Integrating a Statewide Effectiveness Model with Quality Improvement Methods at Western Wisconsin Technical College.

Since 1988, Western Wisconsin Technical College (WWTC) has taken a leadership role in integrating institutional effectiveness activities within the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). In December 1992, the WTCS Administrators Association and the WTCS State Board agreed to work with the University of Michigan's Community College Consortium to develop an institutional effectiveness model that would provide a valid and consistent means of evaluating the performance of each college and the system as a whole. The statewide effectiveness modeling project sought to identify core indicators that could be used by WTCS colleges to respond to accountability initiatives, accreditation requirements, federal reporting requirements, and quality management initiatives. In its adaptation of the statewide model, WWTC took the following steps: (1) representatives were selected to attend a state conference on institutional effectiveness; (2) an institutional effectiveness committee was formed; (3) the committee adapted the WTCS model by determining whether each core indicator in the model applied to the mission of WWTC and whether it could be measured using the resources available at WWTC; and (4) measurable factors of institutional effectiveness were identified for each core indicator in the categories of student achievement and satisfaction; organizational quality, harmony, and efficiency; public perception and satisfaction; and employer satisfaction. While this model helps detail the WTCS's commitment to its mission and purpose, WWTC has found that the Deming Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle of improvement provides the methodology for continuous improvement. (KP)