The planning cycle of MSCC.

1. Prepared by Dr. Greg Waddell
Director of Institutional Improvement

2. Mid-South Christian College exists
to glorify God
by partnering with Christian Churches
in raising up individuals
called by God
to fulfill the global vision of Christ
by facilitating their
academic,
practical and
spiritual preparation.
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3. The purpose of this presentation
is to explain MSCC’s
PLANNING and ASSESSMENT
process
"Already he who reaps is
receiving wages and is
gathering fruit for life
eternal; so that he who
sows and he who reaps
may rejoice together.”
‒ John 4:36
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4. CONDITIONS FOR PLANNING
Data
A Shared Collection Planning
Mission Systems Commitment Trust Resources Skills
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5. BARRIERS TO ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING
“The institutional environment frequently throws up
barriers to building an affective assessment plan.
These include the tendencies to be 'goal-free and
data-averse' as well as activity-oriented rather than
results-oriented; the tyrannies of custom and
busyness; and the sense that assessment is too
complex and difficult for the non-research-minded
faculty member or administrator.”
‒ Schroeder, 2005, p. 2
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6. STAGES OF THE PROCESS
Planning Execution
Analysis
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7. THE SELF-STUDY DOCUMENTS
Mission Criteria
Assessment Compliance
Plan Document
Environmental Scan Issues Needed
(opportunities & threats) (strengths & weaknesses) Adjustments
Adapted from The Association for Biblical Higher Planning Execution &
Education, (2005), Guide to Conducting Self-Study:
An ABHE Evaluation Series Booklet. Orlando, FL: Document Evaluation
ABHE.
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8. THE ASSESSMENT PLAN
"The assessment
plan is concerned
primarily with matters
of mission or intent.
Essentially, it
establishes and
implements the
process of measuring
results in light of
intentions."
‒ ABHE Guide, 2005, p. 7
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9. THE COMPLIANCE DOCUMENT
"The compliance document deals primarily with
issues of quality. It analyzes the institution's
success in complying with the expectations of
the Association member institutions regarding
quality educational practices."
‒ ABHE Guide, 2005, p. 7.
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10. THE PLANNING DOCUMENT
"The planning document outlines the action
steps that an institution anticipates taking to
deal with issues arising from assessment
findings and compliance conclusions.
Normally, these issues are in the form of
strengths and weaknesses. The institution's
vision for the future is also a major source of
issues for a good planning document.“
‒ ABHE Guide, 2005, p. 7.
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11. ICLTs
“Mid-South Christian College has identified
eleven institutional themes that serve as its
Institutional Core Learning Threads.
These threads flow directly from the
institution's mission statement. MSCC
administrators, trustees, and faculty
consider these threads essential goals for
the continuous improvement of the college
and for the achievement of its mission.”
‒ MSCC Assessment Plan, Sec. 3.1.
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12. ICLTs
IACA Academic Preparation (Academic Dean)
IBUS Effective Business Management (Business Office)
ICHU Church Partnership (Development)
ICUL Cross-Cultural Competence (Hispanic Relations)
IENV Productive Physical Environment (Maintenance & Facilities)
ILIB Academic Resources (Library)
ILRN Institutional Learning Potential (Institutional Improvement)
IPRE Spiritual Leadership (President)
IRCR Student Recruitment (Recruitment)
IREC Academic Records (Registrar)
ISTU Student Services (Student Services)
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13. For planning to be effective, it is important
that a wide array of college constituencies
participate in the process. One way that we
try to achieve this is through the use of
sub-documents that are prepared by each
department.
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14. Department-Specific Assessments DSAs
Compliance Sub-Reports CSRs
Department-Specific Plans
DSPs
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15. DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC ASSESSMENTS
DSAs

16. COMPONENTS OF A DSA DSAs
A DSA is a mini-assessment plan designed to assess the
degree to which a department is accomplishing its
Institutional Core Learning Thread. The analysis of the
ICLT consists of . . .
A statement of the ICLT corresponding to your department
and four columns of information.
Expected Data What has
Measures Results
Outcomes Sources Been Done
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17. Expected
Outcomes
Each department head is responsible for
overseeing the process of developing
Expected Outcomes that further define the
meaning of the ICLTs. These Expected
Outcomes serve as the measures for
assessing departmental effectiveness.
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18. The Five Truths of Measurement
Measures
1. We don't know what we don't know.
2. We can't do what we don't know.
3. We won't know until we measure.
4. We don't measure what we don't value.
5. We don't value what we don't measure.
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19. Data
Sources
In this column, administrators list the tools
that will be used to gather data that can then
be used to measure the degree to which
their department is achieving its Expected
Outcomes.
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20. Results
A “results-oriented” organization is one that
“reinforces a discipline of execution [where]
leaders focus on changing people’s beliefs
and behaviors so that they produce results,
not just ideas, plans, and strategies.”
‒ Bossidy, Charan, & Burke, Cited in Daft, 2004, p. 324).
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21. What has
Been Done
The final column of a Department-Specific
Assessment records actions and decisions
that have been taken (past tense) in
response to the analysis of assessment
results, thus closing the loop of the
assessment process.
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22. COMPLIANCE SUB-REPORTS
DSAs CSRs

23. COMPLIANCE SUB-REPORT CSRs
A Compliance Sub-Report is a means of
dividing up the work of evaluating the extent
to which the college is in compliance with
the Comprehensive Standards of the ABHE.
The responsibility for assessing these
standards is distributed among
administrative staff and the teams they pull
together for this purpose. These compliance
sub-reports are then combined to form the
Institutional Compliance Document.
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24. DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC PLANS
DSAs CSRs
DSPs

25. DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC PLANS
Whereas the DSA and Compliance Sub-Reports
analyze the past, . . .
the DSP looks to the future.
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26. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
"Constituent preferences
alone are insufficient for
assessing organizational
effectiveness. Environmental
constraints restrict what is
possible in terms of
performance as well as define
the possibilities of future
performance. The interaction
of constraints and preferences
provides the definition of what
is expected, what is possible,
and what is the potential of
organizational performance."
‒ Zammuto, 1982, p. 19.
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27. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
An effort to assess factors that are external to
the institution, yet that have a direct impact on
the accomplish of its goals.
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28. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
These factors
frequently fall into the
categories of the
acronym STEEP:
• Social
• Technological
• Economic
• Environmental
• Political
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29. SWOT Analysis
The Assessment Plan
and Compliance
Document provide
insight into internal INTERNAL
issues that the ISSUES
institution must
address for
improvement.
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30. SWOT Analysis
These are expressed
as institutional
Strengths and
INTERNAL
Weaknesses. ISSUES
(strengths & weaknesses)
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31. SWOT Analysis
EXTERNAL ISSUES
The Environmental
Scan provides insight
into external issues
that must be
addressed.
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32. SWOT Analysis
EXTERNAL ISSUES
These are expressed
as Opportunities and
Threats.
(opportunities & threats)
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33. SWOT ANALYSIS
The SWOT Analysis looks at the interplay
between all these issues in an effort to formulate
an effective strategy for accomplishing the
institution’s goals.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
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34. SOURCES FOR THE DSP
PLANNING DOCUMENT
SWOT Analysis
Issues from the
Environmental PROJECTS
Scan
Issues from the
Compliance ACTIONS
Document
Issues from the
COSTS
Assessment
(budget)
Plan
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35. REFLECTION
Reflection is a crucial element of the
improvement process. "Until I consider why,
. . . I will not have learned. Change only
sticks when we understand why [something]
happened" (Handy, 1990, p. 60). Reflection
helps administrators link past assessment
results to future planning and action.
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36. AFTER-ACTION REVIEWS
To facilitate the process of reflection, MSCC
administrators are asked to perform After-
Action Reviews after every major event and
upon completion of every new initiative.
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37. AFTER-ACTION REVIEWS
“Reviews must be conducted immediately,
while memories are fresh and data can still
be verified. They must be accepted as 'real
work' rather than avoidable frills and
consciously scheduled into work plans and
projects.”
‒ Garvin, 2000, p. 102
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38. AFTER-ACTION REVIEWS
• What did you expect to happen?
• What actually happened?
• What worked well?
• What could be improved?
• What do you recommend?
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39. INTEGRATING THE BUDGET
INTO THE PROCESS
“It should be obvious that the
assessment and planning cycles are tied to
the budgetary cycle. . . . Assessment should
precede planning and planning should
precede budgeting.”
‒ ABHE. Guide to Conducting Self-Study, 2008. p. 40.

40. "For which one of you, when he wants to
build a tower, does not first sit down and
calculate the cost to see if he has enough to
complete it?” (Luke 14:28)
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41. THE ROLLING BUDGET MODEL
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42. THREE DIFFERENT BUDGETS . . .
and what to do with them
Budget Name Main Task Description Activities Deliverables
1. Last Year’s Analysis Analysis of the previous Interpretation of Budget Analysis
Budget year’s data. What trends data; Report
can be detected? What trend
were areas where identification;
projections were not met? systems thinking
Why?
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43. THREE DIFFERENT BUDGETS . . .
and what to do with them
Budget Name Main Task Description Activities Deliverables
1. Last Year’s Analysis Analysis of the previous Interpretation of Budget Analysis
Budget year’s data. What trends can data; Report
be detected? What were trend
areas where projections were identification;
not met? Why? systems thinking
2. This Year’s Control and Every fiscal year begins Management; Monthly budget-
Working Measurement with an intact working record-keeping; expense
Budget budget. Controls must be monitoring; reviews.
in place to acquire data as reporting
the year proceeds; these
will enable future analysis.
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44. THREE DIFFERENT BUDGETS . . .
and what to do with them
Budget Name Main Task Description Activities Deliverables
1. Last Year’s Analysis Analysis of the previous Interpretation of Budget Analysis
Budget year’s data. What trends can data; Report
be detected? What were trend
areas where projections were identification;
not met? Why? systems thinking
2. This Year’s Control and Every fiscal year begins with Management; Monthly budget-
Working Measurement an intact working budget. record-keeping; expense reviews.
Budget Controls must be in place to monitoring;
acquire data as the year reporting
proceeds; these will enable
future analysis.
3. The Planning This is the budget planned Forecasting; Projected costs
Enabling for the following year along projection of report;
Budget with a development plan for trends; fund- Funding plan
acquiring the resources to raising; strategic
make it possible. planning.
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45. ANNUAL BUDGET RETREAT
Forging a balanced budget. by . . .
• Coordinating departmental plans,
• Questioning assumptions,
• Uncovering budgetary constraints
• Adjusting to reality.
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46. THE ANNUAL PLANNING CYCLE
DSP
PLANNING
FEB MAR
APR
JAN
2012
2011
2010 MAY
DEC
2009
EXECUTING
NOV & MONITORING
Annual Report JUN
OCT
JUL
ANALYZING SEP
AUG
SWOT
Criteria Review Monthly Status Reports
Environment Scan
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47. THE SPIRITUALITY OF PLANNING
“Delight yourself
in the LORD; And
He will give you the
desires of your
heart.”
--Psalm 37:4
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48. THE SPIRITUALITY OF PLANNING
“Not by might
nor by power,
but by my Spirit,
says the Lord Almighty.”
--Psalm 37:4
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49. Works Cited
Schroeder, C. (2005). How to generate purposeful change on your campus: A realistic
approach to institutional assessment. Unpublished White Paper, Noel-Levitz, Inc.
Accessed April 26, 2008 from https://www.noellevitz.com/NR/rdonlyres/0033D649-
5441-4366-BE19-52A42B659ABC/0/ASSESS_wppdf_1204.pdf
ABHE. (2005 & 2008). Guide to conducting a self-study: An ABHE evaluation series
booklet. Orlando, FL: The Association for Biblical Higher Education.
MSCC. (2008). MSCC Assessment Plan, Memphis, TN: Mid-South Christian College.
Accessed April 26, 2008 from
http://www.midsouthcc.org/English/Documents/MSCC_Assessment_Plan.pdf
Harry, M., & Schroeder, R. (2000). Six sigma. New York: Doubleday.
Daft, R. L. (2004). Organization Theory and Design (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-
Western.
Zammuto, R. F. (1982). Assessing organizational effectiveness: Systems change,
adaptation, & strategy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Handy, C. (1990). The age of unreason. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Garvin, D. A. (2000). Learning in action: A guide to putting the learning organization to
work. Harvard Business School Press.
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