Quality Standards at Cowley College

Criteria 1. Mission
Cowley College develops mission as part of a regular, four-year strategic planning process with broad participation of internal and external stakeholders. Development of the mission and related statements is guided by a formal procedure that identifies the College's intended constituents and focuses on the needs of its enrollment profile and federal status as an open admissions institution. Curriculum and academic support services are intentionally created to meet the needs of the enrollment profile, including dual credit students, Pell recipients, degree- and non-degree seeking students as well as adult learners, first generation students, students seeking workforce preparation, and underprepared students. Cowley College clearly articulates its mission and related statements on its website, in strategic planning documents, in the academic catalog and in a variety of handbooks. The College demonstrates its mission guides the institution's operations with evidence that includes policies, procedures, strategic plans, economic impact studies, stakeholder surveys and other data reporting.

Criteria 2. Integrity: Ethical and Responsible Conduct
Cowley College develops its mission through a shared governance process embedded as the first step in the strategic planning cycle. Review of the mission is completed by all campus constituents during the fall of the “year of reflection” that precedes three years of active work to support strategic planning initiatives. The College's governing body regularly reviews the mission as part of annual vision-casting activities with the most recent reaffirmation during the fall of 2021. Mission and values drive the operationalization of integrity through policies and procedures for Business Services, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs. The College demonstrates integrity through compliance with federal and state requirements including the Student Right to Know, Title IX, Equity in Athletics, Clery Act, open records/meetings acts, and the Community College Taxpayer Transparency Act. Handbooks for employees, students, trustees, and faculty set expectations of integrity in human resource functions Cowley College measures it success in the operationalization of integrity with key performance indicators in the Accountability and Institutional Measures (AIM).

Criteria 3. Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support
Cowley College's program quality is consistent across all modes of delivery and locations through the application of policies and procedures guiding faculty qualifications and curriculum development. The College creates programs and curriculum in alignment with policies established the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR). Degree requirements, appropriate for each award level, are articulated in the academic catalog and on its public website. Learning goals for general education curriculum align with state-wide standards to facilitate transfer to four-year schools. Common course competencies across modalities and locations are outlined in course procedures and guide curriculum content. Faculty develop department guides, common finals, syllabi templates, and assessments to ensure consistent quality in teaching and learning. Cowley College supports its students with services created to meet the needs of its student profile. The College demonstrates the quality of the education offered to students, regardless of delivery of offerings, through policies, procedures, academic program review, and alignment with state requirements. Cowley College assesses the quality of teaching and learning through annual data reporting, student evaluations of instruction, and the Accountability and Institutional Measures (AIM) Retention and Success data sets.

Criteria 4. Teaching and learning: evaluation and improvement
Cowley College evaluates teaching and learning to drive improvement through a comprehensive, three-year program review cycle, general education outcomes assessment (GLO), and program outcomes assessment. Insights gained through these processes are acted upon to increase program quality and support student success. The College's Registrar maintains policies and procedures to evaluate the quality of all credits accepted in transfer with faculty exercising authority over course rigor and expectations for learning. Academic Affairs ensures quality in teaching and learning in all locations and modalities through consistent application of faculty qualifications policy and procedures. Access to learning resources is available to both in person and distance education students including library and tutoring services.

Cowley College maintains specialized accreditation for one program with evidence of continued accreditation that demonstrates program compliance. The College uses diagnostic and benchmarking data to define goals for student retention, persistence and completion. Review teams analyze data annually to support its students using the Accountability and Institutional Measures (AIM) Retention. Evaluation of success for its graduates is demonstrated through the AIM Success metrics set including awards conferred, transfer out, and employment after completion.

Criteria 5. Institutional Effectiveness, Resources and Planning
Cowley College plans for the future through a four-year strategic planning cycle with broad participation by campus stakeholders. Shared governance is demonstrated through policy and procedures, is included in the faculty master agreement, and demonstrated through the College's committee structure. Administrators review employee feedback to assess the quality of organizational shared governance. Improvements in data use to reach information decisions drove the College's recent HLC quality initiative. This project strengthened data quality, increased data accessibility, and created a sustainable review process to create improvements. The College supports current educational offerings while planning for the future through strategic planning, facilities planning, succession planning and enrollment management planning. A strong budgeting process is codified through policy and procedures, is aligned with strategic planning, and has mechanisms including monthly review by the governing body and a third-party audit that demonstrates the College monitors its finances.