Executive summary
The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) reviewed and revised the Integrated Educational Master Plan (IEMP) 2024 – 2034 in order to inform and drive the Strategic Plan 2024 – 2029 (the Strategic Plan). The IEMP provides the College’s visioning and aspirations which are operationalized in the strategic plan to move the college forward toward mission fulfillment and vision attainment. Mission-driven the Strategic Plan, which is a living document, integrates all aspects of the college’s operations into goals, activities and key performance indicators (KPI) over the next 5 years.
A diagram illustrating the college’s strategic planning processes is provided in Figure 3. All strategic planning at COM-FSM is mission-driven. Core business focusing on learning and teaching places the “Learning Experiences Plan” at the center of all COM-FSM operations. The three overarching goals of the Strategic Plan are provided below:
- Access
- Innovation
- Resilience.
As a Large Ocean State with approximately 271 square miles of land distributed over 1 million square miles of ocean, the primary challenge for COM-FSM in the FSM is providing access to higher and career and technical education for all. Being separated by large tracts of ocean require out-of-the-box strategies and practices. Furthermore, leveraging education-driven technology remains one of the most enabling and empowering solutions.
Secondly, innovation must underscore both learning and teaching and learner and student support initiatives and activities in order to harness and optimize available opportunities. For example, all four States of the FSM place the highest priority on Career & Technical Education (CTE). Providing mechanical and technical workshops for all four States will require considerable funding. Negotiating with local entities like schools and hospitals may result in much more pragmatic and mutually beneficial solutions. For example, many schools and hospitals in all four States need regular maintenance. Identifying selected buildings and spaces for the practical components of CTE training provide ‘real-life’ work spaces as well as ensuring that regular maintenance is implemented.
Finally, to ensure that continuity and institutional memory are not compromised or lost College policies, procedures, agreements, systems and practices will be appropriately documented and also stored electronically and online. Integrated planning at COM-FSM will champion sustainability in all College strategies, initiatives and activities. Withstanding changes in personnel, natural disasters and other threats to institutional resilience will drive College planning and implementation.
Integrated Planning at COM-FSM
The College of Micronesia-FSM (COM-FSM) has reviewed and revised the Integrated Educational Master Plan (IEMP) 2024 – 2034 in order to adequately address the Strategic Plan 2024 – 2029 (the Plan). The IEMP provides the College’s visioning and aspirations which are operationalized in the strategic plan to move the college forward toward mission fulfillment and vision attainment. The Plan, which is a living document, integrates all aspects of the college’s operations into goals, activities and key performance indicators (KPIs) over the next 5 years.
A diagram illustrating the college’s integrated planning processes is provided in ‘figure 1’.
Visioning for the new strategic plan first acknowledges our position as a Large Ocean State. With approximately 271 square miles of land distributed over 1 million square miles of ocean, the primary challenge for COM-FSM in the FSM is providing access to higher and career and technical education for all. Being separated by large tracts of ocean requires out-of-the-box strategies and practices. Undoubtedly, some if not the most part of our responsibility as educators in a Large Ocean State will demand innovative practices to ensure access and enable resilient systems and structures across all COM-FSM campuses.
Strategic Plan development
On the platform established by COM-FSM in response to Covid-19, the new wave of transformation heralds the new strategic plan for the next five years, 2024-2029. The multitude of questions that drove the dialog can be condensed and summarized into two main areas of inquiry.
- Are we student-ready?
- What do we want COM-FSM to look like in 20 years’ time?
Firstly, through the College-wide, SWOT analysis process led by the Vice Presidents the two questions provide the basis for organizing the SWOT results in direct relation to the COM-FSM mission.
Secondly, the two questions map the outer perimeters for the strategic goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) within which core objectives and activities were developed for the COM-FSM Strategic Plan 2024 – 2029.
Thirdly and finally, analyzing the data from the COM-FSM Strategic Plan 2018 – 2023 in relation to the key performance indicators (KPIs) provided the launchpads on which to position the cycle of continuous improvement in alignment with the SWOT analysis results.
Characterized by a history of both considerable challenge and nation-defining success, this strategic plan will:
- Champion student achievement and success for work-ready graduates;
- Continue to build and transform education at COM-FSM, by growing exemplar faculty and professionals;
- Leverage education-driven technology to increase robust access to quality education;
- Scale resources and partnerships to create new and innovative programs, learning support systems and flexible learning facilities; and
- Ensure strong operational continuity through resilient institutional policies and practices.
Vision
We provide quality education today for a successful tomorrow.
Mission
The College of Micronesia-FSM is a learner-centered institution of higher education that is committed to the success of the Federated States of Micronesia by providing academic and career & technical educational programs characterized by continuous improvement and best practices.
Values
We value the higher education community in which we work and the diverse island communities that we serve. As members of these communities, we will model these core values and demonstrate them through the following best practices (listed under each value).
Respect
- Pay our elders, leaders, community, colleagues and students due respect in accordance with Micronesian traditions and practices.
- Be respectful to all those with whom you engage.
- Model and promote respectful dialog, behavior and interactions.
Learner-centeredness
- Be transformative, creative and innovative.
- Collaboratively share information and skills.
- Continuously assess your knowledge, skills, and abilities.
- Dedicate time for learning.
- Explore your curiosity.
- Learn from failures to continuously improve.
- Use every assignment as a learning opportunity.
Commitment
- Anticipate what is needed and do that work without being asked.
- Be dependable by being present and on time.
- Connect, participate, and be involved.
- Contribute your best and inspire others to do the same.
- Dedicate your time, energy, and enthusiasm.
- Give back when you can.
- Work to make a difference.
Excellence
- Aim to meet or exceed standards of best practices.
- Hold yourself accountable to high performance standards.
- Set goals and endeavor to exceed them.
Professionalism
- Accept responsibility for your actions.
- Act in the best interest of the college and the communities you serve.
- Be ethical.
- Be honest and transparent.
- Complete all duties and assignments.
- Develop logical plans and foresee consequences.
- Maintain confidentiality.
Teamwork
- Actively build working and learning relationships.
- Actively listen.
- Appreciate your colleagues.
- Be positive and encouraging.
- Engage and contribute wholly to all team activities.
- Offer your assistance and guidance when necessary.
- Pursue an understanding of diverse points of view and ideas.
- Recognize the needs of others.
- Respect yourself and others.
- Respond respectfully when others disagree with your views.
- Share and use resources responsibly.
Figure 2
THE STRATEGIC PLANNING FRAMEWORK AT COM-FSM 2024 – 2029
Figure 3
Strategic Priorities, Objectives and Outcomes
The three strategic priorities that provide the framework for student achievement and guides our work are:
- Access
- Innovation
- Resilience.
Each department’s “Annual Implementation Plan” will develop objectives and activities which emanate from the strategic priorities and inform both a section’s or department’s and individuals’ work plans.
Access
Objective
Provide quality education for all through leveraging partnerships, networks and systems for optimal learning-centered course and program design, development and delivery.
Outcomes
- Robust and equitable distribution of learning resources and learning support.
- Embedded cycle of professional and capacity development for all College employees.
- Collaborative partnerships to scale educational facilities and opportunities especially in Large Ocean States.
Innovation
Objective
Promote and exemplify innovative learning design, learning and student support best practices.
Outcomes
- Innovate quality learning, teaching and training to ensure timely, work-ready graduates.
- Culture of interrogative dialog and innovative practices.
- Vibrant work spaces that inspire creative visioning for strong and agile teams.
Resilience
Objective
Create learning pathways, institutional memory and context-relevant, continuous improvement, integrated planning cycles.
Outcomes
- Succession planning at all levels.
- Sustainably competitive remuneration and benefits.
- Energy efficient and green economy flexible learning spaces and practices.
- Institutional memory banks and contingencies for posterity.
Annual Implementation Plans
Each of the five Vice Presidents worked with his/her Deans, Directors or Instructional Coordinators to create an Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) to operationalize the strategic goals. Objectives, activities and key performance indicators (KPI) will be monitored closely to avoid non-achievement of the strategic goals. Actionable implementation plans also form part of the AIPs by providing the detailed information required for clarity of functions for each department or section.
The AIPs will also map directly to individual work plans which in turn will be evaluated annually. An important part of this planning cycle is the application of performance-based budgets against the achievement of the strategic goals through AIP activities. The prioritization matrix will be used to assess whether or not an activity is either high or low in relation to fund allocation. In an environment where competition for resources is increasingly high, prioritization is a necessity to ensure accountability and transparency of institutional processes.
The AIPs focus on aligning strategic objectives with actual implementation outcomes and the responsible positions.
- Administrative Services
- Cooperative Research & Extension
- Enrollment Management and Student Services
- Institutional Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
- Instructional Affairs
- Office of the President.
Key Performance Indicators
[The KPIs will emanate from the AIPs and will be cumulatively stated across the five years of the Plan].
Risks and risk mitigation
[Once the AIP activities have been created, the potential risks and risk mitigation will be identified. Regular monitoring of the KPIs and the risks will ensure that the Plan is on track and threats do not derail the achievement of the goals].
Summary
The online monitoring system for the Strategic Plan 2024-2029 will enable both ‘at a glance’ dashboard-type updates and segregated, in-depth information on the achievements or challenges to the objectives and outcomes.