During the recent Chief Learning Officer (CLO) awards ceremony in Chicago, Richland Community College received the Gold Award for Excellence in Academic Partnerships thanks to its work with Partners In Leadership®, a leading global consulting firm that focuses on Accountability Training and cultural transformations of institutions.
The CLO awards were established in 2003 to recognize learning leaders who have demonstrated excellence in the design and delivery of employee development programs during the past year.
Dr. Cristobal Valdez, President of Richland Community College, attended the event and accepted the award, noting that the work the College undertook just under two years ago, is what earned this national recognition. Valdez stated, “Shortly after my arrival at Richland, we began to work with Partners In Leadership to create the culture we desired as a campus community. This award is just one recognition of this essential work. On a daily basis, we see the positive effects of working on institutional culture. It is what has improved employee satisfaction, student success, retention and completion and has made Richland a strong community partner and attracts exceptional employees to continue the effort.”
Like other higher education institutions in Illinois and across the country, the College experienced significant decreases in enrollment over a six-year period. Richland Community College was facing several challenges that were hindering its capability of operating to full potential. Dr. Valdez saw the challenges of economic instability, declining student retention and enrollment, and low levels of trust and communication were impacting the college’s ability to attain organizational results. Richland lost over 22% of student enrollment over six years. The student retention rate was even lower at 46.24% for Next Term and 8.46% for Fall to Fall.
In an effort to change the College’s path, Richland launched its initiative with Partners In Leadership, utilizing the Accountability Builder® program in 2017. Workshops and assessments were designed to help break down silos, encourage collaboration, and grow employee investment in the specific goals, or Key Results™, of the organization. Richland saw that Personal Accountability would increase employee buy-in and engagement.
The first step in changing Richland’s path was to develop three Key Results, which would be the focus of its work. The goal was to achieve these results by the end of the 2019-2020 academic year. The Key Results were identified as follows: Trust – Develop a mutually respectful and empowering work environment based on trust, individual and shared accountability; Grow – Grow institutional enrollments by 7% in 3 years; and Thrive – Establish and maintain a fiscal viability and sustainability.
In less than two years, Richland has already met these three Key Results.
- Trust – focusing on an increase in perception of a positive campus culture – from 46% to 76% or an increase of 65%
- Grow – enrollment grow of nearly 15% this fall and over 20% this past summer, the highest institutional enrollment since 2016. Contributing to this enrollment growth was a 57% increase in next term student retention and 370% increase in Fall to Fall student retention
- Thrive – 25% reserve and a 2% positive operating margin, the strongest financial position the College has been in for 7 years
Valdez concluded, “Now that our enrollment numbers are starting to come in – and the 15 percent increase surprised us too – the public is taking some notice. However, we know that none of the outcomes would be possible without the entire college community coming together to work on these efforts on behalf of our students. We see the results daily; faculty and staff are more engaged in student success efforts, employees are considerate of and bring forward cost-conscience ideas and solutions and we all strive to engage in frank and productive communication, providing both constructive and appreciative feedback to colleagues. We understand that changing employees’ and students’ experiences will positively change behaviors and effect actions which will, in turn, create continued results similar to those that permitted Chief Learning Officer officials to recognize and grant Richland, and all our employees, this coveted acknowledgment.”