INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Ivy Tech Community College has started what will be a year-long strategic planning process. The Community College is in the process of fact-finding with external and internal stakeholders. Over 100 strategic planning sessions have been scheduled with faculty and staff across the state as Ivy Tech has a goal of engaging over 50 percent of its 3,400 full-time employees.

The planning sessions will continue into April. Ivy Tech will have a draft plan in late summer and then vet that plan with internal and external stakeholders into the fall. The strategic plan will be finalized in December.

“Ivy Tech Community College is critical for the state to reach its goal of 60 percent of our workforce having post-secondary credentials by 2025,” Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said. “We have incredibly dedicated, talented, and innovative people here at Ivy Tech and that is why we want input from over half of our faculty and staff. That input, grounded in data and coupled with guidance from our external stakeholders, will help chart our path for the future to ensure we align with the needs of the workforce, promote student success, and provide a seamless higher education system for those that continue on their educational journey after Ivy Tech.”

The Community College gathered a large amount of qualitative and quantitative research, including an environmental scan and current state analysis to help guide planning sessions. Those sessions will gain feedback on the research to date and provide input on Ivy Tech’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as mission, vision and core values. In 2015-16 Ivy Tech enrolled 107,618 students and another 56,337 were served by the Community College via dual credit offerings in the high school.   Enrollment last year was over 10,000 students higher than pre-recession days of 2006-07. Ivy Tech hit its peak in enrollment at the end of the recession with 147,707 students in 2010-11. Last year Ivy Tech awarded nearly 20,000 credentials (certificates and degrees) to just under 14,000 students.

“We have seen the annual number of credentials awarded more than double in less than a decade thanks to the hard work of our students, faculty and staff. Going forward we need to more than double that number again reaching 50,000 credentials per year by 2025 ensuring Hoosiers have the skills and credentials needed to continue growing Indiana’s economy and Hoosier prosperity,” Ellspermann said.

With the announcement of the strategic plan to kick off 2017 Ivy Tech also looked back on some highlights from 2016.

Serving Students:  Ivy Tech saw more than 100,000 students enroll in classes at nearly 50 campuses and sites around the state, serving two-thirds non-traditional students.

Degrees and Credentials Awarded:  For academic year concluding in 2016, Ivy Tech awarded 9,000 associate degrees, the most in America, and nearly 20,000 total degrees and certificates.

Dual Credit: Over 56,000 dual credit students completing nearly 350,000 hours of college credits created students, families and taxpayers over $40 million in savings.

Data Supported Decision Making and Analysis: The College successfully completed its rollout of NewT, the new data warehouse power tool that enables faculty and staff to analyze information. Ivy Tech has now trained approximately 3,000 employees.

Achieve Your Degree: An innovative partnership between Ivy Tech and community businesses and institutions, Achieve Your Degree allows employers to offer employees the opportunity to receive a free community college education.

ASAP: The Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP) helps high school graduates earn an associate degree in just 11 months and prepares them to transfer to a four-year college in pursuit of their bachelor’s degree. One hundred percent of graduates who have applied have been accepted into one or more four-year colleges.

Ivy Tech Foundation: Ivy Tech Foundation, the largest community college foundation in America, set records again in 2016, raising nearly $22 million. Funding primarily supports student scholarships, facility needs, and program and equipment support.

AA Bond Rating: Standard & Poor affirmed its ‘AA’ long-term and underlying ratings on the Community College’s rated student fee bonds, with a stable outlook for all bonds.

Scholarship Initiative: Ivy Tech invested more than $600,000 in scholarships for students within 15 credit hours of obtaining their degree and had exhausted all other means of financial assistance.

Workforce Alignment:  The newly structured Workforce Alignment team is focused around Indiana’s five industry sectors; manufacturing, information technology, health, business/logistics/supply chain and agriculture, to ensure the College’s program offerings align with job demand.

Looking forward into 2017, the College will continue its focus on student success and workforce alignment, as well as working on its statewide strategic plan. Many other initiatives are still in place, which tie program and graduates to job demand, increase enrollment efforts, and award more credentials.

About Ivy Tech Community College
Ivy Tech Community College is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.