Mission, Vision & Core Values

Welcome to SUNY Erie

Welcome to SUNY Erie, where our guiding principles shape everything we do. Our mission, vision, and core values serve as the foundation of our institution, driving us to excel, innovate, and create a positive impact in our world. Explore the essence of who we are and what we stand for below.

Mission

SUNY Erie meets the needs of a diverse student body and contributes to regional economic vitality by providing high-quality, flexible, affordable and accessible educational programs committed to student success.

Vision

SUNY Erie Community College will serve as an innovative learning resource by striving for universal access to lifelong learning, catalyzing economic and cultural development, and supporting a diverse and mobile student body.

Our Core Values

Student Centeredness

The students are our greatest resource and the reason we are here.

Integrity

We demonstrate and expect the highest standards of excellence and accountability in all staff, faculty, students, and our community partners.

Collaboration

Through collaboration we will succeed at the challenging work we need to accomplish; without collaboration our goals are impossible to reach.

Diversity & Belonging

We believe diversity is the foundation of who SUNY Erie is; it is who we are and who we serve. The college is committed to developing a sense of belonging that embraces the various life experiences of all members of SUNY Erie Community College.

Community Stewardship

Developing strong, educated and responsible students guiding them to become the community leaders of tomorrow who are able to return the legacy of SUNY Erie Community College.

Foundational Principles

Student Success and Empowerment: Deliver a comprehensive collegiate experience through innovative scheduling, student services, curriculum, delivery and co-curricular opportunities. Diversity Equity and Belonging: Provide life-changing educational opportunities by meeting the needs of the diverse college community. Economic Development and Upward Mobility for Students Renew our commitment to the community, enhance and increase meaningful partnerships in the Western New York Region to support the SUNY Erie vision to contribute to the larger community. Institutional Sustainability Commitment to accountability, both operationally and fiscally, by promoting and fostering a culture of compliance, integrity and responsibility to the college community.

SUNY Erie’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan: Bridge to a Sustainable Tomorrow

provides a two-year roadmap for significant improvement, while creating a strong foundation for future sustainability and growth. Created with input from hundreds of students, staff, faculty, alumni and others, this Strategic Plan represents our commitment to shared governance, diversity, innovation and lifelong learning. Your individual contributions to this Strategic Plan and commitment to our great institution exemplify our collective strength.

2023-2025 Strategic Plan

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Creating a strong foundation for future sustainability and growth

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Message from the Officer in Charge of SUNY Erie

Message to the College Community,

SUNY Erie Community College has faced many challenges over the past two years. Yet, with resilience and dedication we continue to move forward. Nine months ago, after being named Officer in Charge, the SUNY Erie Board requested the creation of a Strategic Plan that could provide a bridge and a foundation for the college's new Strategic Plan. The existing Strategic Plan was both outdated and not created with the comprehensive contribution of the college community.

By aligning with the SUNY Chancellor’s Plan, we have created a framework for SUNY Erie to move forward over the next two years. With the input and help of over 500 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners, we have been able to produce a Strategic Plan that reflects who we are as a college and the path we intend to pursue.

The overarching goals of this Plan include Student Success and Empowerment, Diversity, Equity, and Belonging, Economic Development and Upward Mobility for Students, and Institutional Sustainability. The details within each of these goals provide the “why” and “how” for everyone in the college community. This strategic plan will serve as a practical roadmap for all of us to follow.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the creation of this Strategic Plan, your input was integral and appreciated. Your commitment and participation exemplify how powerful we can be when we work together.

As ONE SUNY Erie we can build upon our seventy-seven-year legacy of providing a positive impact in the lives of our students, their families, and our community.

Sincerely,

Dr. Adiam Tsegai

Our Commitment to the Future of SUNY Erie and Erie County

SUNY Erie Community College proudly introduces its 2023-2025 Strategic Plan: A Bridge to a Sustainable Tomorrow. While this plan gives guidance for the next two years, it will also provide a strong foundation for longer-term improvements leading to a continuation of the college’s legacy of providing high-quality education to our community.

This strategic plan is presented with the college’s commitment to shared governance. The college listened to ideas and input from 576 faculty, staff, students, alumni, community partners, and the college’s Board of Trustees. A full description of the structure can be found at the end of this document.

The education of our students and community is what grounds SUNY Erie’s vision:

The college believes in providing a strong educational foundation, supported by a professional network which has allowed the college to prepare students to become responsible citizens and accomplished leaders. The SUNY Erie mission (below) reflects our long history of embracing change and responding to our students and our local and regional community:

This strategic plan clearly identifies our collective SUNY Erie Core Values and has for each of them created accessible goals with attainable metrics, allowing each member of the college community to be able to identify their role in the continued success of our great institution.

SUNY Erie Core Values guide our daily decisions

Student Centeredness

The students are our greatest resource and the reason we are here.

Integrity

We demonstrate and expect the highest standards of excellence and accountability in all staff, faculty, students, and our community partners.

Collaboration

Through collaboration we will succeed at the challenging work we need to accomplish; without collaboration our goals are impossible to reach.

Diversity & Belonging

Community Stewardship

Developing strong, educated and responsible students guiding them to become the community leaders of tomorrow who are able to return the legacy of SUNY Erie Community College.

Our Community

SUNY Erie Community College serves the Western New York region, specifically Erie County. According to the United States Census Bureau data Erie County has an estimated population of 950,312 residents (July 1, 2022). Erie County’s population base is comprised of 23.4% minorities, the college serves a student body that consists of 28% minority students. Erie County’s poverty level is at 13.7%.

The Western New York Regions job market breaks down into many categories; the highest demand categories are: 17.4% Educational and Health Services, 11.7% Professional and Business Services, 10.3% Manufacturing and 10% Leisure and Hospitality. During the 2022 Perkins V Comprehensive Local Need Assessment (CLNA) the college identified the following high-demand jobs: Community Public Health Workers, Social and Human Service Assistant, Clinical Laboratory Technologists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Medical Assistants, Registered Nurses, Receptionist and Info Clerks, Maintenance and Repair Workers, Machinists, Childcare Workers, Cooks, Computer Support Specialists, and Computer Network Support Specialists; all with double digit percent regional growth predicted over the next decade.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse data collected in January of 2022, the top five higher education institutions SUNY Erie students pursue bachelor’s degrees at are: Buffalo State University1 (45%), University at Buffalo (39%), D’Youville University1 (7%), SUNY at Fredonia (5%), Hilbert College (5%).

COVID 19’s effects on the workplace and acceleration of technology change are expanding the scope of SUNY Erie’s impact. Our alumni will be working in a vastly different workplace landscape than most of our faculty and staff will have been exposed to. Our alumni may live in Erie County and work in companies located anywhere in the country or world. The continuous evolution of technology is also changing the types of work students will be hired into. To succeed in tomorrow’s workforce, today’s students will require problem-solving skills, creativity, empathy, and adaptability. Our students will require depth and breadth of knowledge with a diversified skill set, but most importantly a commitment to life-long learning.2

Accordingly, these changes in workforce demands position the community college uniquely to be able to address the demands of a changing workplace landscape.3 SUNY Erie is an asset to the region and is focusing on addressing the changing needs of our community.

1Formerly Buffalo State College, D'Youville College
2Bryant, K. (2023, May 31). How AI Will Impact The Next Generation Workforce. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalinabryant/2023/05/31/how-ai-will-impact-the-next-generation-workforce/?sh=9190586fae5d
3Fleming, M. (2020, March 24). AI Is Changing Work — and Leaders Need to Adapt. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/03/ai-is-changing-work-and-leaders-need-to-adapt

SUNY Erie Present Student Profile

SUNY Erie Student Body and Trends SUNY Erie students fall into five higher education history categories demonstrated in the table below. The table is providing a five-year average of enrollment trends starting from 2017. It is important for the college to fully understand the composite of students being served on our campus by our faculty, staff, and infrastructure. Students in the categories “enrolled in HS” and “non-credit (Pathways)” are not typically on campus and these student counts are not typically included at the Census Date (third week of classes).

5-Year (2017-2022) Enrollment Trend

	FA % of Total	SP % of Total
Enrolled in HS	10%	19%
Continuing/Returning	53%	59%
First Time	21%	7%
Transfer	5%	2%
Non-Credit (Pathways)	11%	12%
Total	100%	100%

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th*	8th*
TAP Points	6	12	18	24	30	36	42	48
Prior Semester % to Complete	0	50	50	75	75	100	100	100
Minimum Accrued Degree Credits	0	6	15	27	39	51	60	75
GPA	0	1.3	1.5	1.8	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0

Fifty-two percent of SUNY Erie students’ study full-time. New York State Education Department (NYSED) collects data on special population categories which are used to determine funding for the college’s Perkin’s V grant. These special population categories include: first generation students 11%, economically disadvantaged 17%, Pell Grant recipient 40%, students receiving disability services 6%, and single parents 3%.

Ages of SUNY Erie students are broken down as follows:

Student Age Breakdown

Under 18	20%
18-24	51%
25-34	18%
35-50	10%
50+	2%

SUNY Erie serves a diverse student body. Students come from various backgrounds, and locations throughout the region. Most SUNY Erie students are white, followed by nearly 20% Black or African American.

5-Year Average Enrollment by Ethnicity

	FA % of Total	SP % of Total
Am. Indian or Alaska Native	1%	1%
Asian	7%	7%
Black or African American	19%	18%
Hispanic/Latino	7%	6%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0%	0%
Non-resident alien	1%	1%
Two or more race	3%	3%
Unknown	8%	9%
White	56%	55%

The college’s Mission and Vision Statement highlight the diverse student body and the provision of high-quality, flexible, affordable, and accessible educational programs committed to student success. The review of collegewide data indicates that there was an overall 16.2% completion rate of FT/FT 2020 Cohort7 at two-years, this is 2% below the SUNY Community College average completion rate. The college recognizes that in the immediate region there are many four-year institutions giving students the option to attend SUNY Erie even if they do not intend to complete a degree at SUNY Erie.

The college is concerned by the disparity of completion rates for minority populations. This disparity can be seen consistently in the colleges 5-year average completion rates by ethnicity:

5-Year Average Enrollment by Ethnicity

	100% (2 Years)	150% (3 Years)	200% (4 Years)
Am. Indian or Alaska Native	8%	15%	18%
Asian	14%	30%	38%
Black or African American	7%	13%	16%
Hispanic/Latino	8%	15%	18%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0%	13%	0%
Non-resident alien	15%	19%	23%
Two or more race	10%	19%	22%
Unknown	15%	28%	31%
White	19%	29%	33%

This comprehensive 2023-2025 Strategic Plan, Bridge to a Sustainable Tomorrow represents the college’s commitment to our mission and vision, and to the core values identified throughout the discussions held in Fall 2022. The foundational principles of the strategic plan provide a solid foundation for the improvement and are linked to funding opportunities the college is pursuing for Federal grants, and the SUNY Transformation Fund projects.

4An undergraduate student in a current term who has previously enrolled at the reporting institution.
5A student who has no prior postsecondary experience (except as noted below) attending any institution for the first time at the undergraduate level. This includes students enrolled in academic or occupational programs. It also includes students enrolled in the fall term who attended college for the first time in the prior summer session, and students who entered with advanced standing (college credits or recognized postsecondary credential earned before graduation from high school).
6A student who is enrolled at the reporting institution for the first time in the current term but who has attended another college or university prior to the current term.
7Cohort: a group of students tracked longitudinally to assess tradiIonal academic outcomes. For example, an entering cohort is typically tracked to establish retenIon and graduaIon rates. Common defining characterisIcs of a cohort may include first-Ime or transfer status or full or part-Ime status, race/ethnicity, gender, entering students SAT scores or GPAs and EOP status.

SUNY Erie Baseline and Future Goals

2023-2025 Bridge Strategic Plan Metrics:

The following data points are standard IPEDS College Navigator data sets presented to the general public to review for college success. The college is using the average of data from Fall 2017 cohort to Fall 2022 cohort as the baseline to improve from.

Objective 1a: Improve First-Time/Full-Time (FT/FT) Student Fall to Fall Retention

Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
52.7%	1%	2%

Objective 1b: Improve Student Fall to Spring Persistence (full student body)

Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
65%	1%	2%

Objective 1c: Improve Student Fall to Fall RetenCon (full student body)

Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
52.7%	1%	2%

Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
45%	1%	2%

Objective 2a: Improve FT/FT Student 100% of Time (2 year) Completion Rates

Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
14.5%	1%	2%

Objective 2b: Improve FT/FT Student 150% of Time (3 year) Completion Rates

Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
24%	1%	2%

Objective 3: Improve Underrepresented Minority 100% of Time (2 year) Completion Rates

Race Category	Baseline	Year 1 Increase	Year 2 Increase
Black/African American	7%	1%	2%
Hispanic/Latino	8%	1%	2%
Two or more Race	10%	1%	2%

Foundational Principle #1 Student Success and Empowerment

Strategy	Actions
Enhance student success by eliminating barriers that prevent students from achieving their educational and career goals.	Identify barriers to student success and completion (ex. placement testing/co-reqs, reduce seat capacity of gatekeeper courses) Collaborate to eliminate the top five learning/educational barriers. Provide remote and off-hour service models, evaluate the locations of academic programs, and improve transportation offerings Create a culture where student-facing staff and faculty maintain open office doors, and a staffing model that allows office phones to be answered and missed calls returned daily
Enrich curriculum to contribute to regional economic vitality.	Ensure the college provides career literacy, develops professional skills, financial literacy, and teaches life-long learning principles. Continue to strengthen industry partner and transfer institution relationships. Expand applied learning opportunities. Connect curricular programs with local employment trends and salary information, providing tangible lifetime earning goals for students.
Enhance the experience of learning and student services at the college by creating spaces that inspire pride in the institution.	Expand and increase the completion of projects contained in the 2021 JMZ Master Plan. Incorporate more active learning environments, and spaces for student gathering and study. Develop student centralized service hubs on each campus where students can easily access all resources.
Enhance student opportunities to build connections.	Expand and increase participation in extracurricular activities, student-led clubs, and co-curricular activities. Continue to strengthen industry partner and student partcipation in the Advisory Board

Foundational Principle #2 Diversity, Equity and Belonging

Strategy	Actions
Attract high-performing and diverse faculty and staff.	Expand searches and use multiple hiring sites for attracting diverse and qualified applicants. Fully implement the Workday Human Capital Management to expedite the hiring process. Interview current faculty and staff to learn why they stay at SUNY Erie and compare this to exit interviews. Support the well-being and professional development of new faculty and staff.
Develop, retain, and properly resource faculty and staff.	Expand the Center for Professional Development to provide resources and training to adapt to the changing educational environment. Support the Distance Learning Steering Committee as they work with the college community to guide innovation in instruction and in the usage of its learning management system. Improve and expand the instruction and training provided collegewide through the college’s training platforms. Implement authentic evaluations of all employees.
Adhere to our core values in every interaction creating a SUNY Erie model of service that emphasizes responsiveness, genuine care and the value of the individual.	Create a service environment which supports and empowers employees to strive to understand faculty, staff and student expectations and resolve service issues. Design a service model which defines expectations of phone, email, face-to-face, online and all other communication, providing clear guidelines on how to put SUNY Erie core values into action. Train all student-facing staff, and employee-facing staff in the SUNY Erie model of service, to ensure the equitable experience of every individual with whom we interact.
Identify barriers that impede equitable access to all services the college provides, by implementing well-defined and documented processes, that are developed around the needs and expectations of our faculty, staff, and students.	Critically evaluate all existing policies, processes, and procedures. Utilize data, research and best practices to develop policies and procedures that are focused on the needs and expectations of our faculty, staff, and students. Implement processes and procedures that ensure an excellent service model and provide an experience that is concerned with the faculty, staff and students’ time (increased efficiencies and response times).

Foundational Principle #3 Economic Development and Upward Mobility for Students

Strategy	Actions
Enhance student opportunities to build connections through mentoring opportunities.	Research students’, faculty, and business industry needs to create mentoring opportunities. Develop a plan to recruit and train mentors. Use best practices to implement a process for screening, selecting and matching mentors and mentees. Pilot and assess mentorship relationships and student success.
Promote positive relationships with secondary and postsecondary educational institutions.	Increase recruitment and enrollment of Advanced Studies students to SUNY Erie. Strengthen and expand university partnerships to ensure seamless transfers.
Build strong partnerships with businesses and industry to stimulate and promote workforce opportunities.	Leverage advisory boards to meet market needs and target skills gaps within the community. Expand SUNY Erie’s role in economic and workforce development by collaborating with regional workforce organizations to ensure SUNY Erie programming is aligned to regional economic priorities.
Broaden the college’s footprint as a community resource.	Develop a comprehensive communication plan and internal procedures to ensure all constituents are aligned in support of external partnership arrangements. Continually assess existing partnerships to identify best practices to assist in development of new opportunities. Expand SUNY Erie’s role in the community by collaborating with non-profit organizations to address service and skills gap within the region.

Foundational Principle #4 Institutional Sustainability

Strategy	Actions
Embrace the unique value of SUNY Erie’s role within the community.	Improve marketing of academic programming and its alignment to transfer and job placement opportunities. Enhance the experience of learning and student services at the college by creating spaces that inspire pride in the institution. Update articulation agreements with postsecondary institutions, identify postgraduation job placements and incorporate these into the website academic program pages. Update marketing materials to ensure they are articulating the multiple different access points to the SUNY Erie ladder of economic mobility.
Establish a financial model focused on assessment results.	Review all existing processes and procedures by service office, assess staffing and evaluate the impact of staffing cuts on each area. Review all existing contracts, assess use, and evaluate the return on investment. Track student tuition and fees by academic program and reconcile against academic program and student service costs. Proactively pursue grant opportunities that are aligned to the 2023-2025 strategic plan, to fund collegewide improvements.
Collaborate with the Foundation to leverage the college’s diverse alumni base.	Mobilize alumni as ambassadors and volunteers at collegewide events. Utilize alumni industry and community connections to advance the college’s academic programs and to ensure relevancy.
Leverage technology investments to improve efficiencies and lead to sustainable practices.	Utilize the MyECC “Events@ECC” to share all committee meetings, College Senate meetings, events and collegewide activities. Develop a comprehensive communication plan and internal procedures to ensure all constituents are aligned with the common college goals. Review all existing investments through datainformed decision making and continuous selfassessment. Review all existing processes and procedures by service area office to reduce paperwork flows; embrace and utilize Workday features to their fullest. Utilize existing technologies to improve course scheduling to restore choices for student course selection.

Shared Governance Statement

Timeline & Constituents:

Fall Term:

Convocation: Core Value Development	95 participants
Student Survey: Core Value Development	74 participants

Spring Term:

Convocation: Student Centeredness Discussion	67 participants
Student Success Summit	74 participants
Summer Institute Strategic Planning Poster Session	45 participants
BOT Meeting June 12	8 participants
Student Focus Group	~15 participants
Alumni Focus Group July 21st	~30 participants
Community Partner Focus Group	~30 participants
Summer Student Survey	67 participants
Community Partner Survey	3 participants
BOT Survey	2 participants

Faculty and Staff Focus Group Discussion:

Session 1 May 7-13	25 participants
Session 2 May 16-19	35 participants
Session 3 May 23-27	37 participants
Session 4 June 6	28 participants

Total Opinions Gathered throughout the process: 576

Respectfully Submitted by:

The Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, Accreditation and Planning and the SUNY Erie Board of Trustee’s Strategic Planning and Assessment Sub-committee. In collaboration with the College Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Students, Industry Partners, and the Board of Trustees.