The Institutional Planning Committee (IPC) at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) reached another milestone in its mission of applying the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) model of Integrated Planning to the College when it presented its first progress report to the Board of Higher Education (BHE) last week. As reported recently in the local media, since the beginning of summer the IPC has made accelerated progress on fulfilling the recommendations made this past September by a visiting team representing the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), a division of WASC, including the recommendation that ASCC show evidence of Integrated Planning.

"As we near the point in our work where the role of the Board in the Integrated Planning process comes into play, we wanted to bring them up to speed on our progress thus far, as well as set the stage for their own participation," said ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea'i.

Prior to the IPC presentation, Dr. Galea'i gave an introduction to place in perspective the role of the BHE in Integrated Planning, based on the terms and concepts in the report submitted by the ACCJC/WASC team who visited the College this past October. Dr. Galea'i prefaced his introduction by recalling some statistics shared by Dr. Barbara Beno, President of the ACCJC, during a meeting this past April. According to Dr. Beno, of the 22 colleges on sanction under the ACCJC/WASC umbrella, as of January 2009, the top three areas of deficiency are Program Review; planning using assessment; and board roles and responsibilities. With rapid progress being made by ASCC in the first two areas of concern, Dr. Galea'i defined the purpose of the presentation as "to collaboratively develop and define Board roles and responsibilities consistent with US accreditation standards" to enable the BHE to "positively contribute to the established, ongoing process for institution wide, broad based integrated strategic planning."

Dr. Galea'i went on to discuss the role of the President as defined by the ACCJC/WASC, as well as the concept of "shared governance". As Dr. Galea'i explained, "Shared governance is embedded in the language used in Recommendation 1 from ACCJC/WASC. This recommendation sets the foundation from which most of the others are presented." ACCJC/WASC Recommendation 1 states, "That the college redefine its planning model to include greater broad based participation by designing a group of college constituents to oversee planning activities and to promote broader participation, provide more coordination, ensure greater integration of functional plans, and establish a clearer link to resource allocation." The ASCC President discussed how ACCJC/WASC defines a board's role in strategic planning, citing the main goals of staying focused on strategic priorities; crafting a vision to guide strategic thinking through shared governance; facilitating strategic decision making through established key performance indicators; and using board meetings to monitor the progress of the institution's strategic agenda.

Dr. Galea'i next turned the floor over to the core members of the IPC, who presented the BHE with a summary of their progress so far in formulating institutional plans for ASCC based on ACCJC/WASC guidelines. The IPC first reviewed all 10 of the ACCJC/WASC recommendations, and then discussed their multi-phase approach to the Integrated Planning process. The IPC has identified its four Strategic Areas of Focus as 1) Academic Excellence; 2) Technology; 3) Staffing; and 4) Physical Facilities and Maintenance. Subcommittees for each area continue to meet daily to work on strategic objectives, performance indicators and activities, budget drafts, and a draft of the plans.

Rosevonne Pato, Director of the ASCC Office of Institutional Effectiveness and also chair of the IPC, described the response of the BHE to the presentation as "very positive," and said, "It gave them a clearer understanding of what has taken place in terms of planning over the past month." At present, she explained, the IPC is finalizing subcommittee drafts of the plans in the four strategic areas, in preparation for submitting the plans for budget review. The next step in the process will involve a Community Review, followed by further review by the President and BHE, who will work together on the final form the plans take. "Once the community, the President and the BHE have had the opportunity for input, these plans will determine the direction ASCC for the next three years," explained Pato. "Moreover, we've carried out the entire process following the ACCJC/WASC guidelines to the letter."

For future Institutional Planning activities, ASCC has chosen to follow a three-year cycle of evaluation, planning, and implementation. Following this initial effort to meet ACCJC/WASC guidelines, in which the College intends to complete the entire process within a timeframe of approximately nine months, Institutional Planning will continue on a less accelerated but nonetheless continuous basis. "Institutional planning does not stop," said Pato. "Completing planning drafts for the four strategic areas, which will happen shortly, will indicate that we've turned a major corner in the process. However, once these plans get implemented and evaluated, the cycle will start all over again."