Ivy Tech Community College is extending its Accelerating Greatness strategic plan through 2025 in order to help reach the nation’s goal of postsecondary degree attainment.

The plan, Accelerating Greatness 2025, was approved by the State Board of Trustees and will help the United States grow from 40 percent of working adults holding an associate degree or higher to 60 percent by the year 2025 in order to meet a higher education goal of returning the United States to number one in the world of postsecondary attainment. Ivy Tech is the first school in Indiana to align its completion goals with the state of Indiana completion agenda in such a systemic way.

It is appropriate that this year, its 50th, the college has set a bold goal of increasing the number of graduates to 50,000 annually by 2025.

Ivy Tech’s Accelerating Greatness 2025 plan focuses on staff, faculty, students and stakeholders to support student success. The plan focuses on four strategies and builds upon the successes of Ivy Tech’s three-year 2010 Accelerating Greatness Strategic Plan. The plan was built on the components of Jim Collin’s Good to Great, along with lessons from Achieving the Dream, a national initiative dedicated to helping more community college students succeed, particularly those students who traditionally face the most significant barriers to success.

“Changing Lives, Making Indiana Great is more than just a tagline for our college. It is our vision. Ivy Tech is leading the way in making this state great and Accelerating Greatness 2025 is going to take us into the future,” said Ivy Tech President Thomas J. Snyder.

“We are celebrating the many successes of our first Accelerating Greatness plan that we launched three years ago. We know that we need to extend many of those initiatives for continued success. For the state to meet the 2025 higher education goal, we must dramatically increase student success here at Ivy Tech. Our staff, faculty, students and the community share equal responsibility to make sure students complete their education objectives. We expect 50,000 graduates in 2025, a terrific goal to set in celebration of our 50th anniversary this year.”

Ivy Tech Bloomington Chancellor John Whikehart and Associate Vice President for Planning and Research Jill Robinson Kramer will be co-chairing the efforts for the college. They will be joined by nearly 50 regional and central office executives who will champion the initiative efforts forming teams that involved hundreds of faculty and staff throughout the state.

The plan includes four over-arching strategies that aim to improve educational attainment, increase sustainable resources, improve efficiencies, and optimize college resources.

The first strategy reflects Ivy Tech’s vision of Changing Lives, Making Indiana Great. As the college stands strongly committed to giving students every opportunity to thrive, Strategy one is to ensure students meet their educational objectives. Initiatives have been developed to help meet the objectives of this strategy. Focus areas include academic advising, retention efforts, math redesign, accelerated degree programs and prior learning assessment.

Because of the role Ivy Tech plays in strengthening Indiana’s workforce, the college continues to be a priority in the state’s budget. However, in order for Ivy Tech to continue to offer the state’s most affordable tuition, it must become more self-sufficient. That’s exactly what Strategy two of Accelerating Greatness 2025 addresses: Ensure a sustainable financial resource base.

Strategy three of Accelerating Greatness 2025 takes a close look at the college’s processes: The College will ask itself what is done, why it’s done, and how it helps provide unmatched programs and services, while still eliminating waste and duplicated efforts. The strategy focuses on ensuring processes are of optimal quality, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The goal of Accelerating Greatness 2025 is to dramatically increase student success. Ivy Tech’s past performance, vision and future strategy indicate that the college is up to the challenge. But its ability to contribute to Indiana’s educational and economic growth also depends on its own resources and ability to grow. That’s why Strategy four addresses the college’s resources. It addresses such things as technology and space needs as well as increased staff and student satisfaction; therefore, Strategy four focuses on ensuring optimal human and physical resource capacity.

Ivy Tech Community College is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.

Source: Inside INdiana Business