautious about how they allocate their time. Development of alternative formats (compressed, five-week, eight-week, Saturday) for courses as well as accelerated alternatives, on-line delivery strategies (Internet, hybrid, technology-enabled) will help BCC meet learner needs. It will ease the land-based scheduling burden while helping to alleviate crowded campuses. The college is currently examining its general education offerings to identify course competencies. Building on this momentum, the college should also examine the total curriculum so that learning is measured in individual courses by competencies that students are expected to demonstrate and not by “seat time.” Expressed as units of learning, competencies become the method by which courses are “bundled” and “unbundled,” allowing flexibility in delivery that is presently constrained by the standard academic term and lack of classroom seats at peak times. BCC has made great progress in implementing technology across its courses and while more good work lies ahead, it is also clear that current scheduling and course format options for significant market segments will not meet current and future needs.

Strategy: Strategically select and develop e-learning programs, degrees, and courses and ensure that students have the technology skills and access to technology resources that are necessary to succeed in these courses.

Strategy: Provide professional development for faculty to engage in the identification of learning outcomes/competencies (unbundle curriculum/courses, repackage units of instruction, etc.) and revisit learning theories, methods, and principles that lead to successful learning and student success.

Goal: 8

 Make strategic choices about instructional programming and resources.

Rationale: The college is in a steep growth curve and feels considerable pressure to provide consistent programming throughout Broward County, especially at new and planned instructional centers. There will be three new centers that will open in the southern part of the county by 2007, each of which is located no more than six miles apart. These centers are not located in close proximity to major employers, limiting the opportunities to place new career and technical programs at these locations. BCC also is challenged by the number of part-time faculty with whom it contracts to deliver instruction, their participation with out-of-class interaction with students, and their relatively higher rates of turnover. BCC competes for part-time faculty with universities that are able to pay them more for essentially the same work. Combined, these forces make necessary new thinking about where courses should be deployed, who should deliver them, and whether new and existing centers should duplicate courses and programs available on the three main campuses.

Strategy: Revise program review process and conduct a collegewide review of all AS and technical programs to determine viability, alignment with workforce needs and appropriate campus/center locations. Increase visibility of advisery committees to include business CEO’s. Create externship and internship opportunities.*

Strategy: Conduct a systematic study of facilities and program assessment to maximize efficiencies. The result will be a collegewide Facilities Master Plan.

Strategy: Improve the collegewide budget process to align with strategic initiatives (i.e., budget resource model).

Goal: 9

Communicate the role of the college in the community by coordinating consistent messages that reflect the values and goals of the Education Master Plan and generate awareness of the college and its programs.

Strategy: Develop a comprehensive external college communications plan.

Strategy: Implement a countywide campaign to brand BCC as the first choice for corporate training, workforce development, continuing education and academic programs.*

Strategy: Provide information and educational access to the citizens of Broward County through cable television and other media forms.

*Twenty-six strategies were developed to accomplish the nine goals of the Education Master Plan. Eight of those strategies were identified as immediate strategic initiatives. Those eight strategies are identified above with an asterisk. The remaining 18 strategies are operational.