Strategy for Action

01. Distinctive organizational features

The Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) chartered the Muskingum Area Technical Institute on September 19, 1969. We changed the College’s name to Muskingum Area Technical College in 1972. The College became Zane State College (ZSC) on June 14, 2004. As a public not-for-profit two-year technical college, the OBR and a nine-member local Board of Trustees (BOT) govern our mission and policies. Our primary service area includes the counties of Guernsey, Muskingum, and Noble in southeastern Ohio. We are a commuter institution.

One of our distinct features is our co-location with Ohio University–Zanesville (OUZ) on a 179-acre campus. As a technical college, we share this type of arrangement with six of twenty-three two-year public colleges in Ohio. This structure, established by State law, assumes that the technical colleges’ and branch campuses’ combined efforts afford students the opportunity for a comprehensive community college education. The OBR has identified our co-located arrangement as a model in the state. We share a number of facilities, services, and personnel costs. Though our co-location establishes a strong partnership, we also compete for many of the same students.

Another distinct feature is our “living” Strategic Plan. One of the most significant outcomes of working with our Strategic Plan has been the creation of our mission, vision, core values, and core practices that guide all of our continuous quality improvement efforts. Table 01.1 provides an overview of the outcomes of our Strategic Plan process that began with our 2002–2005 Strategic Plan and evolved into our current 2007–2011 Strategic Plan. The apparent gap between our 2002–2005 and 2007–2011 Strategic Plans is explained by the fact that we used actual year of implementation for the first Plan (2003–2006 fiscal years) and fiscal years for our current Plan (2007–2011).

Table 01.1 Vision, Mission, Core Values, and Core Practices—2007–2011 Strategic Plan
Vision	Empowering People ~ Enriching Lives ~ Advancing the Region
Mission	Every learner puts knowledge to work through experience-based learning provided with a personal touch.
Institutional Goals	Our vision will be accomplished through: · Seeking alternate funding to help repair and build facilities, to expand programs and services, and to provide scholarships to worthy students. · Continuing the College’s development as a true learner-centered institution that incorporates accountability and effectiveness into all our systems and procedures. · Developing plans to improve access and service for underrepresented populations. · Hiring new personnel—faculty and staff—to join our team of veterans, and retaining and motivating them to think futuristically and entrepreneurially. · Collaborating with businesses, industry, and other community partners to develop the workforce and the economic vitality of the region.
Core Values	*Personal Touch:* Respect, Responsiveness, and Responsibility in all professional relationships, specifically, employee to student, employee to employee, and employee to community. College employees acknowledge their obligation to model and teach the three Rs to influence student development of behaviors that will lead to academic, professional, and personal success. *Learner-Centered:* We value learners as active participants in events and activities leading to the accumulation of knowledge, skills, and values in settings in and beyond the classroom. We are dedicated to careful design, evaluation, and improvement of programs, courses, and learning environments to enhance learner achievement. We recognize that every employee contributes to helping students learn and develop. *Collaboration:* We strive to build synergistic relationships with our students, our community, business and industry, and other institutions. *Innovation:* We believe forward thinking and informed risk-taking creates opportunities for success.
Core Practices	· Be a dynamic, responsive, and progressive organization that continually assesses and improves its academic programs. · Provide and continually expand experiential learning opportunities for students. · Integrate general education and technical skills in the learning experience, resulting in persons wholly prepared for the workplace and the world. · Inspire learners to assume social responsibilities, engage in service learning, and become life-long learners. · Focus on accessible and diverse learning opportunities. · Foster the ethical and meaningful use of technology. · Establish, maintain, and expand partnerships and strategic alliances with community-based organizations, educational institutions, business, industry, labor, and government agencies. · Maintain and obtain, where appropriate, institutional and/or programmatic accreditation. · Provide comprehensive educational services necessary for learners’ successful educational experiences. · Prepare learners for employment throughout the educational experience. · Ensure skills-sets training meets employment needs for workers and regional employers. · Make relevant volunteer contributions to economic development, community service, and professional organizations. · Promote choices for learners who wish to continue their education beyond Zane State College.

Figure 01.1

We see our vision as the apex of a pyramid, with core practices as the foundation, followed by core values, institutional goals, and mission. Figure 01.1 illustrates our perception of how these are integrated and how these build on each other.

The creation of a culture of continuous quality improvement using our Strategic Plan process as a springboard has resulted in several College initiatives and recognitions including:

§ Membership in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), in which our performance yielded a MetLife Foundation “Best Practices” award in 2004;

§ Being named #9 in the nation among two-year colleges by Washington Monthly (September 2007);

§ Involvement in AQIP membership, Achieving the Dream (AtD), Foundations of Excellence (FoE); and

§ Creation of the College’s Team for Institutional Effectiveness (TIE), Academic Assessment Team (AAT), and Academic Support Assessment Team (ASAT).

Within our updated 2007–2011 Strategic Plan, our six priority areas are Center for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching and Learning (AQIP Action Project), Employee Career Growth (AQIP Action Project), Data-Driven Decision Making (AQIP Action Project), Increase Student Enrollment to 3,000, Technical Parity with Two-year Colleges and the Workplace, and Mission Expansion.

02. Scope of educational offerings

We offer 27 technical programs that lead to associate of applied science, associate of applied business, or associate of technical study degrees. We also offer 8 one-year certificates. Our academic areas are organized into three Divisions: Engineering, Natural Science, Business, and Information Technology; Health, Public Service, and Service-Related Technologies; and General Education. Our most popular programs include Business Management, Criminal Justice, Electrical/Electronics Engineering Technology, Human Services, Information Technology, and Radiologic Technology.

In addition, we have a strong, nationally accredited Developmental Education Program. We provide customized training to area businesses, industries, and service agencies through our Workforce Development Division, housed in our Willett-Pratt Training Center (WPTC) 30 miles east of Campus. The WPTC also provides traditional classes, interactive video (ITV) classes, a learning resource center, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), welding training, and a significant portion of our Computerized Machine Tool Systems Program. We recently began offering the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (OPOTA) at this site and will begin offering our Medical Assisting Program (MAT) there in the early part of 2008. Additionally, our Community Education offerings are receiving enhanced attention from WPTC staff as these activities gain in scope and popularity.

03. Student base

For Fall Quarter 2006 (the most recent state-verified data), the College’s student base included the following demographics:

· 1,843 students are enrolled

· 62% are female

· Their average age is 26 years old (part-time students’ average age is 29; full-time students’, 25)

· 8% of our students are minorities

· 55% of students are residents of Muskingum County (location of the College Campus)

· 72% of students require one or more Developmental Education courses (average over last 5 years)

· 84% of our students are degree-seeking (Fall 2005 data)

· 84% of our students receive financial aid

04. Collaboration

Business and Industry: Our Workforce Development Division is housed at our WPTC and affords many opportunities for community-based partnerships such as those with OUZ, Job and Family Services (JFS), and several business partners in the industrial park of Cambridge, Ohio. Zane State College is one of 13 SkillsMAX service providers in Ohio and is collaborating with business, industry, and other colleges regionally to provide job-profiling, assessments, and training utilizing over 1,500 workforce-related software tools. During fiscal year 2006–2007, we provided 2,564 contact hours of training to 3,339 employees from 52 companies.

Foundations: We established the Zane State College Foundation in 1984 as a separate and distinct 501(c)(3) organization. The purpose of the Foundation is to seek funds to increase scholarship support, provide opportunities for the professional development of employees, and assist in the acquisition of the latest in technical laboratory equipment. Locally, the Muskingum County Community Foundation assists students with scholarship dollars and partners with us on common goals and activities.

Agencies: The Muskingum and Guernsey County Departments of Job and Family Services (JFS) rely on us for workforce development services. The Guernsey County Department of JFS (GCDJFS) also leases space for its Opportunity Center within the WPTC and partners with us in operating the Employment Training Center for its clients.

Other Colleges/Universities: We have transfer agreements with 11 public and private colleges and universities for 23 program-specific articulations and 6 agreements open to any program graduate. An additional 14 colleges and universities consider course transfer from us on a course-by-course basis for all programs. Our most significant partnerships are with Franklin University, Muskingum College, and Ohio University. Additionally, we are involved in statewide articulation and transfer initiatives.

K-12 Schools/Districts: We have created solid relationships with area secondary schools within the service district area by hosting events such as an annual College Day, visits to Campus, and professional development for teachers. A partnership has emerged in the Pathways to Engineering Program, a dual enrollment opportunity for students through the Mid-East Career and Technology Centers (MECTC). We serve as an active partner and fiscal agent in the Mid-East Ohio College Tech Prep Consortium, which links the College with area higher-level career-technical education programs. Ohio’s Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program (PSEOP) allows high school students to take college courses in order to satisfy high school graduation requirements. We serve over 100 PSEOP students annually. A federal initiative, GEAR UP, is based in a local school district, and we are active partners in efforts to aid in college transition for city school students.

Other: The United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) are two examples of national and regional partnerships that we have fostered over the last several years. Examples of our partnerships include financial support from the DOL for our business and industry training efforts and grants from ARC for our leadership in a tri-state Power Technology Program.

05. Faculty and staff base

The College is one of the larger employers in the county with 121 full-time employees, 10 part-time annual staff, and 76 adjunct instructors, who are hired quarterly (September 2007). Our average number of student employees per quarter is 34 (2005–2006), and our average quarterly count of students employed through Federal Work Study is 34 (2005–2006). We employ 32 additional adjunct faculty members for our partnerships with the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy and the certificate program at the Belmont Correctional Institution (BCI). Our entire full-time faculty and the majority of our adjuncts who teach General Education courses have at least a master’s degree, and our Technology Program faculty all hold degrees appropriate to their field. During the 2006–2007 academic year, our adjunct faculty taught 35% of our course sections for our one-year certificate and two-year degree programs.

Tables 05.1 and 05.2 summarize our employee base and faculty ranks.

Table 05.1 Fall 2007 Employee Base and Current Degree Attainment
Classification	Status	Degree	Number	Total
Administrators	Full-time	Bachelor	2	11
		Master	5
		Doctoral	4
Professional Staff	Full-time	High School Diploma	1	31
		Associate	5
		Bachelor	14
		Master	11
	Part-time	High School Diploma	0	2
		Associate	0
		Bachelor	0
		Master	2
Support Staff	Full-time	High School Diploma	0	27
		Associate	18
		Bachelor	9
		Master	0
	Part-time	High School Diploma	1	8
		Associate	2
		Bachelor	5
		Master	0
Total Full-time Administrators & Staff				69
Total Part-time Administrators & Staff				10

Table 05.2 Fall 2007 Faculty Base, Current Degree Attainment, and Rank
Classification	Status	Degree	Number	Rank		Number	Total
Faculty	Full-time	Associate	4	Instructor	4		52
				Assistant Professor	0
				Associate Professor	0
				Professor	0
		Bachelor	8	Instructor	7
				Assistant Professor	1
				Associate Professor	0
				Professor	0
		Masters	37	Instructor	8
				Assistant Professor	13
				Associate Professor	6
				Professor	10
		Doctoral	3	Instructor	1
				Assistant Professor	0
				Associate Professor	0
				Professor	2
	Adjunct	Associate or Certification	7				76
		Bachelor	33
		Master	31
		Doctoral	5
Total Faculty							128
Grand Total Full-time Employees							121
Grand Total Part-time Employees							86
Grand Total All Employees							207

06. Critical and distinctive facilities, equipment, and technologies
Facilities: Table 06.1 describes College facilities.

Table 06.1 Description of Facilities
Zane State College Facilities	Primary Functional Areas
The Campus Center (facilities shared with OUZ)*	Classrooms, Health laboratories, Culinary Arts laboratory, Campus Bookstore, student lounge, food service and dining area, conference center available for community events
College Hall	Classrooms, laboratories, office space, interactive video (ITV) classroom
Health Science Hall	Health laboratories, classrooms, lecture hall
Herrold Hall (shared with OUZ)	Library for students, employees and the public, student lounges, study areas
Law Enforcement Laboratory	Classroom/laboratory, seven-lane pistol range
Littick Hall (shared with OUZ)	Gymnasium, multi-purpose room, classrooms, exercise room, locker rooms, offices, adjacent outdoor sports facilities for public use
Natural Resources Center (5 miles west of Campus)	Classroom, laboratory, 125-acre land laboratory for instruction and community use
Willett-Pratt Training Center (30 miles east of Campus)	Training lab, classrooms, ITV classroom, learning resource center, rental space to GCDJFS Opportunity Center, OUZ, Detroit Diesel training lab

Equipment and technologies: As of the 2006–2007 academic year, the College had in excess of $6 million worth of equipment in the classrooms, labs, and offices (insured value of contents). Table 06.2 describes our available computer technologies.

Table 06.2 Computer Technologies
Equipment	Communication Tools
27 instructional labs* with 408 computers	Wireless Internet access
34 SMART classrooms	ITV
43 computers in labs and offices for instruction	Blackboard Learning System for web-based courses
40 computers in Academic Computer Lab and Learning Resource Center open for student use	Jenzabar Integrated Software System
66 laptops in use by specific programs
*We define Instructional computer labs as classrooms where the student has the ability to log in to a personal computer and perform educational activities.

We have other significant equpipment within our Engineering Technologies and Health Programs.

Accreditation: The College received candidacy status for accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in 1972, was granted accreditation for three years in 1975, and received subsequent reaccreditations in 1978, 1988, and 1998. We were granted AQIP admission in February 2004.

Program accreditation: Nine of our Technical Programs are accredited by their professional organizations as illustrated in Table 06.3.

Table 06.3 Program Accreditation
Program	Organization
Culinary Arts	American Culinary Federation, Inc.
Electrical/Electronics Engineering Technology	Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.
Medical Assisting Technology	Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
Medical Laboratory Technology	National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences
Phlebotomy Technician program