The new Educational Master Plan for 2005-2010 was accepted by Dr. E. Jan Kehoe and announced at the Academic Council meeting on May 25, 2006. The new plan is the culmination of hard work, exploration and collaboration over the past two years. It represents the shared vision of over one hundred planning committee members including faculty, staff and administrators.

Click here for a copy of the Educational Master Plan. Printed copies are also available from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

Sections of the Educational Master Plan (click the link to go to a specific section):

Vision and Mission Statements

Core Competencies

The Four Goals:

Learning
Equity
Teamwork/ Organizational Development
Infrastructure

2020 Vision
Long Beach City College prepares students to be successful in the world of the 21st century. Sitting at a global crossroads, the college constantly crafts its educational programs to meet the needs of students living in:

• A world of increased complexity and speed
• A world both global and remarkably accessible
• A world technologically advanced but intensely interdependent.

A culturally diverse college, Long Beach City College welcomes all people who desire to grow and serve. The college nurtures a vibrant environment that cultivates a passion for learning which continues for life.

Mission Statement*
Long Beach City College is a comprehensive community college that provides open and affordable access to quality associate degree and certificate programs, workforce preparation, and opportunities for personal development and enrichment. The college develops students’ college-level skills and expands their general knowledge, enables their transfer to four-year institutions, prepares them for successful careers or to advance in their current careers, and fosters their personal commitment to lifelong learning.  Based upon a commitment to excellence, college programs foster and support the intellectual, cultural, economic and civic development of our diverse community.

The college’s commitment to excellence in student learning incorporates the following expected outcomes** from the educational process:

Aesthetics: An appreciation for a range of cultural expression, including art, music, dance, theater, literature, and film.

Civic Engagement: The ability to participate actively in a democracy that respects the rights of diverse peoples and cultures.

Communication: The ability to read, write, listen, and speak clearly.

Creative Thinking: The ability to generate useful and original ideas.

Critical Thinking: The ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate a spectrum of ideas that are represented by theories, images, and concepts.

Goal Attainment: The ability to achieve one’s personal, educational, and career goals.

Information Technology and Computer Literacy: The skills necessary to find, use, manage, evaluate, and convey information efficiently and effectively.

Numeric Literacy: The mathematical and arithmetic skills necessary to solve everyday problems.

Science Literacy: The ability to apply the scientific method to gain an evidenced-based understanding of contemporary issues.

Teamwork and Collaboration: The ability to cooperate and work effectively with individuals and groups using appropriate social skills.

Wellness: The ability to make lifestyle choices that promote physical, mental, and social health.

Learning

Goal:
The college will be guided by a common set of core learning outcomes (which we identify in the “Institutional Core Competencies”).

Rationale:
In order to improve the teaching and learning process, effective and observable and/or measurable student learning outcomes and assessment processes must continue to be developed.

Definitions:

Student Learning Outcome:  Student Learning Outcomes refer to overarching specific observable characteristics developed by local faculty that allow them to determine or demonstrate evidence that learning has occurred as a result of a specific course, program, activity, or process. (ASCCC, Working with the 2002 Accreditation Standards: the Faculty¹s Role.)

“Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.” (Huba and Freed, Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses)
Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance. When it is embedded effectively within larger institutional systems, assessment can help us focus our collective attention, examine our assumptions, and create a shared academic culture dedicated to assuring and improving the quality of higher education [Angelo, T. A. (1995). Reassessing (and defining) assessment. The AAHE Bulletin, 48 (2), 7-9].
 
Strategies:

• Develop program/discipline specific student learning outcomes and incorporate them into the course outline format.
• Publish learning outcomes for each program/discipline and identify specific courses related to preparing students to achieve learning outcomes in each program/discipline.
• Advance the development of learning outcomes for all support services and instructional programs and incorporate them into their program reviews.
  
• Systematically assess instructional programs, student support services, and library and learning support services using student learning outcomes, faculty and staff input, and other appropriate measures to improve the effectiveness of the services.
  
• Enhance student retention, persistence, and progression so students can meet their educational and career goals.
  
• Foster and encourage innovation and creativity in instruction and support services.
  
• Develop and implement a college-wide effort to better address the needs of underprepared students, for example basic skills and developmental education.

Expected Outcomes by 2010:

The college has clearly defined learning outcomes at the course, program and institutional levels and has processes to assess those outcomes.

The result/input from the assessment of learning outcomes is used to improve educational practices.

 

Equity

Goal:
Effective access to and equity in educational outcomes for our diverse community will be assured by sufficient and cohesive pathways for access, retention, excellence, institutional receptivity, and transfer readiness.

Rationale:
A focus on achieving equitable quality academic outcomes is necessary to close the academic gap among minority and low-income students.  Measures of and interventions for achieving student equity must be identified and refined on an on-going basis.

Definitions:

Access/Pathways: Providing knowledge of all campus offerings, tools, and career ladders, and use of appropriate/necessary resources and tools to ensure progress toward student goals.

Retention: Keeping students actively pursuing the completion of their educational goals from the perspectives of completion of certificates, degrees, and transfer, as well as term-to-term continuous enrollment.  

Excellence: Achieving comparable high quality outcomes among all LBCC student groups.
Institutional Receptivity: Creating the institutional environment necessary to attract, retain, and support the goal achievement of our diverse student population

Transfer Readiness: Achieving comparable ability to transfer or complete other end goals among all LBCC student groups.

Strategies:

• Identify, quantify, and refine institutional student equity outcomes measures for ongoing, continuous monitoring of progress in addressing institutional receptivity.
  
• Continuously improve the institution’s student equity-related programs, services and initiatives to support goal achievement
  
• Develop equity measures for the identified areas.
  Investigate, identify and coordinate the methods and marketing strategies to efficiently and equitably disseminate information concerning college resources available for all students.
  
• Disseminate information on how to navigate the college environment regarding access and awareness of college resources.  
  
• Establish measures of adequacy in, promotion of, and access to support services.
  Increase faculty development in learning theory and in ways to increase the immediacy and sufficiency of student-instructor contact.
  
• Place/provide support services within historically difficult courses
  
• Departments consider establishing proficiency standards in such basic skills as reading, composition, and math and encourage their inclusion throughout the educational curriculum.
  
• Coordinate and market instructional support, student support services, and student enrichment programs.
  
• Evaluate on a departmental, program, and/or discipline basis ongoing progress in achieving the student equity goals.
  
• Identify and evaluate obstacles to student success, and the ways to overcome them, in the areas of support services, instructional and staff support, facilities, equitable hiring.

Expected Outcomes by 2010:

The college has achieved significant improvements in equity in five targeted areas: access, retention, excellence, institutional receptivity, and transfer readiness.

 

Teamwork/ Organizational Development

Goal:
Through effective teamwork, collaboration and resource sharing and through organizational and learning development the college will establish and sustain an optimal learning environment for our students, addressing local, state and national perspectives.

Rationale:
Trust is an inherent component within the organization that must be addressed mutually in order to successfully achieve the goal of teamwork/organization development and implement its strategies for serving students of the 21st century.

Definitions:

Team: “A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to achieving a common purpose, specific performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” -Katzenbach & Smith, 1993

Teamwork: Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. - Andrew Carnegie

Organizational Development: An effort that is planned, organization wide, and managed from the top; it is intended to increase organizational effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization’s process, using behavioral science knowledge.

Learning Organization: “A ‘Learning Organization’ is one in which people at all levels, individually and collectively, are continually increasing their capacity to produce results they really care about.”  (Richard Karash, the Society for Organizational Learning)

Strategies:

• Evaluate organizational structures for purpose and vitality.
  
• Employ qualitative and quantitative data and analysis to promote substantive dialogue and facilitate problem solving and decision making.
  
• Assess and apply contemporary learning and organizational practices to enrich and evolve the learning environment and organization.
  
• Create and facilitate opportunities for informal interactions across organizational boundaries.
  
• Implement formal processes to improve communication and coordination across organizational lines.
  
• Train for effective teams, meetings and organizational development.
  

Expected Outcomes by 2010:

The college has enhanced existing structures and processes and developed new ones for significant collaboration and shared use procedures while acknowledging the expertise of individuals, groups and areas.

 

 

Infrastructure

Goal:
The college will develop integrated facilities and technology that maximize student-centered and instructionally-driven learning environments.

Rationale:
The purpose of the infrastructure goal is to provide a foundation of infrastructure support for learning that ensures that goals are met in a coordinated, comprehensive, thoughtful and systematic manner. The rationale also is to link required activities to available and necessary resources in a cost effective way.

Definition:
Infrastructure: The physical and organizational systems that support the work of the college.

Strategies:

• Update the Five-Year Technology Master Plan to be inclusive of appropriate new technologies, methodologies, equipment, procedures, and people to support and expedite user-friendly access to information and processes for students and staff.
  Integrate technology education and administration where appropriate to ensure for maximizing on-going resources, streamlined communications, adequate staff support and operational efficiencies.
  
• Support appropriate infrastructure for distance education offerings and instructional technologies that meet the needs of students and reflect the mission of the college.
  
• Support on-going facilities planning as detailed in the Infrastructure [Facilities] Master Plan issued in 2004.
  
• Employ sound fiscal planning and teamwork along with principles of academic quality and excellence to ensure optimization of resources to support the college’s mission.

Expected Outcomes by 2010:

The college has built a new South Quad Complex, a Child Development Center at PCC, PCC Learning Resource Center (LRC)/Library, two industrial trades buildings, East Campus, two central plants and a warehouse; it has significantly modernized the LAC LRC/Library and Building A (student services area).  New and existing instructional spaces are more efficiently and effectively utilized.

In accord with the college’s Technology Plan and available resources, the college has a technology infrastructure that is regularly developed, supported, and maintained on a total cost of ownership basis, including, but not limited to, a cycle of replacement and upgrades, effective support staffing, support for instructional technology and distance learning, web-interface for easy access for all college functions, and readily accessible reports that improve capacity for college decision making.

In accord with federal and state regulations, the college has continued its efforts to make all programs and services, including electronic and information technology, accessible to and useable by persons with disabilities. The college provides students, faculty, staff and visitors with reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to the programs and activities of the college.