Southeast Technical Institute Systems Portfolio November 2010

Apr 20, 2024

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Southeast Technical Institute Systems Portfolio November 2010 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Category Nine: Collaborative Relationships

Processes

9P1 Building Relationships with Organizations that Provide STI with Students

STI is a regional institute generally serving southeast South Dakota, southwest Minnesota, and northwest Iowa. Therefore, STI develops its relationships with the organizations located in these areas. To a lesser extent, STI has established additional relationships with southeast North Dakota and the remaining portions of South Dakota. A number of avenues create opportunities for STI to build relationships:

Tech Prep: A full-time Tech Prep Coordinator builds relationships with the regional K-12 school systems through visits to high schools, classroom presentations on the opportunities in technical education, and meetings with high school staff, instructors, and administrators. Tech Prep also provides opportunities for high school students to come on campus and participate in learning sessions such as “Scrubs Camp” for health programs and Tech camp for technology programs. Summer tech camps for middle school students help them explore technology careers in computer programming, graphics, and systems administration. Sharing the stories of technical education and the variety of careers available with potential students and their counselors, peers, and parents increases the likelihood that they will choose STI. Over 50 course articulation agreements have been established throughout the state between South Dakota high schools and the four state technical institutes.

High School Visits: STI recruiters visit regional high schools to meet with students interested in attending STI or to talk to classes about technical education. The recruiters build relationships with the high school career counselors and keep them informed about STI programs. Additionally, faculty visit area schools to do presentations about STI and its programs, particularly in programs with low enrollments.

Visitation Days: Throughout the year STI Admissions coordinates opportunities for students from area high schools to visit the campus and explore various programs. During these “visitation days,” faculty present mini-course sessions to give students a sense of what the various programs involve. This provides these students the opportunity to learn more about career fields and meet with program instructors directly.

Articulation Agreements: STI’s articulation agreements with area high schools and with public and private universities allow students to transfer coursework to STI. The State of South Dakota mandated general education articulation between the four technical institutes and the public four-year universities. STI also works with the three other technical institutes in the state to coordinate the delivery of technical education in the state and advocate for funding. STI has also developed specific articulation partnerships with private transfer institutions such as Bellevue University in Omaha, Nebraska, and the University of Sioux Falls. The most recent articulation, approved by the Board of Regents for fall 2010, is a forward and reverse articulation agreement between STI and the University of South Dakota for six AAS health programs.

9P2 Building Relationships with Educational Organizations and Employers Who Need STI Graduates

STI has a long history of fostering strong relationships with employers. Faculty and Administrators network with business and industry leaders to create and prioritize collaborative relationships which often result in clinical and internship opportunities for students, as well as future employment for graduates. The Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, the Sioux Falls Economic Development Foundation, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development are also important partners who help STI ensure that stakeholder’s needs are understood and met. Information on employer requirements has been gathered through targeted industry forums in health, manufacturing, and construction; through an annual Employer Survey; and through the professional networking of faculty and administration. Program faculty also maintain active Industry Advisory Committees, which are the source of valuable and current information in each field. These committees meet a minimum of twice each year and are attended by administration.

The Business and Industry Training Division promotes collaborative relationships through its customized and non-credit programming. Operated as an enterprise fund, the division designs and delivers short and long-term contract and continuing education training for area employers.

Finally, regarding educational collaboration, see 9P 1 . With a targeted mission of educating for employment, transfers to the universities are not an institutional priority. However, as 9P1 indicates, collaborations with educational entities have been established and continue to be pursued.

9P3 Building Relationships with Service Providers

STI builds relationships with organizations which support operations. Because STI is part of the Sioux Falls School District, many of these processes, policies and contractual requirements mirror those of the district. Formal contracts must be approved by the Sioux Falls School Board and may require vendors to participate in a bidding process. Many organizations have had relationships with STI for numerous years, providing consistency in delivery of services. By working within the district, STI has realized cost savings in certain areas due to the district’s ability to buy products in bulk.

Table 9.1 provides examples of the principal organizations that provide services or materials to STI.

Table 9.1 STI Service Providers

Organizations	Service Provided	STI Monitoring Agent
Dell	Laptops for Students	Director of Information Technology
Jenzabar	Administrative Software System	Director of Information Technology
SDLN	Library Network for Book Reserve	Librarian
Various Book Vendors	Book Supplies for Students	Bookstore Manager
Turnitin.com	Plagiarism Protection	English Faculty
SDN Communications	Phone System	Director of Information Technology
Xerox	Copy Services	Director of Information Technology

9P4 Building Relationships with Suppliers

Table 9.1 provides examples of the principal organizations that provide services or materials to STI.

Table 9.1 STI Service Providers

Organizations	Service Provided	STI Monitoring Agent
Dell	Laptops for Students	Director of Information Technology
Jenzabar	Administrative Software System	Director of Information Technology
SDLN	Library Network for Book Reserve	Librarian
Various Book Vendors	Book Supplies for Students	Bookstore Manager
Turnitin.com	Plagiarism Protection	English Faculty
SDN Communications	Phone System	Director of Information Technology
Xerox	Copy Services	Director of Information Technology

9P5 Building Relationships with Other Key Organizations and the Community

Relationship building with stakeholders is an STI strength. Administration, faculty, and staff across the institution determine the most critical relationships based on the mission and strategic goals of the institute. These relationships are then developed through various communications and meetings. Table 9.2 shows STI’s key relationships and results of those relationships.

Table 9.2 STI Key Relationships and Results

Organization or Company	Relationship	STI agent	Results
Legislature	Charter & authority to grant degrees, diplomas and certificates, funding	President & Administration	State post-secondary funding
State Technical Institutes	Collaboration, advocacy	President & Administration	Consistent general education across the state, non-duplication of programs
K-12 Systems	Feeder institution	Tech Prep Coordinator STI Recruiters	Over 50 direct course articulations for participating schools
Four Year Colleges and Universities and the South Dakota Board of Regents	Transfer agreements	Administration, Faculty	175 transfer agreements
Regional Hospital systems Financial Institutions Manufacturing Other Employers	Graduate Employment Foundation and Equipment Donations	Administration, Faculty	96% graduate employment, over $840,000 in foundation assets, equipment donations
Clinical Sites	Clinical Site Agreements	Faculty and Administration	288 contracted clinical sites
Internship sites	Internship Site Agreements	Faculty and Administration	Over 90 internship sites each year.
Advisory Committees	Program advice, advocacy	Faculty and Administration	Over 200 advisory members
Foundation Board and contributors	Scholarships	Foundation Director	171 students awarded scholarships (2009-2010) for $136,771
City of Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Chamber Sioux Falls Development Foundation	Advocacy and identifying stakeholder need	President and STI Council	Relevant programs meeting regional needs (Employer Survey )
SD Department of Education, SD Department of Labor, SD Department of State Development and Tourism	Approval of new programs, tuition, bonding for buildings, recruit and develop new businesses to the area	President	Agility: approval of nine new programs in the last five years
Accrediting Agencies: HLC & Program Accreditation	Accountability & quality	Administration, Faculty, AQIP Teams	90% of eligible programs maintain accredited status

STI has built its reputation on its ability to respond quickly and effectively to the needs of its stakeholders. STI has strong ties to business and industry, high schools, other post-secondary institutes, and South Dakota’s state government agencies and sets targets to gain and build those collaborative relationships that will move the institute toward its mission and vision. Building this reputation has only been possible through the strong collaborative culture of the institute. These critical links help ensure that STI responds to community and regional needs with agility and appropriateness.

9P6 Meeting Needs Through Partnerships

STI tries to ensure that partnerships are beneficial to all parties by asking how well the organization serves the needs of these partners. The results listed in 9P5 above provide evidence that these relationships are meeting the needs of those involved. As described in Category 3, the Employer Survey results (Table 9.3), Industry Forums, and Advisory Committee input provide additional information and data about success and challenges in meeting these needs.

9P7 Building Internal Relationships

Staff in-service days and monthly meetings provide opportunities for various teams and departments to interact with each other and to work together. The Administration and staff from the In-Service Committee invite faculty and staff to present on multiple topics: teaching techniques, learning styles, using the LMS system, addressing social issues such as substance abuse, and serving the needs of students with disabilities. A popular mini-session during in-service meetings has been to tour various program areas and departments and listen to faculty and staff “demonstrate” or explain key features of their respective programs or departments. Over the course of several years, faculty have been able to visit all programs. Faculty may also participate in an Industry/Job Shadow experience during in-service, which gives them the opportunity to monitor trends and technology in their given industry. As reported in the in-service survey results, this has been an effective way for peers to understand each other’s roles. Participation in the professional development planning and cross-department involvement is intended to create a sense of staff/faculty ownership.

AQIP Teams and standing committees are cross-functional and are comprised of faculty, staff and administration. The General Education (GE) Team members share responsibility for acting as liaisons to all program Advisory Committees. Every GE member attends two to three program meetings each year to promote the relationships between GE and programs. Information on business needs regarding GE and program curriculum and changes are communicated across the institution in this way. STI Success Advisors and various support staff also report on their roles and are invited into classrooms and faculty offices to assist students.

The STInet is the central communication tool where staff can access updates on events, Action Project status, minutes from committees, results from various institutional surveys and program data, institutional forms, etc. Periodic training on STInet is provided to encourage use of the system.

Results

9R1 Measures of Building Collaborative Relationships

External Relationships: The primary measure for building external collaborative relationships is the Employer Survey. Results in Table 9.3 are based on a 5 point Likert scale with 1 (unacceptable) - 2 (unsatisfactory) - 3 (satisfactory) - 4 (very good) - 5 (excellent). In all categories, STI is rated at 3.76 or above.

Table 9.3 Employer Survey Institutional Ratings (189 to 290 yearly responses)

Question	2009	2007	2005	2003	2001
Relationship	4.16	4.05	4.02	3.87	4.00
Reputation	4.23	4.09	4.07	3.95	4.05
Meets Company Needs	3.99	3.95	3.81	3.76	3.85
Program Offerings	4.01	4.01	3.89	3.86	3.91

Internal Relationships: Fostering internal relationships is described in Category 4 Valuing People (see 4P 11 and 4R 2 ).

9R2 Performance Results of Building Collaborative Relationships

Table 9.3 Employer Survey Institutional Ratings (189 to 290 yearly responses)

Question	2009	2007	2005	2003	2001
Relationship	4.16	4.05	4.02	3.87	4.00
Reputation	4.23	4.09	4.07	3.95	4.05
Meets Company Needs	3.99	3.95	3.81	3.76	3.85
Program Offerings	4.01	4.01	3.89	3.86	3.91

Internal Relationships: Fostering internal relationships is described in Category 4 Valuing People (see 4P 11 and 4R 2 ).

9R3 Comparative Results

Participation in the National Community College Benchmarking Project (NCCBP) is new, so comparison results regarding this area are a future goal.

Improvements

9I1 Improvements

Local secondary education initiatives: Two new local initiatives for fall 2010 in secondary education will create more opportunities for STI to collaborate. A Career Tech Academy, offering high school level technical education in a variety of fields, opened its doors in August 2010 and is located directly south and within walking distance of STI’s campus. Additionally, a project-based high school option is located on the STI campus and provides high school students the opportunity to complete their high school curriculum in a project-based environment. Both of these initiatives provide STI the opportunity to increase its connections with secondary education.

University Forward/Reverse Articulation: The University of South Dakota and STI have developed a forward/reverse articulation agreement that allows students to begin their education at either location and complete an AAS and bachelor’s degree in specific health programs.

WIA: STI has experienced an increase in the number of students coming to the campus who are being funded through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) or Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab). STI has built strong relationships with both of these organizations through meetings and individual communications.

Information Technology (IT) Partnerships: Collaboration with technology suppliers, Jenzabar, SDN Communications, and Xerox, are enabling STI to improve technology and participate in innovative practices. STI has worked directly with Jenzabar to develop the integration necessary to connect the Jenzabar Higher Reach software with the Jenzabar EX software. STI regularly sends staff and faculty to Jenzabar conferences, and an IT staff member has served on the Jenzabar EX Advisory Board and is now serving on the Jenzabar EX Higher Reach Advisory Board. STI has partnered with SDN Communications to provide the campus with VOIP services and Xerox to provide STI with an integrated and networked copy and print system, implemented in fall 2010.

Evening and Online Enrollment Coordinator: The addition of this new STI position will provide STI with another resource to build collaborative relationships with area business and industry. The coordinator will meet with area employers to discuss options for online and evening employees to improve their skills and earn a diploma or AAS degree.

9I2 Culture and Infrastructure Role in Setting Targets and Selecting Processes for Improvement

Creating a more systematic way of managing collaborative partnerships is an area for improvement. The development of a collaborative relationship database would be beneficial to the institute and with the recently purchased Higher Reach software, tracking these relationships will be improved.

However, STI believes that its collaborative relationships are a strength of the institute as evidenced by the new forward/reverse articulation agreement with USD, the strong relationships and growth of STI’s Business and Industry partnerships (2R2), expanded K-12 partnership opportunities with the new Sioux Falls Career Tech Academy, internship, clinical and Advisory Committee relationships, continued foundation growth and vendor collaborations with Jenzabar and Xerox.