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Institutional Research

KCTCS Strategic and Action Planning

 

Prepared for the KCTCS Board of Regents September 2022 

Introduction

In 2016, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) unveiled a strategic plan, The Future in Focus: KCTCS Strategic Plan 2016–2022, that established high-level goals and performance targets for the 16 KCTCS Colleges and the System Office. The Strategic Plan called for KCTCS to focus on five core goals that were guided by several key values and designed to move KCTCS forward in realizing its vision and mission. 

Values:

  • Flexibility and innovation
  • Quality and excellence
  • Openness and accountability
  • Continuous improvement
  • Data-and-outcomes-driven decision-making
  • Inclusion, equity, respect, and global diversity
  • Balance, collaboration, and teamwork 

Vision:

  • To be a world-class system of colleges educating Kentucky’s globally competitive workforce. 

Mission:

  • In everything we do, our mission is to improve the quality of life and employability of the citizens of the Commonwealth by serving as the primary provider of: 

    • College and Workforce Readiness 

    • Transfer Education 

    • Workforce Education and Training 

Strategic Goals: 

  1. Raise the level of educational attainment in the Commonwealth by positioning KCTCS as the accessible, affordable, and relevant postsecondary education choice for Kentuckians. 
  2. Increase access and success for all KCTCS students, particularly among traditionally underserved populations. 
  3. Develop clear pathways through all levels of postsecondary education with an emphasis on experiential learning that lead to successful employment outcomes for KCTCS graduates. 
  4. Improve student engagement, support, experiences, and success with best-in-class academic and student services. 
  5. Align programs and curricula with needs of employers that enhance the employability, job placement, and career development of KCTCS graduates. 

Strategic Plan Revisions 

To ensure the KCTCS Strategic Plan 2016-2022 remained relevant and responsive to higher education needs in Kentucky, and to enhance accountability tracking to facilitate continuous improvement, periodic reviews of goals and performance targets were conducted. Revisions and technical edits made to the plan are listed below: 

  • On September 14, 2017, the Board of Regents was made aware of revisions to the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), which was used to assess the “Student Engagement” performance metric. These revisions necessitated changes to the reporting timeline (from reporting in odd years to reporting in even years) and baseline values (slight adjustments made to each benchmark area). 

  • On March 16, 2018, the Board of Regents was made aware of a technical edit to the “Graduation Rate” metric which resulted in an increase to baseline performance from 25.5% to 25.7%. No changes were made to the performance objective or target. 

  • The original definition of the “Experiential Learning” performance metric did not fully capture opportunities such as practicums, internships, apprenticeships, and work-based learning, and was revised to clarify that it encompasses experiences for which students are awarded academic credit. The performance target for this metric was increased from 30.5% to 72.3%, and the baseline was increased from 24.5% to 66.3%. The revised target was approved by the Board on March 16, 2018. Additional reviews of courses and programs providing experiential learning opportunities were conducted annually, with technical edits made to the list of qualifying courses/ programs as appropriate. 

  • To align with the Council on Postsecondary Education’s (CPE) Strategic Agenda, the “Underrepresented Minority (URM) Retention Rate” objective of a 1.0 percentage point increase each year was revised to an annual increase of 1.5 percentage points. The final target was changed accordingly, from 45.4% to 48.3%. These revisions were approved at the March 16, 2018 meeting of the Board of Regents. 

  • To align with CPE’s Strategic Agenda, the “URM Graduation Rate” objective of a 1.0 percentage point increase each year was revised to an annual increase of 1.4 percentage points, with a corresponding increase to the final target (from 20.1% to 23.9%). These revisions were approved at the March 16, 2018 meeting of the Board of Regents. A technical edit was also made increasing the baseline performance from 14.1% to 14.3% (no changes were made to the performance objective or target). 

Strategic Plan Performance: Goal 1 

Goal 1: Raise the level of educational attainment in the Commonwealth by positioning KCTCS as the accessible, affordable, and relevant postsecondary education choice for Kentuckians. 

 
Metric  Baseline Current Performance Difference Target Assessment of Progress
Graduation Rate  25.7%  41.4%*  +15.7  31.5%  Target Exceeded 
Affordability  54.0%  48.1%  -5.9  ≤50.0%  Target Exceeded 
*Data are preliminary and subject to change. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • The KCTCS graduation rate increased every year over the life of the strategic plan, with a total increase of 15.7 percentage points from the baseline year. 

    • This metric will continue to be tracked moving forward as a key performance indicator for CPE, with the new KCTCS 2022-2026 Strategic Plan moving to more comprehensive success and outcome measures (two-year persistence and post-KCTCS outcomes). 

  • KCTCS exceeded the target for affordability with a net price that was less than 50.0% of the state public four-year institutions in each of the last 5 years.

    • Affordability will no longer be a key performance indicator in the new KCTCS 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. However, unmet financial need will now be tracked and assessed as part of the new CPE Strategic Agenda. 

Strategic Plan Performance: Goal 2

Goal 2: Increase access and success for all KCTCS students, particularly among traditionally underserved populations. 

 
Metric Baseline Current Performance Difference Target Assessment of Progress
1st to 2nd Year Retention - URM 39.4% 47.9% +8.5 48.3% Target Not Met but Growth from Baseline
Graduation Rate - URM 14.3% 29.6%* +15.3 23.9% Target Exceeded

*Data are preliminary and subject to change.
Note: URM = students identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • KCTCS fell short of its target for URM retention by less than half of a percentage point. However, substantial growth was shown from the baseline retention rate (+8.5 percentage points). The improvement in URM retention rates exceeded the growth seen in retention rates for all students over the life of the strategic plan (+6.1 percentage points), indicating a narrowing of the success gap for URM students.

  • KCTCS increased the URM graduation rate from a baseline of 14.3% to 29.6% in 2021-22, exceeding the final target by 5.7 percentage points. The growth seen in URM graduation rate over the life of the strategic plan (+15.3 percentage points) was slightly less than the growth seen for all students (+15.7 percentage points).

  • The COVID-19 pandemic had a more pronounced impact on URM students and other marginalized populations, which may have negatively impacted these metrics.

  • URM retention and graduation rates will continue to be tracked as part of the CPE Diversity Plans utilized at each KCTCS college. 

Strategic Plan Performance: Goal 3

Goal 3: Develop clear pathways through all levels of postsecondary education with an emphasis on experiential learning that lead to successful employment outcomes for KCTCS graduates. 

 
Metric Baseline Current Performance Difference Target Assessment of Progress
Experiential Learning  66.3% 64.3%*  -2.0  72.3%  Target Not Met 
Associate Degree Transfers  37.4% 38.7%  +1.3  43.4%  Target Not Met but Growth from Baseline

*Data are preliminary and subject to change. 

Key Takeaways:

  • KCTCS remained relatively stagnant on the percentage of AAS and Diploma graduates that completed an experiential learning component as part of their studies, falling well short of the 72.3% target. However, there was significant variation at the college level, with Gateway, Henderson, Hopkinsville, Southeast, and West Kentucky all exceeding the systemwide target in 2021-22.

  • While KCTCS fell short of the target for associate degree transfer and showed only slight growth from baseline performance, the lack of progress was due to the inclusion of AAS degrees in this metric. AAS degrees are meant to position students for immediate entry into the workforce, whereas AA and AS degrees are designed to transfer. Over the life of the strategic plan, the transfer rates for AA and AS degree graduates were consistently around 60% and 53%, respectively. 

    • This metric will continue to be tracked moving forward as a key performance indicator for CPE, with the methodology refined to focus specifically on AA and AS graduates. 

Strategic Plan Performance: Goal 4 

Goal 4: Improve student engagement, support, experiences, and success with best-in-class academic and student services. 

 
Metric Baseline Current Performance Difference Target Assessment of Progress
Retention 49.4% 55.5% +6.1 55.4% Target Exceeded 
Student Engagement 

AL: 47.2 

SE: 50.6 

AC: 49.1 

SFI: 52.3 

SL: 51.2 

AL: 51.0 

SE: 50.1 

AC: 50.3 

SFI: 55.4 

SL: 51.3 

AL: +3.8 

SE: -0.5 

AC: +1.2 

SFI: +3.1 

SL: +0.1 

AL: 50.0 

SE: 50.0 

AC: 50.0 

SFI: 50.0 

SL: 50.0 

 

 

Target Exceeded

Notes: AL = Active Learning; SE = Student Effort; AC = Academic Challenge; SFI = Student/Faculty Interaction; SL = Support for Learners. Student engagement scores are scaled so that 50.0 represents the national average.

Key Takeaways: 

  • KCTCS exceeded the target for overall fall-to-fall retention rates, improving performance by 6.1 percentage points from the baseline rate. In total, 11 KCTCS colleges met or exceeded the final target for retention. 

    • The new KCTCS 2022-2026 Strategic Plan is moving away from retention to utilize a more comprehensive two-year persistence rate (and fall-to-spring retention rate leading indicator). However, fall-to-fall retention will continue to be tracked moving forward as a key performance indicator for CPE. 

  • KCTCS exceeded the target on each of the five benchmark areas for student engagement, as measured by the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Of particular note are the performance improvements in the Active Learning and Student/Faculty Interactions benchmark areas, which increased by 3.8 and 3.1 points, respectively, over the life of the strategic plan. 

Strategic Plan Performance: Goal 5

Goal 5: Align programs and curricula with needs of employers that enhance the employability, job placement, and career development of KCTCS graduates. 

 
Metric Baseline Current Difference Target Assessment of Progress
Licensure/Certification Pass Rate  88.8% 84.2% -4.6 88.4%* Target Not Met*
Credit Hour Conversion 13,153 13,330 +177 15,030 Target Not Met but Growth from Baseline

*The target shown represents the national average licensure/certification pass rate for the VFA 2020 cohort. VFA reporting was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • KCTCS performance on licensure/certification pass rates declined over the life of the strategic plan, from a baseline of 88.8% to 84.2% for the 2022 cohort. The decline is partially due to a technical edit beginning with the 2020 cohort which decreased the pass rates by about 3 percentage points from the prior year (prior to this edit, KCTCS was tracking just above the national average). 

  • KCTCS was tracking well above the target for credit hour conversion prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (credit hour conversion was 16,378 in 2019-20). Despite the challenges associated with the pandemic and the inability to offer in-person training for much of the last two years, performance was improved from the baseline level by 177 credit hours.