Building Capacities for Our Sesquicentennial
1
1
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Research
Key Performance and Analytical Questions (KPQs-KAQs)
Developing Key Performance Indicators
Pillar 1: Programmatic Advancement
Dashboard KPIs
Pillar 2: Partnership and Collaboration
Dashboard KPIs
Pillar 3: Financial Responsibility
Dashboard KPIs
Pillar 4: Innovation and Continuous Improvement
Dashboard KPIs:
Pillar 5: Integrated Marketing
Dashboard KPI:
Dashboard Best Practices & Unintended Consequences
Appendices
Appendix A: Present & Future 2020 Strategic Dashboards
Appendix B: Value Creation Map
Appendix C: Capital Campaign Benchmarks & Timeline
Appendix D: Lambuth University
Appendix E: Learning Resource Guide
Appendix F: Service: Learning Course Planning Worksheet
Appendix G: Expectations for Instructors of Service-Learning Courses
Appendix H: Building a SL Designated Course Syllabus
Appendix I: Building a Designated SL Course, PowerPoint Presentation
Appendix J: Establishment of an Academic Unit
1
Executive Summary
This report is designed for the Administration and Board of Trustees of Martin Methodist College, who oversee the strategic planning and performance management of the College. The development of a strategic dashboardenhances the college’sability to increase its effectiveness in tracking and meetingtheprojected Martin 2020 goals. To this end, the strategic dashboard serves as a tool and a companion to the Martin 2020 in bringing improved accountability and transparency.
Included in this report isan overview of our research of higher education best practices and processes,an assessment of key performance questions and indicators that led to the development of the dashboard recommendations. Specific key performance questions were developed to drive our research for each of the strategies that make up the six Pillars of theMartin 2020. Through interviews with key stakeholders, strategieswere identified, prioritized, and subsequently broken down into processes were then linked to measurabletargetsand key performance indicators (KPIs).
This process resulted in the creation of two dashboards, the “Present Dashboard” and the “Future Dashboard”. The Present Dashboard consists largely of outcome KPIs. It measures the progress required to implement the targeted strategic pillars. The Future Dashboard will measure the extent to which the college is achieving the new initiatives. It can be seen in Appendix A for reference. Both dashboards put a strong emphasis on the college’s enrollment and regional orientation strategy. The increase in enrollment at Martin Methodist, although not identified in any single Pillar, is a key indicator to its long-term sustainability.Because the Martin 2020identifies specific initiatives to be tracked, the dashboard measuresprogress toward target goals or processes, with data used to manually populate the majority of the KPIs via an Excel worksheet.
The objective is that the Martin 2020 dashboardwill assiststakeholders in monitoring the progress made toward meeting the Martin 2020goals[f1][VBS2], enhanceoverall accountability, and drive positive change and desired outcomes as it is used in conjunction with the College’s well-established Annual Management Planning process. Lessons that can be learned from institutions like Lambuth University (see Appendix D) speak to the importance of establishing, measuring relevant strategic goals in order to achieve success.
Research
In addition to internal data collected from Martin Methodist College,the project team conducted research that included benchmark data from peer institutions and survey data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The project team also met with relevant stakeholders:
- Dr. Ted Brown, President
- Mr. Byron Trauger, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
- Ms. Corbette Doyle, Board Member
- Mr. David Stevens, Chief Financial Officer
- Dr. Jim Murrell, Vice President of Academic Affairs
- Mr. Dennis Haskins, Vice President of Planning & Effectiveness
Discussions with these stakeholders ensuredthat the project team understood the strategies and goals outlined in the Martin 2020,andaccuratelyprioritized key performance questions that would lead to focused, meaningful and integrated metrics for the strategic dashboard. Important in these steps was the creation of a strategy mapoutlining outcome objectives and core processes towardachievingMartin 2020 objectives (Appendix B).We also augmented the data given to us by the Vice President of Planning and Effectiveness with research about peer institutions that served as a both a “best practice” and “what not to do” case study for Martin Methodist College. The project team also researched best practices of processesused for programmatic development, service learning initiatives, and the Capital Campaign (Appendix C).
Key Performance and Analytical Questions (KPQs-KAQs)
The project team developed the following over-arching, measurable objective forMartin 2020: to what extent is Martin Methodist College achieving its 2020 goals? With this objective in mind, key performance and analytical questions (KPQs - KAQs)were developed to identify the most critical performance-related questions that Martin 2020should seek to answer across all of the strategic initiatives making up the sixPillars of the Plan. By answering these KPQs, we are identifying the metrics that are most closely linked to meeting the goals of the 2020 plan. Our assessment of where each strategic initiative should fall within one of the Pillars is shown below:
PILLARS OF THE PLAN STRATEGIC ISSUESFor each of the strategic initiatives, we identified exploratory questions to ensure any indicator collected would helpanswer our critical objective and had real information value. Using thecollected data,research and interviews with key stakeholders, the project teamidentifiedup to three KPQs/KAQs for the highest priority Pillars of the Plan. The only Pillar not represented below is that of Globalization and Diversity. Because of Martin Methodist’s relatively strong ethnic population (13.7%), the priorities fell elsewhere. However, the Team understands the importance of diversity and has implemented this metric on the dashboard. [VBS3]Specifically, the percent of ethnic minorities that make up the student population at Martin Methodist College is annotated within the critical metrics layout of the[f4] dashboard. Furthermore, some of the global issues are connected to other Pillars such as Partnership and Collaboration.
Pillar 1: Programmatic Advancement:
To what extent are weachieving our programmatic expansion goals?
How well are we providing adequate academic undergraduate and graduate opportunities tostudents?
To what extent is the community benefitting from our service learning initiatives?
Pillar 2: Partnership and Collaboration
To what extent are we fostering an entrepreneurial spirit on campus and in the community?
To what extent are we fostering church partnerships?
To what extent are we fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between our college students and the community?
Pillar 3: Financial Responsibility
To what extent are we planning and executing a successful capital campaign?
Pillar 4: Innovation & Continuous Improvement:
To what extent is Martin Methodist making progress in the hiring of a Director of Faculty Development position?
To what extent are we expanding non-traditional course delivery to students?
To what extent are we meeting the learning needs of our students?
Pillar 5: Integrated Marketing:
How well are we preparing the college to take on effective branding and marketing initiatives?
Developing Key Performance Indicators
As the Martin 2020 states, while the 1.4 version of the Plan has successfully defined critical initiatives that are linked to the college’s future effectiveness, it stops short of setting precise goals. These targets are necessary for translating strategic objectives into a performance plan that can be tracked. In order to design a useful strategic dashboard for tracking targets, the project team utilized relevant data from Appendices IV of the Martin 2020 (Key Performing Indicators). Any missing components weresupplemented with simulated data and processes were formulated through research of peer institutions and talking with key stakeholders. In addition, through interviews with key stakeholders, we also narrowed the strategic issues to the following components (see below), reflecting five of the six Pillars to be the most meaningful for 2020 strategic dashboard. As stated earlier, diversity has been included as an overarching strategy through programmatic advancement and partnerships and collaboration.
We recommend that in next iteration of the Martin 2020 planning process, theprocesses captured on the dashboard KPIs be examined more closely. This will not only ensurebuy-in, but also produce more accurate targets.
Pillar 1: Programmatic Advancement
KPQ: To what extent is Martin Methodist College achieving programmatic advancement?
Martin Methodist College is looking to expand its course offerings by rigorously assessing existing programs to assure quality education. As the only baccalaureate college in the region, the collegeis focused on the expansion of its undergraduate offerings to address specific needs of the South Central Tennessee region. This expansion is directly related to the college’s regional connections (key alumni, church and education leaders), the 13 South Central Tennessee Counties, public and private high-schools, public community colleges and different United Methodist churches throughout the region. The efforts of the collegein academic expansion will focus on the creation of graduate courses in three areas: Masters of Business Administration, Curriculum Instruction, and Criminal Justice/Forensic Psychology. Implementation of graduate education programs is a priority because of students’ borrowing ability. The college’s tuition dependence to meet its current budget is currently at 80%, with a student body of 57%, coming from a low-income status. For academic expansion to occur, the college will need to increase their faculty to 50 new full-time positions by 2020. The real value in continuing education programs is, therefore, the ability of Martin Methodist College to increase its student body population in order to yield in higher revenue and to improve the quality of teaching as it attracts more quality faculty over the next decade. However, for substantive change to undergraduate and graduate programs to occur, Martin Methodist must file a proposal to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. This is the first critical step towards developing a new program as indicated within the 2020 Plan.
Additionally, integral to the expansion of undergraduate and graduate programsis the opportunity to leverage service learning. Linking service learning fromthe classroom setting to opportunities in the community poses as a one of the strongest differentiators for Martin Methodist College. To further build on the service learning initiative, we also recommend a nursing program betaken under consideration as another new undergraduate program.We believe there is an opportunity to incorporate the service learning concept into this program. Specifically, just as Rhodes College has implemented service learning within their urban studies curriculum to service needs of the urban communities of Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Methodist could train healthcare professionals to respond to the health needs of the rural counties of South Central Tennessee. Currently, there are 514 students engaged in academic service learning with about 1,856 students who have done community service multiple times, for a total community service hours of 21,349, demonstrating a remarkable student interest in this area.
Dashboard KPIs:
Graduate Program Development:Progress of phased implementation of grad school programs in relation to year and staff hired.
Undergraduate Program Development: Status bar trackingtarget staff positions to be hired in relation to year
Service Learning: Service learning phased processes with status target line in relation to year
Graduate & Undergraduate Program Development: Both graduate and undergraduate program development charts track how well the college is doing in regards to progress of developing programs. Because these goals are process-based, we useda programmatic phased approach(Appendix J). Benchmarked against the progress of program development is the status of faculty staff placement. These two metrics provide a leading indicator of how well the college is doing to effectively advance newprogram offering over the course of the next 10 years. This also ties to the overall enrollment strategy outlined within the Martin 2020.
For Graduate Program Development, progress is tracked according to selected program, the phases (early planning, proposal development, campus review), number of staff hired along a continuum of time.
With Undergraduate Program Development, each identified program is tracked according to the following staffing process targets:
Service Learning: To capture progress toward targeted phases for implementing service learning into undergraduate and graduate courses,webased measurements off information provided by key service learning stakeholders within the state of Tennessee, which include, Campus Compact Tennessee State Representative, SALT Center at Lipscomb University, Center for Leadership at Tennessee Wesleyan College and the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching on Service Learning . We identified measurable steps for the development of service learning programs from a source provided by Campus Compact (Appendix J)and divided them into the following phases: planning, prototype (identifying prototype courses), service learning expansion (promotion of courses) and the evaluation stage - which assesses the impact of service learning on student learning and community impact. The black status bar demonstrates the targeted goal, highlighting whether or not the college is behind schedule of its stated 2020 service learning goal, of implementing service learning courses within every academic major at Martin Methodist. When Service Learning initiatives are behind schedule, a red dot will appear (as shown) to indicate this is an area requiring executive attention.
Pillar 2: Partnership and Collaboration
KPQ:To what extent is Martin Methodist College developing quality partnerships & collaboration regionally?
Partnering with outside organizations and fostering internal collaboration among departments is an important step in the Martin 2020 to maximize cooperative activities among the college’s stakeholders and regional partners. Per the regional strategy, the college’s goal is to first target the south central Tennessee region, specifically the 13 surrounding counties. The objective is to build a relationship like the one it currently has with Giles County. The relationship with the Giles County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Commission has contributed to the creation of the Giles County Small Business Development Center, a place that provides assistance to start-ups and on-going small businesses. The college is looking to foster these types of relationships in the next 10 years by fostering theEntrepreneurial Attitude. The college sees this initiative as a mutually benefiting endeavor that has the potential to transform the region as well as enrich the quality of education of its students. Additionally, the association with the United Methodist Church brings in about two percent of students on scholarships. The goal of the college is to increase its scholarship rate proportionally as the student population grows. Another primary initiative for cooperative academic projects is the relationship with public community colleges Columbia State and Motlow for initiatives linked to the community and economic development of south central Tennessee.
Dashboard KPIs:
Regional Orientation:County data compared todonations, students enrolled and service learning engagements rates.
Church Connectedness: Number of student enrollment from church scholarships tracked over time and benchmarked against other student demographics.
County per student donation and enrollment rates captures effect of key partnerships that begin to be established over the next 10 years from the outlying counties of south central Tennessee.
County Partnerships:To capture the college’s regional strategy, the dashboard’s County Partnerships was designed to measure progress of student enrollment, service learning engagement and donations by thethirteen regional counties. Having all three metrics tracked according to county will help key stakeholders identify where quality partnerships and collaboration are succeeding or lagging. Martin Methodist College is currently receiving donations from one county. By having all counties displayed, however, stakeholders can see where donations come from in relation to number of students. It would be ideal to see these numbers grow over time.
Student Enrollment:Becauseenrollment is key to Martin 2020’s regional strategy and the overall success of partnerships and collaboration,the dashboard emphasizes the status of student enrollment by tracking the distribution of four types of student enrollment: traditional, church scholarships, undergraduates coming from 2 year colleges and graduate students. The teamalso incorporated the projected increase of residential students as the target for two-year students enrolled at Martin Methodist College. (pg. 48, Martin 2020 v1.4). The horizontal black status bar shows where progress is being made each year. When any one student category target is behind schedule, the black status bar will turn to red, signifying that the anticipated enrollment target for that student demographic is behind schedule.
Pillar 3: Financial Responsibility
KAQ: how well is Martin Methodist College progressing toward preparing and achieving its2020 Capital Campaign goals?
Despite the complexitiesfrom the economic downturn and the college’sfiscal constraints[VBS5], Martin Methodist College is persevering under the guidance of a strong governing board, management, faculty and staff. Because the college depends heavily on tuition to meet its current operation expenses, it is limited in its ability to respond to opportunities. The standard KPIs for measuring financial responsibility, therefore track’s the level of flexibility related tostudent graduation, conversion, and retention and acceptance rates. Additionally, the Capital Campaign captures targeted progress toward preparing and executing campaign steps. As Appendix C demonstrates, a systematic capital campaign process is the solution to achieving financial sustainability. We have identified through the use of IUPI’s planning guide a credible, phased approach that includes, assessment, organization, quiet and public stage that provides the means toward success. The breakdown of these phases is also located in Appendix C.
Dashboard KPIs:
Critical Metrics: graduation rate, conversion rate, retention and acceptance metrics for graduate and undergraduate students.
Capital Campaign: progress of capital fundraising targets calibrated to $80M by 2020, with 80-100M as a capital campaign goal identified in conversations with key stakeholders.