A Pursuit of Quality and a Passion for Student Success

The excitement started building in November 2007. Howard Community College (HCC) was notified that it would receive a site visit by an evaluation team for the Maryland Performance Excellence Awards (MPEA). The college had already won two bronze awards, in 2002 and 2003, and a silver award in 2006. A site visit was a strong sign that yet another award was in the works. Would it be a gold?

The answer was revealed on April 7, 2008, when the 2007 awards were announced by the University of Maryland and United States Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin. No, it wasn't a gold. It was even better. HCC was the recipient of the 2007 U.S. Senate Productivity Award, Maryland's most prestigious award for organizational performance excellence.

The award honors role model organizations for successfully implementing systematic processes for continuous improvement and achieving outstanding results. Recipients are evaluated rigorously by an independent board of examiners using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, which measures an organization in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results.



High Standards

"Howard Community College is an incredible institution - but an institution is only bricks and building," said Mikulski. "What makes it great is determined students, powerhouse faculty and consistent leadership. Community colleges are the gateway to the future. Howard Community College is an example of everything we want for our higher education facilities in Maryland."

"I am very impressed by Howard Community College's commitment to offering its students the highest standards of quality, and by its continuous monitoring of student success and employee satisfaction," said Cardin.

"The college was absolutely thrilled to receive this award, because it's all about the students," said HCC President Kate Hetherington. "A commitment to outcomes and assessment reveals not only the mindset of an institution, but also its heart. HCC has a passion to help students succeed and to 'discover their greatness.' That's what motivates the college's tireless pursuit of quality."

"Howard Community College has a long history of using outcome measures to improve performance in the classroom," said Patrick Huddie, chair of the college's Board of Trustees. "The culture of the college says, 'The quest for excellence is never complete; you always try to improve.' That is the hallmark of a great institution."

Hetherington traces the college's pursuit of quality back to the very founding of the institution.

"When the college first opened its doors in 1970, HCC implemented a systematic program that would measure student performance, one of the first outcomes assessment programs of its kind," she said. "HCC faculty and staff were - and still are - leaders among their peers."



Champions of Quality

Hetherington also credited the board of trustees for the college's quality achievements.

"Our trustees truly are champions of quality for the college, putting their full support behind the initiatives and providing invaluable guidance and leadership," she said. "They are extremely generous of their time, and their dedication to quality adds to their countless hours of service to the college. Every board meeting includes an examination of at least one of their quality indicators, which is a remarkable sign of commitment."

Howard Community College employs a continuous flow of information to evaluate activities that serve students and help them succeed. A multi-step process is used to select, align, collect and integrate information - including evidence of student learning - to track daily operations and overall organizational performance. Every team and unit, as well as senior leaders, use a Plan-Do-Study-Act process called "FIRE It Up!" to innovate, design and improve work systems. Information is fed into the strategic planning process to clarify objectives and direct resources.

Howard Community College ranks above its peers in indicators such as registered nurse licensure, employer training and satisfaction of students and employees. The college also ranks high among its peers with a 50.1% four-year transfer rate.

Information about HCC's programs can be found at www.howardcc.edu/excellence.