Accelerating new program development

Community College Enterprise, The, Spring 2004 by Hamori-Ota, Virginia

How can community colleges accelerate the process of new program development to better serve the economic needs of their regions? Part I of a two-part article briefly reviews the scholarly literature related to developing new academic and workforce training programs and summarizes the results of a qualitative research study of 9 community colleges in 5 states. The author synthesizes the literature review and study results to create an easily adaptable process model. The goal is to assist institutions in responding quickly and efficiently to community needs for education and training.

Introduction and rationale

In 1999, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) updated its roundtable report on core indicators of effectiveness in light of the changing and more rigorous context in which policymakers, employers and students are viewing community colleges. The revised edition of Core Indicators of Effectiveness for Community Colleges (Alfred, Ewell, Hudgins, McClenney, 1999) emphasizes markets, technology and the drive for performance and accountability as transformational forces, either to be confronted or ignored at a cost. To these the author may add the current budgetary climate which anticipates further cuts in federal and state higher education funding.

Alfred et al. (1999) include an institution's willingness and capacity to determine and quickly respond to stakeholder needs as an integral part of the definition of effectiveness. Core Indicator #14 is entitled Responsiveness to Community Needs. The detailed guidelines for measures of the indicator-and data sources from which to draw-include average time required to gain internal approval to implement new instructional measures. If community colleges used this timeframe as a measure of effectiveness, how would most fare?

The process of implementing a new degree or certificate program can take from nine months to two years. In an increasingly unstable labor market, it is crucial that community colleges monitor employer and student needs and respond accurately and nimbly to shortterm and long-term job horizons. The research for the current study examines the processes colleges use to generate ideas for new programs, conduct needs assessments, and shepherd new degree and certificate programs through the internal and state approval process to achieve implementation.

Few inquiries have examined processes community colleges use to conduct needs assessments, develop curricula and obtain state approval for new degree and certificate programs. In addition, state higher education systems operate within their own idiosyncratic frameworks (Tollefson, Garrett, &. Ingram, 1999). Since many community colleges seem to be conducting needs analysis and labor market assessments independently of each other, there may be considerable duplication in their efforts.

Little has been written about the idea generation phase for new programs, or how decisions of program deletion are made. A postimplementation issue is program evaluation and whether predicted expectations for sustainability have been achieved. The preliminary and post-implementation components of the process model are important considerations for enhancing institutional effectiveness as well as using technology to accelerate the program development process. In 2000, a national invitational colloquium on certification and credentialing co-sponsored by the National Council for Occupational Education (NCOE) and the National Council for Continuing Education and Training (NCCET) noted that course development time needs to be shortened, thus institutions must identify ways of using technology to improve response time (Carter, 2000).

Research questions

The current research was commissioned by a community college in Southeast Michigan and completed under the auspices of the Center for the Study of Higher and Post-secondary Education in the School of Education at The University of Michigan. The college was seeking to re-design its process of new program needs assessment and approval. The existing process for identifying potential new program offerings and conducting statemandated needs assessments was lengthy and cumbersome, limiting the ability of the college to respond quickly to opportunities and market changes.

The research goal, then, was to identify theoretical models from the literature, incorporate business product development ideas, and seek out best practices among community colleges. The information was used to inform the creation of a straightforward, time-efficient process flow chart to guide the college in launching new programs. The basic modules of the chart can be readily adapted by other colleges to suit their own particular requirements.

In order to develop a process model, the study asked the following questions:

1. What processes/tools do other community colleges/businesses use to identify new programs, products and/or services to offer customers?

2. What processes/tools do other community colleges/businesses use to conduct needs assessments for new programs, products and/ or services?