What is Institutional Effectiveness?

The mission of Wake Technical Community College is to improve and enrich lives by meeting the lifelong education, training, and workforce development needs of the communities it serves; to promote individual success in the workplace and in higher education; and to increase entrepreneurship as well as cultural, social, and economic development. 

In pursuit of its mission, the college adheres to an open door admissions policy by offering quality, accessible, and affordable education opportunities to all adults regardless of age, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, race, religion, or disability. To meet the needs of the citizens of Wake County, the college focuses on providing support services, resources, community outreach and partnerships; programs in basic skills development; vocational, technical, and occupational training; and college/university transfer preparation. 

Institutional Effectiveness is the systematic, explicit and documented process of measuring institutional performance against mission in all aspects of the college (SACS, 2012).

At Wake Technical Community College, all units of the college engage in an institutional effectiveness process that involves the following steps:
 

1. Write a meaningful mission/purpose statement that aligns with the mission of the College;
2. Establish long range goals that operationalize the Mission
3. Write expected outcomes statements (including student learning outcomes);
4. Assess the extent to which these outcomes have been achieved; and
5. Provide evidence of improvement based on analysis of the results.

Approved by the Board of Trustees, Wake Tech's Annual Planning and Evaluation Cycle incorporates these steps in an ongoing, integrated and research-based planning and evaluation process that involves all areas of the college, ensuring that the college is continually improving and accomplishing its mission. While designing plans that include expected outcomes and appropriate measures to achieve those outcomes is critical to the IE process, Wake Tech’s Annual Planning and Evaluation cycle emphasizes the importance of assessing, reviewing, communicating and evaluating results and using those results to improve annually.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS),, ed. Resource Manual for the Principles of Accreditation. Decatur, Georgia: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, May 2012. Print.