MATC Matters

Looking at AQIP
Category 4: Valuing People

AQIP has identified nine categories of related key processes that provide a framework for the assessment and improvement of higher education institutions. The fourth category, AQIP Category 4-Valuing People, focuses on how an institution develops its faculty, staff and administration, exploring the processes and systems related to work environment including workforce needs; training initiatives; job competencies and characteristics; recruitment, hiring and retention practices; reward, compensation and benefits; motivation and satisfaction; and health, safety and well-being measures.

The Systems Appraisal identified MATC’s strengths for “Valuing People” as:

• The College’s clear and appropriate credentialing processes

• Processes and activities that support implementation of MATC’s stated values
• Availability of orientation, training and professional development opportunities to all employees
• Recent changes that improve the personnel evaluation systems
• Collecting College environment employee data by administering PACE (Personal Assessment of the College Environment)

The Systems Appraisal also provided feedback on opportunities for improvement including:

• The need for a clear succession planning process

• Clarification of professional development opportunities for part-time faculty
• A need to show a stronger connection between personnel evaluations and individual professional growth and development plans
• Explain how PACE survey results are used to systematically improve the College environment
• Increasing data collection, revealing trends or patterns, to be used for improvement planning

The College has one former and two current Action Projects that are closely related to Valuing People. The Equivalent Instructional Support Action Project is aimed at creating and implementing a systematic support process for all part-time faculty members teaching aidable courses. This Action Project ended in 2007 but efforts to support part-time faculty members continues, led by the Diversity and Community Relations Office. A byproduct of the Equivalent Instructional Support Action Project, which is more related to Category 1: Helping Students Learn, is the Course Portfolios Action Project.

The two current Action Projects closely related to Category 4 are:

• Communication-improving College communication processes and perceptions.

• Culture-finding ways to encourage an atmosphere of cooperation across the college, as evidenced by PACE scores.

Both of these Action Projects were suggested by employees at the March 2007 Vital Focus meeting.

Valuing people continues to be a strong focus of MATC’s activities and overall quality improvement goals. Diversity, employee job classification and personnel evaluation are just a few of the areas that have been improved recently. Improving data collection and measures and using the data to help support our staff, faculty and administrators in their jobs and overall working conditions will help the College reach its goals related to “Valuing People.”