San Jacinto College
2022-2023 Annual Priorities
- Ensure and Uphold Our Equity Focus and Commitment: Through the use of disaggregated data, inquiry, self-reflection, and analysis, explore how existing instructional, student support, and business practices, policies, initiatives, and programming address equity and inclusion. Develop and implement aggressive strategies that address student performance and outcome gaps and enhance employee implementation of lessons learned by integrating the equity focus and work throughout the College. Objectives and areas of emphasis include the following:
- A culture of inclusive classrooms and accessible learning,
- Curriculum designed to train the next generation of the workforce and prepare students for the workplace environment,
- Courageous conversations that advance understanding and respect within the San Jacinto College community and in our local communities,
- Equity in student outcomes by program and course for Hispanic, White, Black, Asian, and Native American students and students with socioeconomic or learning differences, and
- Strategies that reduce unconscious bias, eliminate implicit bias, and increase diversity in the recruitment, hiring, and retention of College employees.
- Expansion of Transfer Opportunities and Awareness: Improve communication and collaboration with transfer institutions, focusing on institutions that are within the top ten transfer destinations for San Jacinto College students or those that offer exceptional opportunities for students. Review existing institutional-level articulation agreements and revise with an emphasis on benefits to students, scholarships, and program placement while eliminating transfer barriers. Create program-level articulation agreements that identify and delineate specific courses, barriers, and solutions for success within program pathways.
- Career and Workforce Pathways: Expand existing workforce programs and develop programs to meet demand for a responsive talent pipeline. Evaluate and improve existing curricula to ensure that student learning reflects workplace culture and employer demand. Review curricula and programs to identify short-term credentials of value that prepare learners for immediate entry or re-entry into the workforce and open pathways to certificates or degrees. Continue to strengthen employer relationships and expand sector-based Chancellor’s Advisory Councils. Refresh and enhance program advisory committees. Expand workplace opportunities for hands-on and experiential learning. Explore and implement competency-based models for awarding credit for prior learning to expedite the student’s journey to a career. Redesign systems that facilitate pathways across noncredit and credit programs. Increase and strengthen incumbent worker training.
- Adaptive Student Support: Establish a program-focused holistic advising system that focuses on student career and transfer pathways and offers an optimal balance between traditional and digital student support services. Continue advancements in organizational structure, process and technology improvements, and specialized advising capabilities to create an efficient and adaptive institution that responds swiftly to unique student needs.
- Expand Our Outreach Efforts by Focusing on Creating College-Going Opportunities: Increase and enhance outreach, access, and support for individuals whose education was disrupted by COVID or for community members who have been historically underrepresented in postsecondary education.
High School Populations: Develop responsive strategies to address the non-college going high school graduate population through aggressive efforts to encourage all high school seniors in the taxing district to take part in the Promise @ San Jac scholarship program. Continue discovery of barriers to student progress and where students stop out before high school completion.
Adult Populations: Create marketing and recruitment strategies for adult populations who have never attended college, who attended but did not complete a credential, and who achieved a credential but want additional or different credentials. Design programs and courses that meet the need for entry-level job skills, incumbent worker training, and/or career advancement competencies, including adult basic education and language skills and GED achievement. Design credit and non-credit programs to be taught on campus and in the community to meet the needs of adult population cohorts.
Online Populations: Develop strategies to market and recruit students to fully online programs created before and through the pandemic. Assess other College programs that are a few courses short of becoming a fully online program and develop a strategy to move these programs to the online learning format.
- Positioning for the Future: Continue to respond to workforce demands and challenges in recruitment and retention in today’s competitive environment. Expand employee coaching, mentoring opportunities, and knowledge management for critical positions. Continue to build employee and leadership capacity through participation in various professional development programs. Analyze and evaluate the results from the employee engagement survey to implement actions for sustained organizational wellness. Strengthen learned skills for all employees to support a diverse student population through active learning in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the College.
- Advance a Culture of Resiliency and Sustainability: Continuously implement innovative solutions when confronted with regional opportunities and challenges. Demonstrate agility, resiliency, and flexibility through collaboration when trying to solve challenges and proactively anticipating future challenges. Foster continuous improvement across the College focused on sustainability and aligned to increased student success.
Board Approved August 8, 2022