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The Plan for Student Life and 360° Learning at Colby College INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2006, President William Adams directed newly appointed Vice President of Student Affairs/Dean of Students James Terhune to lead a strategic planning process for the Division of Student Affairs at Colby. Given the change in leadership in student affairs, the implementation of the College’s strategic plan beginning in 2002, and the concurrent efforts to prepare for Colby’s decennial reaccreditation in the fall of 2007, the timing was ideal to think intentionally about the future direction of student life at Colby. The planning process consisted of two distinct but interconnected parts: 1) review of existing programs and services; and 2) development of a strategic approach for moving forward. The review of student affairs at Colby examined all aspects of the program including its philosophical underpinnings, organizational structure, staffing and financial resources, programmatic elements, relationship to other areas of the College (e.g,. academic affairs, college relations, etc.) and the breadth and quality of student services. In addition to close examination of documentary information regarding student affairs (including but not limited to freshman and senior surveys, diversity reports, ALANA student retention and academic success reports, athletics surveys and other data compiled by the Office of Institutional Research, the 2003 Overseers Report on the Office of the Dean of Students, First-Year Orientation/COOT evaluation data, and the reports of the reaccreditation subcommittees on transition to and transition from Colby), the review also included extensive staff development work with consultant Dianne Dunton, examination of student affairs programs at other NESCAC colleges, and formal and informal conversations with students and student groups throughout the 2006-07 academic year. The strategic approach set forth in this document is grounded in the mission and precepts of the College and grows out of the 2002 Strategic Plan for Colby. The planning process began with the adoption of a mission statement for student affairs that establishes a pedagogical approach to student life and directly links residential life (broadly defined) to academic life. The Student Affairs mission statement became the foundation for the rest of the planning process. The scope of the plan includes educational objectives for student affairs, reconfiguration of the organizational structure of the Student Affairs Division, and management objectives for both staffing and financial resources. The document that follows articulates the vision and direction for student affairs at Colby College. MISSION AND PURPOSE Student Affairs Mission Statement The Colby College Division of Student Affairs exists to support and enhance the College’s mission to provide students with a broad acquaintance with human knowledge designed to enable each student to find and fulfill his or her own unique potential. The student affairs staff provides instruction, advice, and support to help students become critical thinkers, effective communicators, ethical leaders, engaged citizens, and creators of knowledge with broad exposure to, and understanding of human difference and diversity. Student life at Colby is centered on the notion that learning extends beyond the classroom into all aspects of the college experience. The departments and programs that make up the Division of Student Affairs serve a wide array of functions including but not limited to advising, health and wellness, multicultural/diversity education, residential life, housing, religious/spiritual life, outdoor education, and leadership development. As such, the work of the division straddles two essential though sometimes competing purposes: out-of-class learning and student support services. First and foremost, the Division of Student Affairs strives to provide opportunities for students to learn and practice important life skills such as self-governance, independence, personal accountability, civic responsibility, and respect for themselves and others. Additionally, however, student affairs manages a number of key administrative functions and services for students including residential facilities, student housing procedures, health and counseling services, and oversight of budgetary support for student social programs and organizations. The educational approach to student life requires staff to serve as teachers, coaches, and mentors in holding students accountable for decision making and problem solving with respect to the central issues in student life (residential hall governance, student social life, etc.). By contrast, many of the services overseen by student affairs have consumer expectations associated with them – a fact made more acute by the high price of attending Colby. As such, one of the central challenges in establishing a strategic approach for student affairs is balancing the need to provide excellent support services with an educational approach to student life. Colby 360: The Plan for Student Life and 360° Learning at Colby takes a two-tiered approach to student affairs. The first and preeminent element of the plan outlines a model for residential/co-curricular education focused on promoting specific learning outcomes. The second tier of the plan describes organizational and management strategies designed to ensure excellent, efficient, and sustainable oversight of the key administrative functions of the division that are consistent with the educational mission of the division and the College. 360° LEARNING Colby’s commitment to residential education was reaffirmed in the 2002 Strategic Plan for Colby: While the academic program is at the core of the College, we know that the educational program and experience extend beyond the classroom into places that students meet and interact… And so, as we seek to strengthen our academic program, we must simultaneously enrich and broaden campus life and culture. (A Strategic Plan for Colby, May 2002, p.3) Colby 360 asserts as its guiding principle the idea that a residential college affords students opportunities to learn and develop in all aspects of their college lives. However, where traditional approaches to student affairs in residential colleges tend to focus on creating policies and procedures, Colby 360 establishes a setting for student life designed to achieve five specific learning outcomes: 1) development of life skills; 2) appreciation of and engagement with diversity and human difference; 3) understanding democracy and civic responsibility; 4) promoting wellness and healthy lifestyle choices; and 5) leadership education for the 21st century. 1) Developing Life Skills In the 10 educational precepts of The Colby Plan, the College has clearly identified the central learning outcomes a Colby education is intended to achieve. The precepts encompass specific areas of inquiry (e.g., American culture, knowledge of a foreign language, use of quantitative skills) as well as broad educational concepts (e.g., critical thinking, exploration of personal values, and the relationship between academic work and one’s responsibility to contribute to the world beyond campus). The academic curriculum advances the precepts through course-based learning. The student affairs program uses students’ residential and co-curricular experiences as platforms for promoting student exposure to and understanding of the precepts. Specifically, Colby 360 focuses on four key sets of life skills: 1) communication skills; 2) collaborative/group-based work; 3) fiscal responsibility; and 4) problem-solving. Detailed below are the four life skills objectives of Colby 360, a brief rationale, and examples of ways in which each can be achieved. Objective: Promote effective written and verbal communication skills. Rationale: Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential to success in graduate/professional schools, careers, and volunteer and civic involvements Colby graduates will pursue throughout their lives. Example 1: Students or student organizations seeking monetary support for specific activities or events will be asked to provide concise (not to exceed one page), written proposals outlining the objectives of their events and detailing the rationale for the amount of financial support they are requesting. Example 2: Students applying for positions as Hall Staff, COOT Leaders and on the Pugh Community Board or hall staff will be required to submit cover letters and resumes in which they articulate their qualifications and understanding of the job requirements of the positions they seek. Example 3: A group of students seeking a particular housing option may be required to submit a one-page proposal and prepare a five minute oral presentation detailing why they are best suited for that space. Objective: Promote collaborative/group-based work experiences. Rationale: Collaborative/group-based work is increasingly prevalent in both educational and professional settings. Working in groups is often fundamentally different from working individually particularly as it relates to scheduling, distribution of assignments, delegation and interdependence, reaching consensus, and delivering an end product. Students who practice collaborative work while in college will be better prepared to succeed both academically and professionally. Example 1: When the Student Government Association (SGA) wants to restructure its treasury and the means by which it allocates financial resources, it will be asked to convene a representative group of students to work collectively to develop a proposal. Example 2: At the beginning of each academic year every residence hall will convene to develop community living standards that articulate specific quiet hours, membership in and responsibilities of hall councils, and expectations for conflict resolution within the hall. Example 3: The Office of Campus Life will develop and lead community visioning/development exercises and team-building activities such as low ropes courses in which individual residential units will participate regularly. Objective: Promote financial understanding and fiscal responsibility. Rationale: Basic understanding of financial matters and fiscal responsibility are essential life skills for all adults. In all cases, Colby graduates will need to manage personal finances, and most will also have budget management and/or financial oversight as elements of their professional lives. Exposure to and experience with financial matters as part of student life at Colby will help prepare students for their personal and professional lives after college. Example 1: Student organizations will be expected to produce accurate, detailed budget requests and funding proposals for both annual operating expenses and individual events. Example 2: The Office of Campus Life will provide workshops on financial management and oversight for students and student organizations. Objective: Promote understanding of and acuity in basic problem solving. Rationale: Research about the current generation of college students indicates that while they have been highly programmed and involved in sports, cultural activities, and community service, in most of these endeavors adults have served in oversight and decision-making roles. As such, the current generation of students has had less practice in problem solving and conflict resolution than previous generations. To help students become more independent and self-sufficient adults we need to give them opportunities to practice problem solving within the context of their college experience. Example 1: Hall staff and the Office of Campus Life will develop processes for responding to roommate or residentially based conflicts wherein every effort will be made to encourage the involved students to resolve the problem themselves. Professional staff will serve as coaches, mentors, and mediators in helping students to consider possible means of problem resolution and to develop strategies for implementation. Example 2: Advising deans will counsel students experiencing academic difficulty. Rather than intervening on behalf of a student struggling in a class, the advising dean will help the student identify steps that can be taken to address the problem s/he is experiencing. Example 3: In responding to parental/family member involvement in student problems, student affairs staff will strive to partner with parents/family members in identifying ways to enable students to resolve the matter themselves. 2) Understanding Diversity and Human Difference Objective: Ensure that all Colby students have regular, meaningful, and active exposure to diversity and human difference in all its forms. Rationale: The world into which the current generation of Colby students will graduate is increasingly pluralistic and “flat.” To achieve personal success in the global economy and provide effective leadership in the 21st century, our graduates will need to be knowledgeable about cultural difference and adept at working and communicating with people who are different from themselves. Example 1: The student affairs staff will create and implement incentive programs to increase real collaboration in the planning and execution of social and cultural events by two or more student groups that normally would not be likely to come together. For instance, if SOBHU and the Echo staff wanted to co-sponsor a forum on issues of race in the 2008 presidential election, the Office of Campus Life could provide additional monies to enable the to cater a joint dinner where both organizations could come together to discuss and plan the event. Example 2: The Office of Campus Life is introducing a new approach to residential programming that focuses on getting groups of students who live together to jointly attend lectures, performances and cultural events on campus being sponsored by academic departments and student groups. Particular emphasis is being given to adding interactive elements before or after such events wherein students will have to be active participants in exploration of issues of difference. Example 3: The Office of Campus Life has been charged with exploring ways in which the housing structure (i.e. the distribution of students throughout the residential system) and selection process can play a role in advancing understanding of diversity and difference among students. Example 4: Particular attention is being paid to identifying ways that the broader campus community can engage with and benefit from the increasing representation of international students and students from historically underrepresented groups (e.g. ALANA, LGBTQ, and first generation college students) at Colby. Example 5: The counseling center is leading the development and implementation of a program on meditation and mindfulness. The mediation and mindfulness program helps students develop skills that improve self-understanding and awareness through meditation and mindfulness practices most commonly associated with eastern cultures and religions. The mindfulness project also includes connections with the academic curriculum in courses offered by at least three academic programs and departments (psychology, English, and philosophy). 3) Understanding Democracy/Civic Engagement Colby takes seriously its responsibility to prepare the next generation of knowledgeable and engaged world citizens. Democratic citizenship is more than the exercising of specific civic rights (e.g., voting). Rather, democracy is a set of ideas and principles centered on the conjunction of individual liberty and collective responsibility for the common good. Many aspects of 21st century life can be isolating and emphasize individuality at the expense of collective responsibility. Through residential and co-curricular student experiences, Colby 360 emphasizes democratic principles and creates opportunities for students to practice self-governance and civic engagement. Objective: Promote self-governance and active citizenship. Rationale: Effective democracy requires an educated and informed citizenry practiced in the art of collective governance. Community living in a residential setting like Colby’s provides multiple opportunities for students to practice self-governance and community building. Example 1: Each residence hall will be expected to develop and administer a democratically selected hall council. Hall councils will serve as “local” governments for student residential communities and will provide representatives to the campus-wide SGA. Hall councils will focus on community development and will be expected to identify ways in which individual residence halls can contribute to the larger College community through civic engagement, support of arts and cultural activities, and a variety of social opportunities. Example 2: SGA will be expected to develop a system of checks and balances for oversight of the student treasury that emphasizes transparency and makes the SGA Executive Board and the Presidents Council truly accountable to the student body at large. Example 3: The student affairs staff will seek to partner more closely with the the Goldfarb Center to develop more opportunities for Colby student engagement in local service work, local and national political involvement, and issues of public policy. A key component of these endeavors will be to introduce opportunities for students to reflect on their civic engagement activities in ways that call on them to draw on their classroom learning as well as their own political beliefs. Example 4: Each residence hall will be expected to adopt and carry out an ongoing community/civic engagement project. Halls may choose to work with community or service organizations (e.g., food pantries, work with the elderly, youth sports, etc.) or they may choose to work on state-wide, national, or international issues (e.g., international relief efforts, campaign finance reform, renewable energy resources). The objective is to ensure that Colby students are aware of and connected to the world beyond Mayflower Hill throughout their time in college. 4) Promoting Wellness and Healthy Lifestyles Objective: Promote healthy lifestyle practices. Rationale: Understanding wellness and practicing healthy lifestyle choices are critical components in a balanced and well-rounded education. The health care professionals at Colby (both in counseling and at the student health center) are uniquely situated to help students to become informed and active participants in establishing and maintaining good personal health habits both at college and in their lives after Colby. Example 1: Increase the number of directed student organizations on campus that focus on issues of wellness and healthy lifestyles. Groups like SHOC (Student Health on Campus), CER (Colby Emergency Response) and SASA (Students against Sexual Assault) have succeeded in increasing student awareness of important health-related issues. Plans are underway to create a student group to promote responsible drinking and focus on changing the student culture around substance use. 5) Leadership Education for the 21st Century Objective: Integrate leadership training and development into the residential/co-curricular experience for all students. Rationale: All Colby graduates should understand their responsibility to be leaders in the broadest sense of the term. Student residential communities provide an ideal framework for students to learn about and practice leadership through workshops, community building activities, developing social alternatives, and hall governance. Example 1: The Office of Campus Life is introducing Wet Feet Retreats (as in “getting one’s feet wet”) for first-year students. First-year students will be invited to attend day-long leadership retreats where participants will be introduced to fundamental leadership concepts and learn and practice skills related to group dynamics, conflict management, organizational communication, and running effective meetings. Additionally, the Wet Feet Retreats will introduce first-year students to the variety of student leadership opportunities that exist at Colby and the numerous ways in which the students get involved in campus life. Example 2: Hall councils enable each residential unit to devise oversight structures and processes for student living communities. Students will select their own officers, delegate responsibility, allocate hall programming funds, and organize civic engagement activities – all of which provide opportunities for students to develop leadership skills. Example 3: The Office of Campus Life is partnering with the Office of Career Services to develop a capstone leadership program for seniors. The capstone program will help rising seniors cultivate and talk about the transferable skills they have acquired and refined as students. Particular attention will be paid to helping students map out their last college year and plan their transition to the next phase in their lives. Example 4: Plans are underway to offer an intensive outdoor leadership program on an annual basis. Interested students will apply to participate in a semester or year-long program covering the full range of skills and safety preparation necessary to lead a variety of different outdoor activities. The plan is to use this program to develop a team of highly trained and experienced student outdoor leaders who can in turn lead trips and teach workshops (e.g., in kayaking, rock climbing, cross-country skiing, etc.) to other student and community groups throughout the year. Additionally, the core group of leaders would provide an experienced and capable set of leaders to assist with COOT planning, training, and implementation. Example 5: The Student Leadership Collaborative Committee (SLCC) began in pilot form this year. Comprised of two representatives each from hall staff, the Pugh Community Board, Student Programming Board, Student Government Association, Goldfarb Center Student Advisory Board, and varsity athletic teams, the SLCC will meet regularly to review activities, discuss leadership initiatives, and provide mechanisms for peer mentoring and review. Objective: Enhance the annual Colby Leadership Institute. Rationale: Combined training of student leaders from across campus promotes common understanding, reinforces the fact that all students are part of the larger Colby community, creates opportunities to increase mutual understanding among students of disparate groups, and enhances their understanding of leadership skills. Example 1: In August 2007, on the weekend prior to the start of first-year orientation more than 300 Colby students involved in a variety of leadership activities, including but not limited to hall staff, COOT, Student Government Association, Pugh Community Board, and varsity athletics came together on campus for one day to participate in a series of interactive workshops and leadership development exercises. Future plans include extending the Colby Leadership Institute from one to two days and to invite more members of the Colby faculty, staff, and administration to lead sessions and participate in CLI programs. Objective: Enhance and extend the emerging leaders program. Rationale: Engaging students in leadership development early in their college careers leads to a greater level of student engagement in the full range of campus activities and more skilled student leaders in the junior and senior classes. Example 1: During the 2007-2008 academic year, the Office of Campus Life will offer the third Emerging Leaders seminar program. Geared to first-year and sophomore students, Emerging Leaders offers interactive sessions that allow students to practice leadership skills (e.g., running a meeting, organizational planning, budget management) as well as in-depth exploration of issues including ethical leadership and effective leadership styles. Campus Life will be exploring ways to enhance the program with new programs, opportunities to partner with faculty and alumni relations to include new presenters, and ways to include more students in the program. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT Colby 360 is grounded in the philosophy that teaching is a central component of student affairs. As such, its organizational structure and personnel and resource management strategies must be constructed in a way that supports this approach. Key elements of the planning process were to assess the organizational chart and deployment of staffing resources, review facilities, and evaluate the allocation of financial resources. Out of that process, four overarching management objectives have been adopted to guide organizational decision making for the Division of Student Affairs: · Emphasize direct, personal interaction with students · Support pedagogy of 360° learning · Commit to a culture of planning · Maximize financial efficiency These objectives provide the foundation for a number of changes to the organizational structure and management strategy in student affairs. Objective: Emphasize direct, personal interaction with students throughout all student affairs programs. Rationale: Student learning is best supported by close interaction between students and instructors. Similarly, close interaction between students and members of the student affairs staff has a positive impact on student learning in residential and co-curricular settings. Example 1: In the fall 2007 term the Office of the Dean of Students introduced the Advising Dean Program, which supports and enhances Colby’s commitment to first-rate, individual advising of students. The College has a well-established program of academic advising wherein all members of the Colby faculty serve as advisors to both first-year students and students majoring in a particular discipline. Recognizing that the types of issues with which students require assistance do not always fit neatly into the academic realm, the Office of the Dean of Students established the advising dean system to ensure that all students have a point of contact for personal and administrative advising throughout their tenure at the College. A detailed description of the Advising Dean Program can be found in Appendix I. Example 2: The newly created Office of Campus Life (described in detail below) is adopting a staffing model designed to maximize interaction with students. Specifically, during the 2007-2008 academic year two full-time staff members who are recent Colby graduates will work primarily with students to support student government, social programming options, and residential education. The guiding philosophy is that this staffing model will lead to more, and more meaningful, opportunities for student affairs staff to mentor and “coach” students in residential and co-curricular educational settings. Objective: Develop a staffing and organizational framework that supports the pedagogy of Colby 360. Rationale: Colby 360 represents an approach to residential and co-curricular education that is centered on teaching and instruction. As such, the organizational framework is designed to support desired learning outcomes. Example 1: The Office of Campus Life was created in July 2007 through the merging of all staff, administrative functions, and programs previously overseen by the offices of residential life and housing, student activities, and outdoor safety and education. The Office of Campus Life provides a platform for meaningful collaboration among the programming arm of the Division of Student Affairs, student organizations (including student government), and other areas of the College. This in turn will enable the staff to be more deliberate in working to enhance intellectual life on campus and the learning outcomes and strategic objectives of Colby 360. Key initiatives that have already been introduced include: · A First-Year Student Orientation program emphasizing intellectual life and the academic program at Colby. A partnership of Colby faculty, Howard Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Institute for Global Ethics, introduced the day-long Meaningful Work and Life at Colby program as the centerpiece of orientation. · An overhauled and reconceived approach to residence hall programming called CL 6, which is focused on six learning outcomes and aims to promote them through active participation in existing programs and lectures being sponsored at the College rather than requiring hall staff members to develop and implement programs on their own. · A restructured approach to new student arrival day and orientation for new student parents/families. · Plans to review and restructure housing selection in ways that advance the learning outcomes identified in Colby 360 (e.g., advancing student engagement with diversity through student housing, introducing merit-based procedures for some parts of housing selection that would require students to produce written proposals and/or give short oral presentations as part of the process, etc.). · Work with the Student Government Association to restructure the student treasury to increase transparency, introduce checks and balances and greater accountability, and ensure fiscal responsibility to an organization that has a history of budget deficits over the past 10 to15 years. Example 2: The staff of the Garrison Foster Health Center is developing strategies to use student health services as a platform for students to develop a greater understanding of issues of personal health and wellness as well as matters of public health. Example 3: In the fall of 2006 the Building Colby Community through Art and Culture (BCCAC) was introduced as a way of increasing opportunities for Colby students to experience the arts on campus and in the region. By contracting services of an external consultant with expertise in community-based art promotion and production, we have been able to give Colby students more opportunities to develop planning and organizational skills, enhance their understanding of the arts, and work collaboratively with a diverse collection of students, faculty, and staff. Due to the success of BCCAC in 2006-2007, we have extended our relationship with this particular consultant to include work with the Pugh Community Board (PCB). This will facilitate the cross-cultivation of interests among the culturally based groups that make up the PCB with the arts communities on campus. Example 4: In the fall of 2007, oversight of all student disciplinary functions was centralized under one associate dean. This move was made to increase consistency, enhance transparency, and improve efficiency in the student conduct and disciplinary system. A committee has been formed to conduct a comprehensive review of and recommend structural changes to the policies and procedures governing the student disciplinary process. The student disciplinary process plays a vital role in shaping student life on campus and can provide important opportunities for students to learn about and practice self-governance, community oversight, and ethical decision making. The reorganization of staffing and review of student disciplinary procedures is intended to better facilitate student learning while, also ensuring that students facing disciplinary action have access to a fair process. Example 5: During the 2007-2008 academic year, a comprehensive review is being conducted of the chaplaincy and support for student religious/spiritual life on campus. Understanding the importance of spirituality in students’ lives, the Division of Student Affairs seeks to review and assess the current organization of the chaplaincy at the College to enhance institutional support for student spiritual life. Objective: Commit to a culture of planning in the Division of Student Affairs. Rationale: Deliberate, goal-based planning is essential to advance the educational objectives of 360° learning. Given the plethora of administrative functions for which the Division of Student Affairs is responsible, absent a deliberate, planning-based approach to management, staff and departments tend to get be mired in a reactive stance – putting out “brush fires” rather than focusing on educational opportunities. Introducing a strategic approach to residential and co-curricular education will enable us to advance the program and contribute to student learning outcomes in a more fulsome way. Example 1: Beginning in the fall of 2006, all staff members, offices, and programs were required to develop a set of annual goals approved by the vice president for student affairs/dean of students that serves as the basis for annual program and staff performance evaluations. Example 2: Through the 2007 spring and summer, each student affair department/program was also required to develop and adopt a vision/mission statement to serve as the basis for future goal setting and decision making. Example 3: The Division of Student Affairs has committed to adopting three to five annual strategic objectives focused on addressing key issues in student life in a timely, agile, and action-oriented manner. For the 2007-2008 academic year the annual strategic objectives are: 1. Alcohol and Substance Abuse 2. Diversity and Human Difference 3. Student Academic Support 4. Engaged Citizenship/Understanding Democracy To advance these objectives four interdepartmental working groups have been formed and charged with identifying two to three action items under each objective, developing an implementation plan, and carrying out implementation. The philosophy behind the annual strategic objective initiative and the working groups is to commit to taking tangible steps to address large-scale, vexing issues in student life. While permanent solutions for issues like alcohol abuse do not likely exist, by adopting a focused, strategic approach we can effect change and improve conditions on campus. Moreover, by giving the working groups a short timeframe in which to do their work and begin implementation we can infuse vitality and agility to the program, which is critical to staying current and relevant to college student life. Objective: Maximize financial responsibility and efficiency throughout the Division of Student Affairs. Rationale: Effective financial oversight is an essential component of any well-functioning organization. By focusing more energy on budget planning, financial management of allocated resources, and exploring possible external funding opportunities we can improve the overall quality of the organization and improve outcomes for students. Example 1: Explore the possibility of working with human resources and the budget office to provide a budget management workshop for student affairs staff. Most mid-and upper-level student affairs managers have little or no training in financial management. A basic workshop on preparing and managing a budget, as well as basic information about the College’s annual operating budget and fund accounting, would help them to be better budget managers and College citizens. Example 2: Work with the college relations staff to identify areas of the student affairs program that may be appropriate targets for external funding. Particularly as we explore programs around enhancing understanding of diversity and human difference, civic engagement, and alcohol/substance abuse prevention, there may be grant writing opportunities worth exploring. Similarly, other aspects of the Colby 360 initiative may prove to be appealing opportunities for potential donors. IMPLEMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT Implementation of many aspects of Colby 360 has already begun and will continue into the foreseeable future. Under the direction of the vice president for student affairs/dean of students, the student affairs managers group will oversee and manage the implementation process which will include developing and adhering to a clear timetable, designating individual staff members to serve as implementation supervisors for each of the component parts of the plan, establishing benchmarks to measure success, scheduling regular reviews of the plan, and working with the Office of Institutional Research to develop assessment tools designed to evaluate outcomes and overall effectiveness of the plan. The preliminary implementation plan is detailed below. Implementation Strategy Implementation of Colby 360 will follow a disciplined and systematic approach. Beginning in October of 2007 the following steps will be taken: 1. Additional time will be added to the meeting schedule of the student affairs managers group/implementation team (hereafter I-team) to be designated specifically to monitor implementation of Colby 360. 2. Members of the student affairs managers group will be assigned as implementation supervisors for each major component part of the plans. 3. Detailed component implementation strategies will be developed and approved by the implementation team. Component implementation strategies will include: a list of key stakeholders, short- and long-term action steps for achieving component objectives, cost analysis and funding plan, timetables and benchmarks, and an assessment strategy. 4. The I-team will develop a plan to regularly collect student feedback about residential and co-curricular education at Colby. The plan should include both qualitative (e.g., focus groups, personal interviews) and quantitative tools). 5. The I-team will conduct comprehensive, semi-annual reviews of Colby 360 and progress on implementation. Where necessary and appropriate, elements of the plan will be altered or abandoned. Likewise, new component parts and objectives may be added as issues change and student life evolves. 6. The vice president for student affairs/dean of students will provide regular reports on the implementation status of Colby 360 to the President, senior administrative staff, and the Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees. Implementation Objective Initial Action Completion Target I-team Meeting Schedule October 1, 2007 COMPLETE I-team Meetings October 1, 2007 On-going Preliminary strategic plan review October 1, 2007 COMPLETE Assign implementation supervisors October 1, 2007 COMPLETE Implementation Strategies I (2) October 8, 2007 November 15, 2007 Implementation Strategies II (3) October 8, 2007 January 15, 2008 Student Feedback Collection Plan October 15, 2007 February 1, 2008 Semi-Annual Review Schedule October 1, 2007 COMPLETE Semi-Annual Review Implementation January 2008 On-going Implementation Reports to President December 2007 On-going
[1] The implementation timetable is subject to change. [2] Phase I implementation strategies shall include list of key stakeholders, short-term action steps (w/funding plan), preliminary benchmarking and timetable for implementation. [3] Phase II implementation strategies shall include additional short-term action steps, long-term action steps, comprehensive cost analysis, final benchmarking and timetable for implementation, and assessment strategy. |
     
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