Strategic Plan, 2018-2025

Engaging students, changing lives

North Hennepin Community College creates opportunities for students to reach their academic goals, succeed in their chosen professions, and make a difference in the world.

Opportunity without limits, learning without end, and achievement beyond expectation.

We believe in the power of education to change lives. Toward that end, we:

• Inspire intellectual curiosity
• Embrace diversity of all kinds
• Foster trust and respect
• Expect quality and continuous improvement
• Encourage creativity and innovation
• Promote individual responsibility and integrity
• Invest in professional and personal development
• Build strong, collaborative partnerships
• Serve as responsible stewards of college resources

North Hennepin Community College is dedicated to upholding anti-racist and inclusive work practices and moving toward systems that benefit us all. We acknowledge that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Dakota people. We recognize that human diversity is a fundamental strength of our community and that racism and oppression have caused the long-lasting and grievous harm of historical trauma. North Hennepin Community College, together with historically marginalized communities, is committed to advancing racial equity, closing the opportunity gap, and improving college access to communities that experience racial inequities. North Hennepin Community College will incorporate racial equity as a standard part of decision-making processes as we strive for a complete state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing across the student and employee experience.

North Hennepin Community College stands firm against homophobia, transphobia, and gender-based violence in all its forms. We are committed to cultivating a campus environment in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, two-spirit, asexual and queer students, staff, and faculty have safety, representation, inclusion, and equity. We actively foster the academic and personal success of LGBTQIA2+ students through programming, services, and support, while simultaneously deepening the campus community's understanding and appreciation of LGBTQIA2+ people and issues. Our dedication extends to upholding queer joy and implementing trans-inclusive practices in all aspects of our work. We pledge to persistently continue to work toward creating a strong culture of resistance against oppression in all its manifestations.

A two-day workshop in February facilitated by our consultant oriented task force members to a five-phase process: Getting Organized, Data Gathering, Sense Making, Vision Conference, and Goals Conference. Task force members were assigned projects using specific data gathering strategies to capture broad input as well as discoveries about the college from internal and external stakeholders.

Task force members engaged in conversations, written and face-to-face, with more than 1,200 internal and external stakeholders to inform us of their awareness, knowledge and perception of the college.

The task force spent a full day reporting out their findings to each other, and identified and agreed upon five strategic themes that would become the focus for the planning process, including Branding, Community Partnerships, Comprehensive Student Experience, Diversity, and Employee Satisfaction. Task force members wrote concept papers to elaborate on the themes and their importance to the college.

At this highly interactive meeting, task force members and representatives from business, industry and the community reviewed and discussed the concept papers to identify key themes. Those themes helped create a Preferred Future statement, a shared aspirational vision for the college. In January 2018, the campus community was invited to provide feedback via an in-person Gallery Walk or online survey

Leveraging the Preferred Future statement, task force members and additional college stakeholders developed goals and an action plan for each of the strategic directions. The campus community was invited to provide feedback via a second Gallery Walk in April 2018. You can find the Preferred Future statement and the five strategic directions along with their corresponding goals and guiding principles on the following pages.

The goal of branding is to define and articulate who we are as a college and our relationship within the broader community.

Guiding Principles

• We have high expectations and embrace rigor at all levels across the institution.
• We embody student-centered relationships.
• We make a powerful and positive difference in the communities we serve.

The goal of community partnerships is to become a trusted and valued partner in the region and state, integrated into the fabric of the community and regarded as a respected community asset.

Guiding Principles

• Our partnerships are relevant to the college mission.
• Our partnerships enhance professional development and the health of our programs.
• Our partnerships increase opportunity and access for our students.
• Our partnerships advance the vitality and presence of the college within the communities we serve.
• Our partnerships provide unique value to our stakeholders.

The goal of comprehensive student experience is to provide a stellar academic and co-curricular experience that challenges and prepares our students for a complex, fast-paced, and diverse world.

Guiding Principles

• All employees understand and contribute to a student’s learning experience.
• Our curricular and co-curricular activities reinforce each other: classroom connected to broader campus and vice versa.
• We encourage innovative practices and build upon models that result in student persistence and success.

The goal of diversity is to foster an inclusive, collaborative and equity-minded teaching and learning environment that is reflective of the diverse students we serve and focused on student success and closing the opportunity gap.

Guiding Principles

• We value what inclusivity and equity brings to our learning environment.
• We provide opportunities to help our employees grow in their cultural competencies.
• We honor the life experiences our employees and students bring to our campus community.
• We value the opportunity to incorporate our students’ experiences into our curricular and co-curricular activities.
• We believe a highly diverse employee group creates opportunity and access for our students.
• We embrace open access and help students achieve success.

The goal of employee satisfaction is for all employees to feel respected and valued for their contributions and empowered to advance the mission of the college.

Guiding Principles

• We invest in the professional development of all employees.
• We are committed to consistent practices in holding all people accountable.
• We are committed to recognizing and celebrating employees’ accomplishments in a variety of ways including annual performance evaluations.
• We strive to be an employer of choice for recruiting and retaining employees.
• We are committed to creating an organizational culture that builds community among employees.