JCCC’s strategic planning process began in the fall of 2020. DEI Committee members were highly engaged and continue to be highly engaged in that process. The JCCC 2021-25 Strategic Plan can be found here: https://www.jccc.edu/about/strategic-plan/
First, scores of committee members participated in the employee SWOT sessions in December 2020 and January 2021, to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. As a result, it was determined that bolstering diversity, equity, and inclusion at JCCC would be one of the four goals for the current strategic plan.
Next, DEI Committee members volunteered to participate in the strategy development teams in the summer of 2021. Those meetings consisted of strategy-challenge mapping to identify three overall strategies for the DEI goal. Committee members also participated in providing feedback on the goals and strategies during the professional learning days (PLD) at the start of the fall 2021 semester.
Following the identification of the DEI goals and strategies, DEI committee members joined the strategy and metrics teams. Several committee members were identified as strategy team co-chairs.
As co-chairs, they lead teams of JCCC employees (many of whom are committee members) to identify specific action steps for their specific strategy. They also engage in regular meetings, complete monthly reports on progress, and prepare budget requests to implement actions and strategies—and achieve overall goals.
On the metrics team, members discuss and identify key performance indicators to measure progress towards the college goals.
In December of 2021, after the DEI committee submitted its report to cabinet, the DEI Committee added additional volunteers to the DEI strategy teams. From then until now, members have been highly engaged in the strategic planning process.
The strategic planning process is separate from the DEI Committee, however the DEI goal and its strategies align with the DEI Committee’s recommendations and the DEI Committee will continue to be very engaged in that process.