Strategic Plan

San Joaquin Delta Community College District Strategic Plan 2022–2027

2022-2027 Strategic PlanSan Joaquin Delta College engaged in an inclusive, collaborative strategic planning process that spanned two years and was completed with input from a wide variety of stakeholders through virtual forums, planning workshops, shared governance committees, and constituency group meetings. The process was led by a team comprised of the executive cabinet and constituency group leads.

The 2022-2027 Strategic Plan is guided by the following questions:

  1. Who does the College serve?
  2. What does the College do and why?
  3. What does the College aim to achieve?
  4. How will the College achieve its goals?
  5. How will the College measure success?

Delta College's Full Strategic Plan or 2 Page Snapshot Poster. Both available as a PDF.

San Joaquin Delta Community College District Strategic Plan 2022-2027 (PDF)

Delta College Strategic Plan Snapshot (2 pages) (PDF)

Mission

Mission

We actively and continuously strive to be a student-centered, anti-racist, equity-focused college that serves the educational and economic development needs of our communities. We commit ourselves to high standards of teaching and learning, provide excellent career and transfer education programs, and offer high-quality support services which empower all students to pursue personal development and achieve their academic goals.

(Board Policy 1200)

Vision

Vision

We believe in our students and act as a catalyst for knowledge growth, social equity, economic mobility, personal development, and life-long learning.

(Board Policy 1201)

Values

Values

Strategic Values WheelDelta College is a beacon of hope for students, providing them with an innovative, student-ready, equity-minded college experience through high quality teaching, learning, and support services. We express these values in all that we do.

Community

We engage with regional partners to align the college with employer and community needs, provide enrichment and serve as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as cultural and intellectual exchange.

Inclusion and Respect

We are a diverse educational institution that promotes academic discourse and encourages courageous conversations to address our community needs with solution-focused thinking. An inclusive culture means all communities contribute and are critical stakeholders in conversations. Diverse perspectives from all constituency groups, regardless of rank or title, are solicited and honored. We listen openly, engage respectfully, and communicate authentically and regularly.

Inquiry and Innovation

We employ data-informed, sustainable processes and are committed to continuous improvement. Flexibility and adaptability are critical in our constantly changing environment. New and emerging ideas for the betterment of the college and the student experience are celebrated. We consistently evaluate our effectiveness and adjust as necessary.

Student-Centered

We put our students’ education first, acknowledging students’ voice as central to the learning experience. Programs and offerings are designed with this in mind. We strive to listen to students’ needs, aim to be culturally responsive, and prioritize a shift in our approach to meet students where they are and help them achieve their goals.

Social Justice and Equity

We recognize that society unfairly distributes wealth, opportunity, and privilege through systems such as higher education and seek to disrupt this inequity. Higher education should be a civil right and we see it as a means to create a more just world, recognizing that we have an obligation to examine our policies and practices to strengthen and safeguard equity, diversity, and inclusion. We are committed to providing all students with the support they need to be successful, especially students who come from historically marginalized and underserved communities.

Wellness and Safety

We prioritize and promote the well-being and safety of our college community.

Strategic Goals and Objectives

 

Strategic Goal 1

Student-Centered 

Goal

Increase student success metrics for all students, especially for disproportionately impacted students, to significantly reduce equity gaps. 

Objectives 

1.1 Significantly Reduce Equity Gaps By fall 2027, close equity gaps in completion across all racial groups and disproportionately impacted student populations while increasing the overall completion rate from 16% to 36%.1

1.2 Meet Student Basic Needs By fall 2027, reduce the percentage of students reporting basic needs insecurity from 60% to 40%. 

1.3 Promote Student Health, Wellness, and Safety Baseline measure and goal to be established by fall 2022. 

1 Completion rate is defined as earning an Associates Degree, Associates Degree for Transfer, and/or a Certificate within four years (Vision Goal Completion Definition)

Key Strategies 

  • Re-establish the College’s commitment to implementation of the Guided Pathways model, including: Emphasize the importance of Guided Pathways as a framework for student success and equity, and highlight what has been implemented successfully 
    • Embedded basic needs assessment and resources early in the student journey 
    • Establishment of momentum points and milestones along the student journey, including identification of learning outcomes across the Transfer and Career Pathways (TrACs) 
    • Proactive and strategic interventions for disproportionately impacted student populations 
    • Resources, support, and professional development focused on disproportionately impacted student retention 
    • College-wide training encompassing each individual’s role in supporting and improving the student experience from outreach through completion and beyond 
  • Actively elicit student perspectives and increase opportunities for engagement and participation to inform ongoing improvements. 
  • Support and sustain a positive college climate for inclusion, health, wellness, and safety for all students through enhancement of services, resources, and trainings, including expansion of services for student basic needs. Ensure awareness of services, resources, and trainings through widespread and effective communication, marketing, and outreach. 

Strategic Goal 2

Innovative and Inclusive

Goal

Improve operational practices to ensure access to an equity-minded, student-centered experience. 

Objectives

2.1 Establish and Implement Integrated Planning Model By fall 2027, implement a viable, collaborative integrated planning framework that continuously aligns shared governance, assessment, planning, and resource allocation. 

2.2 Stabilize and Optimize Technology By fall 2027, stabilize the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and integrated systems to ensure processes are seamless and optimized for the student and employee experience. 

2.3 Recruit and Retain a Diverse Workforce By 2027, increase the diversity of employees to at least 50% employees of color and/or LGBTQ+. 

2.4 Institute Systematic Professional Development for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion By 2027, develop and implement a plan for systematic professional development for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging that is required for all employees.

Key Strategies 

  • Actively elicit employee perspectives from all constituency groups and at all levels of the College. Increase opportunities for engagement and participation to inform ongoing improvements. 
  • Establish a planning team within shared governance to design and implement an integrated planning model that ensures alignment across the college and maximizes institutional effectiveness, including an evaluation of the current integrated planning model, existing plans, goals, and intended outcomes. The team will assess alignment of student success goals with resource allocation. 
  • Audit current technological capabilities, challenges, and opportunities for supporting a seamless student and employee experience, including the institution’s capacity to collect, access, and use data to inform decisions and use technology to support student success. Utilize results of the audit to prioritize system improvements, upgrades, and/or new implementations. 
  • Intentionally focus on recruitment and retention of diverse employees by evaluating and updating hiring, onboarding, and succession planning processes for all employee classifications. 
  • Identify and implement systematic professional development and effective initiatives for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, ongoing assessments of the campus climate, and implementation of changes to improve the climate for inclusion based on results. 

Strategic Goal 3

Community-Focused

Goal

Delta College will initiate and promote community partnerships, increase engagement, and expand opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural and intellectual exchange. 

Objectives 

3.1 Increase Community Engagement By 2027, increase the number of employees and students participating with community-based organizations. 

3.2 Enhance Employer Relationships By 2027, increase the number of students employed in local industry to meet the labor market need. 

3.3 Establish the Delta College Foundation as a Community Resource By 2027, the Delta College Foundation will be a key resource for fostering community and alumni engagement, and securing financial support through community-based partnerships and donors. 

3.4 Promote and Celebrate Innovation By 2027, Delta College will be recognized as a hub for innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural and intellectual exchange.

Key Strategies 

  • Encourage employees and students to be ambassadors of the college in the community and facilitate community connections. Ensure all are aware of the College’s offerings and what services and opportunities are available. Create a database of community engagement opportunities and employee affiliations with community-based organizations to develop and enhance services for students. 
  • Bring the community to the Delta College campuses by hosting events, conventions, guest lectures, internships, and revitalizing the Delta Center for the Arts through cultural activities, films, speakers, debates, and performances. 
  • Enhance the College’s online and face-to-face presence for community engagement, identify gaps in services, leverage existing strategic partnerships, develop new partnerships, and enhance educational programs with intentional focus on local industry needs. 
  • Reinforce the Delta College Foundation’s mission to enhance community relationships and partnerships through fundraising, marketing, community and alumni engagement, and ensure best practices for financial management and oversight. 
  • Establish the Makers Space on campus as a small business incubator to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship in partnership with high schools and community organizations. 
  • Increase paid opportunities for students, including on campus and in the community through internships, connections with local industry, and on-the-job training opportunities that align with student programs of study. 

 

Appendix
Unpacking Terminology

Anti-racist: The practice of actively identifying and opposing racism. The goal of anti-racism is to actively change policies, behaviors, and beliefs that perpetuate racist ideas and actions.

Diversity: The wide variety of shared and different personal and group characteristics among human beings. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.

Equity: Equity is grounded in the principle of fairness. In higher education, equity refers to ensuring that each student receives what they need to be successful through the intentional design of the college experience.

Equity-Minded: The perspective or mode of thinking exhibited by practitioners who call attention to patterns of inequity in student outcomes. Taking personal and institutional responsibility for the success of students, and critically reassessing practices. Requires that practitioners are race-conscious and aware of the social and historical context of exclusionary practices in American Higher Education (https://cue.usc.edu/about/equity/equity-mindedness/).

Food Insecurity: The limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food in a socially acceptable manner. The most extreme form is often accompanied by physiological sensations of hunger.

Homelessness: The lack of a stable place to live. Students responded affirmatively to a question asking if they had been homeless or experience living conditions that are considered signs of homelessness in the past year.

Housing Insecurity: Includes a broad set of challenges such as the inability to pay rent or utilities or the need to move frequently. Students are classified as housing insecure if they answered affirmatively to experiencing at least one of the relevant survey items in the previous year.

Inclusion: Inclusion is seen as a universal human right. The aim of inclusion is to embrace all people irrespective of race, gender, disability, medical or other needs. It is about giving equal access and opportunities and getting rid of discrimination and intolerance (removal of barriers). It affects all aspects of public life.

Student-Centered: Prioritize the needs and interests of students in planning and decision-making. “Always design and decide with the student in mind” (California Community College Chancellor’s Office Vision for Success). Systematically examine policies and tools at all levels to better understand the student experience. Leaders need to forge greater connectedness across different programs and services so that they appear seamless to students. When glitches arise, colleges and policymakers must make every attempt to favor the students’ interests, helping students move forward toward their end goals, not holding them up.

Student-Ready: A student-ready college is one that strategically and holistically advances student success, and works tirelessly to educate all students for civic and economic participation in a global, interconnected society. At student-ready colleges, all services and activities – from admissions to the business office to the classroom, and even campus security – are intentionally designed to facilitate students’ progressive advancement toward college completion and post-college outcomes. Student-ready colleges are committed not only to student achievement but also to organizational learning and institutional improvement (Becoming a Student-Ready College, American Association of Colleges and Universities)