Planning and Research

Planning: The PRIE Office assists with all planning processes at the college. We facilitate college strategic planning, educational master planning, unit and program planning, and alignment with resource allocation and other decision-making processes.

Research: The PRIE Office provides comprehensive research services and support, including survey design, student enrollment and success data tracking, data analysis, data visualization, and research on program, service, and teaching effectiveness.

Institutional Effectiveness: The PRIE Office compiles institutional outcome metrics, supports SLO assessment and Program Review, and facilitates the participatory decision-making process. We also serve as the liaison to our accrediting agency, the Accrediting Commission for Community & Junior Colleges (ACCJC).

Is our institution fulfilling our mission? Are we meeting the educational needs of our students, and the intellectual, cultural, and economic needs of our community? These are some of the questions we ask when we evaluate institutional effectiveness. Institutional effectiveness planning helps us determine how well we as an institution are fulfilling our mission and achieving our goals.   

The PRIE office approaches institutional effectiveness work by centering high-quality, innovative, student-centered, and equity-focused learning opportunities, educational practices, and quality of services. Our strategy involves establishing and maintaining a culture of inquiry, self-reflection and evaluation, equity-mindedness, and continuous improvement on behalf of students at all levels of the institution. The PRIE office provides leadership and coordination of accreditation efforts, strategic planning and college goal-setting, grant support, program review, and student learning outcomes. The PRIE office also functions as the steward of the college participatory decision-making process.

Our approach to institutional effectiveness includes:

• Collecting, analyzing and sharing data systematically and strategically to assist stakeholders in making informed decisions that benefit students;
• Leading accreditation efforts at the college, in collaboration with the Accreditation Steering Committee;
• Facilitating the strategic planning and college goal-setting processes, in consultation with the College Council;
• Providing research, data, and administrative support for grant applicants and recipients;
• Facilitating assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and program review, in consultation with the Office of Instruction and the Academic Senate; 
• Assisting with the development, creation and dissemination of plans that help every unit in the institution achieve their student success efforts;
• Ensuring the effectiveness of the college participatory decision-making process.

1. We treat data as a valuable asset.
2. We prioritize making data as accessible as possible to those who need it.
3. We work hard to ensure that our college data is accurate and trustworthy.
4. We aim to share data with stakeholders in a way that is relevant, clear, and understandable.
5. We use data carefully and respectfully.
6. We engage in courageous conversations that help mitigate bias in ourselves and in our research and data practices.
7. We promote the use of data in making high-impact decisions that benefit students.
8. We present our work in ways that empower others to make informed decisions.
9. We consider the equity and ethical implications of choices we make when asking research questions and using data, and the impacts of our work on our students.