• GFC MSU values Transparency – The college is committed to participatory governance and has created an environment where academic, financial and administrative functions are conducted openly. The process by which the college crafted its mission, values, core themes and objectives shows its commitment to shared governance. Beginning in January 2015, the college began working to formulate new college mission, vision and values statements and corresponding core themes and indicators, led by the chief information officer and later by the chief financial officer. Leadership held numerous campus-wide open sessions, asking participants to brainstorm ideas and statements. Those ideas that appeared repeatedly were drafted into several potential mission and vision statements and presented to the College Planning, Budget and Analysis Committee (CPBAC), Faculty Senate and Executive Team. Once the mission and vision were set by CPBAC, Faculty Senate and the Executive Team, core themes were drafted and again approved by CPBAC, Faculty Senate and Executive Team. A permanent task force was assigned to each core theme. These task forces were charged with drafting the core indicators, with assistance from the institutional researcher. The resulting indicators have been approved by CPBAC, Faculty Senate and the Executive Team. The core theme task forces also are charged with setting annual and seven-year targets for each indicator. Based on these targets, CPBAC will establish a plan for accomplishing these targets. Based on these targets, CPBAC will establish a seven-year strategic plan and annual operating plan for accomplishing these targets. The target date for completing the seven-year strategic plan is June 2016. The process of looking at data and progress on achieving the targets will help CPBAC determine whether it is fulfilling its mission or whether new targets and plans need to be made. 1.A.2 The institution defines mission fulfillment in the context of its purpose, characteristics, and expectations. Guided by that definition, it articulates institutional accomplishments or outcomes that represent an acceptable threshold or extent of mission fulfillment. What have you done today to help a student return tomorrow? Faculty member: I helped a student who wanted to drop out of all his/her classes earlier in the semester. I contacted the student’s adviser immediately and worked with the adviser and the student. I emailed the student to have a face to face meeting and offered the student extra time outside of class to perfect the skills the student was struggling with. The student did not drop out and is continuing to do great work. The keystone of the GFC MSU mission is the people the college educates and inspires – students and community members. The purpose of the mission is to guide initiatives and ongoing work to ensure the college remains focused on educating and inspiring individuals. The characteristics of the mission are that GFC MSU maintains open enrollment and meets students “where they are” to ensure they can pursue education and enrichment despite barriers that might otherwise prevent their success. By allowing its mission to guide its actions, GFC MSU has an expectation of student and community success as measured by the indicator targets set and monitored by the core theme task forces, CPBAC and the Executive Team. The Montana University System further has targets on which to based performance-based funding, many of which dovetail with the core indicators, although on an institution-wide basis. Great Falls College Montana State University 25