Goal #2

Build responsive and sustainable institutional structures and
practices to increase access, belonging, and success for all members of the MCLA community, with particular focus on those traditionally excluded from higher education.

Rationale

All stakeholders noted that the MCLA community is highly committed to fully implementing an institutional culture that prioritizes the best-practice tenets of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) for all. By including Goal 2 in the 2024 Strategic Plan, the College ensures that growth in this area stays at the forefront of all institutional actions and decision-making. This goal also aligns with the objectives identified in the NECHE evaluation, which includes a subsection on Equity & Inclusion. Further, the inclusion of a goal focused on DEIB will leverage the College’s previous efforts, including the hiring of the Vice Provost for Institutional Equity & Belonging in Spring 2024.

Success Metrics

  • Increased enrollment among traditionally excluded students by 3% per year.
  • Eliminate achievement gaps from traditionally excluded and marginalized populations.
  • Increased and refined staff roles devoted to academic and social success.
  • Increased operating budget support for DEIB initiatives by 50% from the fiscal year 2025 budget level within 3 years.
  • Improvement in campus climate assessment results related to inclusion and belonging with a 15% increase in inclusivity and belonging scores in campus climate surveys within 5 years.
  • Equitable participation in high-impact practices by increasing participation rates for traditionally excluded students in internships, study away, and capstone projects by 25% within first 3 years and 10% annually until equity is achieved through the establishment of the Trailblazer Center.
  • Increase the transfer pipeline by 5% per year through 2030.
  • Increase Leadership Academy enrollment by 3% a year through 2030.

MCLA Campus

Strategies

Strategy 1

Appoint and empower an institutionally supported Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee (DEIB) charged with overseeing explicit initiatives such as the Department of Higher Education Equity Agenda and Racial Equity and Justice Institute curriculum, to document progress and promote accountability.

  • Establish the Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging committee, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, and work to develop it as a key part of the campus, by including it in the College’s organizational structure.
  • Identify committee-based SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals that span 3-5 years and develop methods to assess these goals with the Dean for Institutional Assessment and Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Belonging.
  • Conduct a comprehensive review of the Department of Higher Education’s New Undergraduate Experience and Strategic Plan for Racial Equity to assess institutional capacity to achieve outlined goals.
  • Reestablish MCLA’s Racial Equity Summit.
  • Review budgets of campus affinity groups and ensure equitable funding.
  • Utilize DEIB End of Year Committee Report data to respond and reiterate committee structure to better support mission and SMART goals.
  • Educate the campus community on the importance of DEIB work to everyone’s role on campus.
  • Coordinate with Human Resources to support the hiring and retention of ALANA faculty and staff.
  • Assess the work of the DEIB Committee to determine if changes need to be made to its structure or operations using success metrics.
  • Continue to publish reports and communicate progress of the DEIB Committee’s stated goals and outcomes with the MCLA community.
  • Develop consistent institutional language and definitions for traditionally excluded groups and populations and disseminate campus wide.
  • Continue assessment of committee's progress towards SMART goals and impact of initiatives, and how it is positioned for the next 5 years.

Strategy 2

Embed High Impact Practices (HIPs) across the institution while identifying and addressing barriers to full student participation in HIPs.

  • Finalize Chair Faculty Learning Community (FLC) work around racialized inequity and departmental action plans that began in the 2024 academic year with the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL).
  • Incentivize and create action plans for High Impact Practices (HIPs) that work towards the removal of barriers to full student participation with built-in progress check-ins.
  • Identify and support divisions and departments in assessing and addressing barriers that hinder students' access to HIPs.
  • Explore internal, external, or Pathways Campaign funds to lower or remove financial barriers to HIPs for all students.
  • Establish the Trailblazer Center and additional staff roles to coordinate High Impact Practices including study away, internships, Career
  • Services, work study, and an experiential transcript.
  • Implement departmental/divisional action plans to remove barriers to full student participation in HIPs.
  • Develop funding streams identified in Year 1 to lower or remove financial barriers to HIPs for all students.
  • Increase communication with students regarding opportunities to participate in HIPs.
  • Create a student employment program through the Trailblazer Center that helps students develop essential soft skills for personal and professional growth.
  • Expand Success Coaching model beyond the first year.
  • Explore expanding Peer Mentoring programs beyond the first year and utilizemthem with specific student populations including those traditionally excluded from higher education.
  • Evaluate the progress of departments and divisions in addressing and removing barriers to accessing High-Impact Practices (HIPs) and make appropriatemrevisions, as necessary.
  • Develop an experiential transcript that encompasses identified milestones as well as out-of-class learning and experiences.
  • Utilize funding streams for the Trailblazer Center to enhance student career exploration, internships, study away, and student employment opportunities.
  • Launch experiential transcript to the MCLA community.
  • Evaluate student employment program to determine effectiveness of soft skill development.
  • Expand internship program so that any student seeking to participate can do so.
  • Expand study away programs to accommodate 50% of the student body by fiscal year 2030.
  • Evaluate Trailblazer Center programs and services to ensure increased student participation in HIPs.
  • Evaluate communication with students regarding HIPs to determine effectiveness

Strategy 3

Financially invest in student support roles and resources that increase access, engagement, success, and belonging.

  • Utilizing existing data sources including the Campus Climate Assessment to evaluate and identify campus support roles that contribute to, or have the potential to contribute to, increasing student access, engagement, success and belonging for diverse populations including but not limited to students of color, low income, LGBTQIA+, gender identity, and ability.
  • Work with the Office of Disability Resources to explore and implement best practices to support students with disabilities.
  • Develop broad-based funding to support equity-based initiatives, such as the Day of Dialogue. Assign a budget to the Day of Dialogue and ensure appropriate institutional support.
  • Identify resources that improve the sense of belonging of transfer, commuter, and graduate students.
  • Working with the First-Gen Committee identify resources and supports to improve the sense of belonging for first generation students.
  • Continue institutional progress in making all course materials low or no cost and fully accessible.
  • Begin to utilize DegreeWorks for graduate students to track degree progress, to prepare for registration, and to plan for licensure endorsement and/or graduation.
  • Explore a Leadership Academy model that allows federal financial aid for Leadership Academy students who also apply for CAGS.
  • Increase access to resources and funding support for students with disabilities.
  • Develop a Transfer Success Coaching program.
  • Increase financial support for universal design and accessibility in all institutional courses, programs, and services.
  • Investigate new programming and support opportunities for neurodivergent students.
  • Implement financial resources to improve the sense of belonging of transfer, commuter, first generation, and graduate students.
  • Create an institutional budget that utilizes sustainable sources of funding that supports access, engagement, success, and belonging.
  • Utilizing the data assessment, expand campus support roles identified in Year 1.
  • Investigate financial resources to improve onboarding and advising for transfer and graduate students.
  • Advocate for additional funding through Mass Grant and Mass Grant Plus.
  • Provide graduate advising using DegreeWorks to enhance the graduate student experience.
  • Develop retention metrics for graduate students using Navigate to increase engagement through mid-term warning and wellness check-ins.
  • Market and recruit additional Leadership Academy students by 3% per year through 2030 with financial resources available through a revamped model that allows for federal financial aid awarding.
  • Evaluate institutional progress in making all course materials low or no cost and fully accessible.
  • Ensure students have access to the necessary technology for them to be successful.
  • Implement additional advising, coaching, and belonging supports for transfer students.
  • Invest in supports to improve the sense of belonging of first-generation students.
  • Ensure that support offices provide graduate student specific resources.
  • In alignment with Campus Master Planning as described in Goal 3, develop strategies to make all College spaces ADA compliant.
  • Implement new programming and support opportunities for neurodivergent students.
  • Invest in student employment positions that support access, engagement, and belonging (e.g. Essential Needs Center, Peer Mentors, etc.).
  • Continue to develop new funding streams to strengthen student support services and program resources.
  • Identify financial resources to support plan for increasing persistence and success among students traditionally excluded from higher education.
  • Evaluate institutional progress in making all College spaces ADA compliant.

Strategy 4

Optimize and fully utilize the Campus Climate Assessment and other assessment tools to improve belonging, persistence, and graduation rates for populations traditionally excluded from higher education through data informed decision making.

  • Identify the office responsible for ownership and accountability of the 2022-2023 Campus Climate Assessment.
  • Perform a deep critical analysis of the current Campus Climate Assessment and findings.
  • Utilize data from Campus Climate assessment, other instruments, and institutional data points to inform an action plan from the DEIB Committee with internal accountability and areas of responsibility for specified campus roles.
  • Analyze graduation and retention data for those students traditionally excluded from higher education to develop a plan for persistence and success.
  • Administer National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
  • Identify high schools with significant populations of low-income, traditionally excluded, or prospective first-generation college students who would benefit from college readiness through dual enrollment opportunities.
  • Refine and readminister the Campus Climate Assessment survey and focus groups.
  • Provide financial resources to support focus groups related to the Campus Climate Assessment.
  • Create an internal equity scorecard to track progress on publicly stated goals related to the Strategic Plan for Racial Equity.
  • Share NSSE results with key stakeholders to assess engagement of populations traditionally excluded from higher education.
  • Operationalize plan for increasing persistence and success among those students traditionally excluded from higher education.
  • Utilize membership with Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium to leverage survey results and data sharing.
  • Create a central repository for racial equity-based data through the office of Assessment and Continuing Improvement.
  • Ensure transparency and accountability by providing broad access to data and reports.
  • Report Campus Climate Assessment findings to the MCLA community.
  • Administer the HOPE Survey to the campus to determine unmet needs and institutional priorities around basic needs.
  • Develop division and departmental action plans based on the data from then Campus Climate Assessment and other data points to position MCLA as the college of choice for populations traditionally excluded from higher education.
  • Implement centralized repository for retention, graduation, and additional data points for key decision makers.
  • Readminister the Healthy Minds survey to evaluate progress around wellness initiatives among populations traditionally excluded from higher education.
  • Refine and readminister the Campus Climate Assessment.
  • Report on findings from HEDs surveys and create action plans around the first year and alumni engagement and persistence.
  • Report findings from Healthy Minds Survey and utilize results to inform wellness initiatives.
  • Administer National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
  • Develop a centralized data entry platform for all data entry and storage related to Campus Climate Assessment and other surveys.
  • Utilize findings from HOPE Survey to determine institutional resources needed to best support basic needs.
  • Report findings and develop new action plans based on the data from the Campus Climate Assessment.
  • Share NSSE results with key stakeholders to assess engagement of populations traditionally excluded from higher education.

Strategy 5

Forge partnerships with community organizations, K-12 schools, community colleges and other institutions to expand connectivity for all current and future MCLA community members.

  • Offer APRs from the Offices of Institutional Equity & Belonging, Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions, and Career Services in partnership with staff outreach to initiate and support building connections with Community Based Organizations and local schools.
  • Create a list and build relationships with Community-Based Organizations (CBOs)/not-for-profit organizations that support populations traditionally excluded from higher education, wellbeing, and the larger MCLA community.
  • Develop a plan for strengthening relationships with Community Colleges to increase the transfer pipeline.
  • Invest in DegreeWorks software to streamline the transfer process and streamline procedures to increase transfer and graduate students.
  • Develop a recruitment plan for students taking summer dual enrollment classes that includes an on-campus summer course or activity.
  • Explore Early College and dual enrollment partnerships with school districts, including the development of targeted recruitment strategies for high school students.
  • Develop lifelong learning courses that provide professional development programs for educational partners as part of summer professional development programs for preK-12 educators.
  • Make connections between current and new MCLA community members with Community-Based Organizations/not-for-profit organizations who support populations traditionally excluded from higher education, wellbeing, and the larger MCLA community.
  • Implement plan and leverage DegreeWorks to strengthen relationships and articulations with Community Colleges, increasing the transfer pipeline by 5% a year through 2030.
  • Assess resources necessary to support relationships with CBOs, including a framework for providing time and other incentives, and create a budget that supports this work.
  • Offer lifelong learning opportunities for pre-K through 12 educators.
  • Develop lifelong learning courses for health science professionals.
  • Develop a recruitment strategy targeting dual enrollment students who are lowincome, traditionally excluded, or first-generation college students with aspirations of attending college.
  • Based on assessment results, sustain actions from years 1 and 2.
  • Assess and refine Early College and dual enrollment courses.
  • Continue to implement plan and leverage software to strengthen relationships and articulations with Community Colleges, increasing the transfer pipeline by 5% a year through 2030.
  • Expand partnerships between MCLA academic departments and high school programs.
  • Expand connections, engagement, and networking opportunities for alumni.
  • Offer lifelong learning opportunities for health science professionals.
    Implement a recruitment strategy targeting dual enrollment students who are lowincome, traditionally excluded, or first-generation college students with aspirations of attending college.
  • Develop and move through Graduate Education Committee governance graduate certificates to further advance the skills and credentials of industry and occupations within the Berkshire County’s workforce blueprint.
  • Assess partnerships with CBOS, Community Colleges, and preK-12 partners to determine efficacy.
  • Promote faculty and staff publications and accomplishments and develop a catalog of faculty and staff expertise to promote with CBOs and other speaker bureaus.
  • Explore residency options with on campus housing for intensive summer graduate certificates.
  • Explore the possibility of hosting community organizations that support students on campus.
  • Develop and market approved graduate certificates to advance the skills and credentials of industry and occupations within the Berkshire County Workforce Blueprint.