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1. A.2 The institution’s academic programs, student support services, and enrollment profile are consistent with its stated mission.

Academic programs are developed and sustained with the collaboration of Program Advisory Committees made up of community members who work in relevant positions.  Program Advisory Committees meet twice a year, provide input as to the relevancy of proposed new majors or concentrations, and advise departments on the needs of area employers.  The Academic Affairs Committee then reviews new programs for their match with the College mission, goals and objectives within the strategic plan.  The Academic Affairs Committee also reviews and approves the academic content, course descriptions, texts and syllabi ( See Operational Framework (127 KB, PDF)). Proposals are taken to the President’s Council for consideration and from there to the Board of Trustees for final approval.

 Successful collaboration is implemented for the purpose of mission fulfillment. As an example, Student Services staff and Academic Affairs Committee members provide a direct link to the administration; additional committees provide more specialized reports.  The Assessment Committee makes recommendations to the Academic Affairs Committee and the Enrollment Management and Retention Committee makes recommendations to the President’s Council.  A faculty representative attends Student Services meetings and a Student Services representative attends Academic Affairs meetings.  A complete description of committees and councils are in the Policy Manual Section III.  The College Forum provides the most unique example of college-wide collaboration.  The College Forum includes all staff, faculty, and administration.  This meeting is designed to ensure that all employees on campus are included in the decision-making process.  

All academic programs at Miller College contain general education components that are organized around the mission (See College Catalog page 17). Miller College is dedicated to academic quality and integrity.  Each school’s assessment plan ties the goals and objectives of each course to the program outcomes which are derived from the mission statement. All adjunct faculty attend a formal faculty orientation or receive individual training which emphasizes the mission statement and includes instruction on the use of Worldwide Instructional Design System™ (WIDS) for syllabi construction, classroom technology, the virtual library, Blackboard™, and the use of Miller College email. 

The Academic Affairs Committee, in addition to its other duties, acts as a curriculum committee in approving new courses, changes to existing courses, and textbook change requests. All curriculum issues are measured against the mission.  All syllabi are constructed using WIDS to tie the goals and objectives to the learning outcomes for each school which are derived from the mission statement. Course offerings and course content support and emphasize an understanding of a globally oriented world (See Syllabi and Course Description – BUSN 420: Global Business Seminar  (201 KB, PDF), EDUC 302: Diversity and Inclusion I  (485 KB, PDF), SOCI 310: Human Diversity (348 KB, PDF), BSRN 300: Community Health (347 KB, PDF)). Field placement of education majors involves multiple mentor teachers in diverse settings ( See Summary of Field Placement (104 KB, PDF) ).

Every course requires an oral presentation and/or a written project which demonstrates the College’s value of oral and written communication skills. 

In support of the mission, students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to perform community service.  Students are expected to complete one hour of service learning for every semester hour they are enrolled at Miller College. This service is recorded in the students’ electronic portfolio (See College Catalog pg. 17).  This service to the community has included working with the homeless, serving food in the soup kitchens, donating books to schools, building homes in underdeveloped countries, and preparing income tax returns for low income and elderly taxpayers through the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program.

The Career Services Center is developing a networking process that includes a binder with career opportunities and an annual career fair.  The Career Services Center continues to offer Job Fair Opportunities for students:

 

B.C. Regional Job Fair

On March 16, 2012 a group of community partners combined time and resources to offer the first Battle Creek Regional Job Fair, which consisted of more than 50 employers and was attended by over 500 individuals throughout the community.  The fair was held on Kellogg Community College’s campus in response to a growing need by employers to have a routine venue to gather and interview new hires.

Community partners include: Multiple divisions of MI Works!; Miller College; Kellogg Community College (KCC) and Access2Success; Davenport University; Summit Pointe; Women’s Co-Op; and Goodwill Industries.  Each partner offers a unique perspective and skill set and enabled the group to quickly plan for and facilitate the March 16th job fair.

Highlights of the event:

  • Leading up to the event Patrick Casey, from Kellogg Community College Career and Employment Services, facilitated five workshops, open to college students and the community that were free of charge.  Topics included: Resume Writing; Job Fair and Business Etiquette; Interviewing Strategies; and Emerging Technologies for Job Search. 
  • In addition, Jenny Andrews, Director of Institutional Advancement for Miller College, hosted a $tart $mart workshop on Miller College’s campus and facilitated by Annie Houle of the WAGE Project, Women Are Getting Even.   This course was intended to serve women of all ages and backgrounds and offered history on the wage gap between the genders; salary negotiation skill building exercises; and lessons on how to develop a personal budget to determine salary needs.
  • Individuals who attended the career workshops were offered vouchers from Goodwill Industries if appropriate clothing and financial constraints were an issue.  The Women’s Co-Op and Great Clips partnered to offer free haircuts prior to the job fair.
  • Dawn Nichols, MI Works!, was the contact person for the employers and did a tremendous job communicating the event to area businesses – as previously mentioned, over 50 businesses were in attendance at this first fair. In addition to employers, the fair also included various colleges offering attendees options to consider.
  • Goodie bags for both employers and attendees were provided by donations from Kellogg Community College, Miller College, Davenport University and MI Works!
  • Kellogg Community College’s Public Relations Department handled the majority of the marketing and promotion, including the creative development of the posters, flyers and postcards, but each community partner also helped spread the word through their own available avenues.
  • Both employers and attendees were surveyed so the collaborative could get a pulse on how the event was managed and perceived. 257 attendees responded to the surveys and 229 of them, or 85%, said the job fair was helpful; 14 indicated they were offered a position. Common suggestions included additional marketing prior to the event; more signage at the event; and employers in a wider variety of career fields.  Employers responded that a total of 533 interviews would be established as a result of the fair.
  • The collaborative has determined dates for all upcoming fairs to be the 3rd Friday of each March and September.

Internships that lead to full time work are encouraged in the Senior Seminars.  School Deans and faculty are dedicated to assisting students in finding employment through contact with local employers and other organizations. 

  • The School of Business has adopted an internship policy that provides internship opportunities for all qualifying business students to complete an internship at any time in their program at Miller College.

 Exit surveys administered in the Senior Seminar and Alumni surveys collected after graduation have several questions about the mission.  These questions are designed to evaluate how well graduating seniors and alumni feel that Miller College accomplished its mission of graduating students who have a high level of competence in their area of study, regularly perform community service activities, value student learning, use critical thinking skills to solve problems, utilize their understanding of a globally-oriented world, and have professional oral and written communication skills.  On a scale of 1-5 with 5 meaning strongly agree and 1 meaning strongly disagree, alumni in 2008 scored 3.96 and in 2010 they scored 4.25.  This indicates that either Miller College has improved students’ understanding of the mission or alumni felt stronger about the mission after being away from the College for a longer time.   Graduating seniors’ scores are shown in the table below.

 

 2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

3.93

4.09

4.32

4.25

3.88

 

These scores indicate steady improvement over the years with a decline in 2010 and 2011.  Current students understand the mission as shown in an additional research study prepared by a graduating senior, (Bob Champagne) as part of his final Capstone Course project.

 

Strategic initiatives that have been developed and implemented follow the parameters of the mission and vision of the College. 

 

  • The Children’s Literature Project demonstrates the College’s dedication to service to the community. 
  • The Nurse Applicant Program allows students on the waiting list for the Associates Degree in Nursing at area community colleges to begin taking classes towards their bachelor’s degree
  • The Bachelor of Science – Concentration MCOLES Law Enforcement Program offers alternative methods for attaining a bachelor’s degree

 

Evidence:

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