SWCC assesses programs

An annual program review at Southwestern Community College may result in the closure of a degree due to lack of use.

SWCC Vice President of Instruction John Franklin shared information about the reports and why they’re required, citing a mandate from the Iowa Department of Education. House File 2392 requires all career and technical education programs be approved and reviewed by the Department of Education. This process includes a five-year cycle to cover all programs.

“This has been a pretty long process, we’ve been doing it since 1981,” Franklin said. “We review every CTE program, 20% of those programs each year, so it comes out to a five-year cycle. They added in an arts and sciences review, and we’ve done that since 2017.”

The program evaluation committee is made up of faculty, staff and administration from across the campus. The committee reviews a variety of components, including general program information, program and course level assessments, community and secondary partnerships and institutional resources.

Four programs were reviewed over the last year, including a variety of degrees and certificates. These programs were criminal justice, administrative office technology, graphic design and nursing assistant.

Criminal justice

The criminal justice program went through its first review, with the Criminal Justice Associate of Applied Science degree beginning just five years ago. Since then, a Criminal Justice Associate of Arts degree, meant to prepare students for a transfer to a four-year college, was added as well. Franklin said there was not a huge different between the two degrees.

“Every course in the transfer major, with the exception of the American National Government class, which is required for the transfer path, is already in the AAS degree. The AAS is designed for students who want to go immediately to the workforce.” Franklin said. “We see students that will move back and forth between the two as they figure out what they want to do.”

However, when it comes to completing the program, more students lean toward the AA. Franklin said this is likely due to many police forces only requiring a stint at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, a program that takes 16 weeks rather than two years like the AAS.

In the last five years, the Criminal Justice AAS has had 10 graduates, while the Criminal Justice AA has had 16 graduates. Factoring all this in, the program evaluation committee recommended ending the Criminal Justice AAS degree while keeping the AA transfer major.

SWCC President Lindsay Stokes explained this recommendation wouldn’t be the end of the conversation on the AAS degree. She said there are still many steps to take before ending a degree.

“Going through the department, the advisory curriculum and the Iowa Department of Education,” Stokes said. “Please know that just because that’s the recommendation, that’s not the end. There’s still more steps that need to be taken as we continue to evaluate.”

Administrative office technology

The administrative office technology program has seen a lot of change over the years, thanks to the rapid pace of tech. Franklin said the business faculty were already looking to make a number of changes to the program.

“Office programming has changed, what people are doing staffing in an office has changed,” Franklin said. “They brought a number of changes, and those are kind of incorporated with this program evaluation.”

Changes included changing the name of the program and what students could gain that was different from other programs.

“One thing I want to point out about the courses in this, almost all of them fit into the general business curriculum, gen ed curriculum, with the rest of the institution,” Franklin said. “Other than something like office procedures, you don’t see courses that exist just to promote this program.”

A new class called event management is being added to the curriculum for these students. The program has also been changed to administrative office management instead of technology.

Other recommendations by the committee include the formal mapping of course learner outcomes to program outcomes and adding the type of preferred computer to program marketing materials.

Graphic design

A mix of print and digital design work come together to make the graphic design program, helping students learn to produce logos, design posters and create websites. Franklin said while it’s historically had good enrollment, there’s been a decline in recent years.

“One of the things we’re seeing with graphic design is the AAS course isn’t really designed as a transfer group, but students interested in graphic design are frequently going on to four-year schools,” Franklin said. “They had an average of just over 59% transferring on, so a lot of those students won’t complete the AAS degree. The program itself has low enrollment but the courses remain fairly popular.”

In order to retain and increase enrollment, the committee suggested students have more contact with lead instructor Regina Long, maintain Adobe Office subscriptions on school computers and bring more school computers to the campus, including to the dorms.

Nursing assistant

The final program reviewed is not for a degree but a certificate. With 12 credits over a two semester period, students are able to become a certified nursing assistant quickly. Franklin explained a majority of the students in the CNA program are high school students dual enrolled.

“While Creston is here on campus, for the most part, these are all career academies in high school. It actually is the most popular career academy, so it sees decent enrollment across the district,” Franklin said. “Last year we did have a high moment of 59 total.”

Recommendations for the program generally included upgrading parts of the program that were already succeeding, including adding the nursing assistant program to the career academy incentive fund grant. The committee also suggested adding a lead instructor for the program, something most career academies don’t have.