Strategic Planning 2015-2020 Process and Outcomes

BMCC, in addition to conducting an environmental scan and reviewing institutional data, engaged more than 300 faculty, staff, and students in a series of facilitated conversations for 18 months to develop the 2015-2020 Strategic Plan Reaching Greater Levels. The comprehensive planning process resulted in a document that provided institutional context, trends and highlights, planning methodology, and a list of strategic goals, objectives, and outcomes. As part of the process, the College reviewed and revised its mission statement and institutional (strategic) goals to ensure that the institution would hold itself accountable to supporting and improving student success through every stage of their educational journey at BMCC.

To assist with the operationalization of the plan, each of the strategic objectives was linked with a series of actions identified as key performance indicators (KPIs). The institution was intentional in prioritizing actions that had shown promising results in improving student learning and success and which crossed divisions and units. The intent was to focus on student-facing operations, gather evidence regarding improvements, and to increase institutional commitment to improving teaching and learning and the environment for student success.

Finally, the plan included a set of strategic outcomes which represented the overall results that the plan was designed to achieve. There was a total of twenty outcomes, many of which were associated with multiple goals and objectives. BMCC determined the 2015 baseline measures, where possible, for each of the outcomes as well as overall expectations regarding each outcome at the end of the plan. The table below provides a final report on the College’s effectiveness in achieving these outcomes.

Over the course of the 5-year plan, we saw dramatic improvement in several student success metrics. There was substantial progress in the area of developmental education. We saw a reduction in the percent of students needing remediation drop from 81.1% in 2015 to 51.1% now in 2020. Developmental course pass rates improved in both Writing (59.0%) and Math (47.7%). The Gateway courses also saw improvement in the percentage of students that were proficient after year one, with Math increasing from 32.1% in 2015 to 45.7% in 2020, and English increasing from 62.6% to 66.8%. Both 3 and 4-year graduation rates increased to 24.5% and 28.7%, respectively. The 2015-2020 metrics also saw improvement in faculty and staff satisfaction. Currently, faculty have reported higher satisfaction with interdisciplinary opportunities, support for research, and governance while staff have reported increased satisfaction in their personal and professional growth at the College.

Only four of the 21 indicators with quantifiable targets reflected poorer results over the baseline and one indicator (participation in workforce operations) was directly impacted by COVID 19 and another (retention rate) represented the first increase in six years. What was most encouraging was the overall improvement developmental need, grades, course pass rates, and graduation rates. Over the past five years, the College has developed, evaluated, and expanded myriad initiatives and programs designed to significantly improve student success and the results indicate that these efforts have been successful. Movement into the 2020-2025 strategic planning phase will include scaling up many of the activities and changes that positively impacted and enhanced student learning and success.