President’s All College Update: February ’20

12 Feb 2020

I hope everyone has settled in well to the spring semester!

Strategic Planning

The Strategic Planning steering committee met in October, November and December to develop the “6th year” of the 2018-2023 plan. We have assessed our projects from the first year, reviewed our implementation, and completed an environmental scan of internal and external factors. We also updated our objectives for 2024 (there are eight now) and defined corresponding metrics. The full list of objectives are at the bottom of this update. We assigned team leads for each objective and tasked them to create draft tactical plans, which they turned in last Thursday. Our next step, as a committee, is reconcile all the plans together with an eye toward resource allocation and prioritization.

Recruiting for the next SWFI class

Continuing Education & Workforce Development’s grant-funded Strengthening Working Families Initiative (SWFI) is still going strong and providing working families access to education and training at no cost! They are currently recruiting for the next Principles of Manufacturing class at the Williston campus starting February 27. This initiative is for custodial parents with children under 14 and offers wrap-around services to secure childcare and transportation, lowering barriers to pursuing an education. Incumbent workers at Vermont manufacturing companies are also welcome in this class. If you know of anyone eligible, make sure they know about this initiative! vtc.edu/swfi.

TRiO Grant Proposal Submitted

Huge thanks go out to the Center for Academic Success team, and all those that helped them successfully submit our TRiO grant recently. Admissions and especially Dave Rubin helped carry that football over the goal line (it was Super Bowl Sunday when they completed it). We are eagerly awaiting the results. For those that don’t already know, the TRIO program is a federally funded designed for first-generation, low-income students, and students with disabilities to succeed in college. Each year, usually 75% of incoming Vermont Tech students are eligible under at least one of these criteria. To see if you qualify, contact CAS at extension 7-1396 for a short interview.

Position Updates

We are thrilled that Theo Manazir has agreed to work as Director of Residence Life, which puts him at the Randolph Center campus three days a week and in Williston two days a week. Thank you for helping us bridge this gap, Theo, while we launch another search for a permanent replacement. Another welcome is for Steve Bohnyak as our new Manager of IT Infrastructure. Amy Beattie is our Interim Instructional Technologist for eight hours a week while a search is on for a full-time resource. The Admissions team has filled two of their pivotal positions too with the hires of Jim Dicesare as the Admissions Assistant and John Rhoades as an Assistant Director of Admissions. We are pleased to have these team members in place! It should be noted that both IT and Admissions are still looking to fill a position each, so share the Work @ Vermont Tech page with anyone you know that may be qualified for one of our open positions.

Go Knights!

Over the weekend at the basketball Senior Night games, we took a moment during the Women’s halftime to announce the new name of our college mascot. Please welcome Techalot! The basketball teams both won their games with many families cheering for them. Both teams secured a home game for the first round of the playoffs! The Women are ranked fourth and will play UMaine Augusta in the first round. The Men are ranked second and will play UMaine Augusta too, coincidentally. The games are not set yet but watch for confirmed dates and times soon.

IT Strategic Plan

CTO Kellie Campbell has met with several departments already last semester, and plans to meet with more this spring to present the IT strategic plan for review. An upcoming project we know many people are both excited and anxious about is the review of all of the colleges printers and copiers. I’m sure we will all be happier when hardware works when you need it and can be serviced quickly when it’s not, so this project will offer great improvement to our basic infrastructure. Kellie is communicating the team’s plans through the Senior Leadership Team and meeting with the faculty Facilities Group to review.

Apprenticeship Programs Launch an Advisory Board

Continuing Education & Workforce Development manages the instructional component of the Vermont Department of Labor’s Registered Electrical and Plumbing Apprenticeship programs. The department recently instituted an Advisory Board for the programs to assist VTDOL in meeting the needs of employers and the community. Like advisory boards for our academic degree programs, board members will offer recommendations for program improvement, assist with apprenticeship placements, recruit for the programs, and assist in setting priorities. Board members come from mechanical, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing companies. CEWD is doing great work to ensure the high quality of their programs continues!

Student Leaders Wanted!

Dean of Students Jason Enser recently reached out directly to students looking for applicants to two vital positions: Orientation Leaders and Tech Trek Leaders. These opportunities are for the summer of 2020 and are paid positions.

Save the Dates

Don’t forget that the college’s Assessment Day is planned for February 26 from 9am-1pm. All employees are expected to attend. Also, my next President’s Social for employees is February 18. Save the dates and plan on being there!

Strategic Objectives, 2020-2024:

Objectives Category Draft 2024-2025 Metric Tactical Plan Lead
1. Technology 100% of our technology infrastructure will be on a sustainability plan based on expected lifespan and college needs and resources Kellie
2. Retention 75% first-time, full-time retention based on a 5-yr moving average as reported by VSCS data Jason, Jessica
3. Enrollment No more than a 5% reduction in five year enrollments (2024 = 2019 less 5%) Jason, Jessica
4. Facilities As informed by the master plan, 100% of our physical infrastructure will be on a sustainability plan based on expected life span, college needs, and financial resources Dave
5. Finance $2.2 million in strategic reserves Lit
6. Satisfaction More than double the satisfaction rate of our key stakeholders, based on January 2020 survey data Amanda
7. Programs A. Complete 100% annual program reviews (short version)

B. Complete 100% detailed program reviews

Ana
8. Access A. Increase non-traditional-access programs with related support services to 12

B. Offer 25% of courses in non-traditional formats

Ana