The Next Chapter in Our Story: Vision 2030

In the spirit of transformational change, and with support and endorsement of our District Board of Trustees, Madison College has crafted a vision for the next five academic years. This new element of our ongoing strategic planning process is called Vision 2030. The active participation of our students, faculty, staff, and community partners was key to its development and will be instrumental to its success.

Vision 2030 is an all-encompassing roadmap that demonstrates and actualizes the mission of Madison College. Its six strategic commitments will guide our decision-making, commitment to student success, and continued support of educational, workforce and community partners.

Madison College’s primary focus is understanding the needs of its community’s students and residents and working proactively and nimbly to address those needs with our many community, educational and workforce partnerships throughout our region and state.

These commitments are embedded in the work of every employee, team, and unit plan. Vision 2030 serves as Madison College’s singular strategic framework.
 

Our Strategic Commitments

Our six commitments reflect the College’s mission, vision, and values, and they will connect our efforts to meaningful, transformative action. Chosen and crafted with broad and deep input from students, employees and community members, each commitment has a unique purpose as we plan the next chapter of Madison College’s story.

These commitments aim to strengthen and advance our mission, and they offer an aspirational and achievable framework to guide the college’s strategic planning over these next five years. 

Moving forward, we will focus on these six commitments to clarify expectations and ensure alignment among our planning efforts.

From these commitments, and in coordination with the college’s efforts around climate and culture, we will collectively produce the college’s next set of quantitative and qualitative goals, objectives, and measures of success from which we will hold ourselves accountable.

These commitments are as follows:

Commitment 1. Madison College will be a preferred choice in southcentral Wisconsin for post-secondary and community education, and a key partner in meeting local economic and workforce development interests. 

Commitment 2. Madison College will remove historic barriers to college access and student success by reviewing and updating its systems, policies, and practices to ensure they are equitable.

Commitment 3. Madison College will analyze data to identify and eliminate the largest academic success gaps in courses that are foundational to student persistence and completion.

Commitment 4. Madison College will enhance digital literacy and provide equitable access to technology resources.  

Commitment 5. Madison College will support students’ social and economic mobility by providing high-quality, flexible academic offerings that lead to meaningful careers and transfer opportunities.

Commitment 6. Madison College will increase access by optimizing relationships with K12 school districts and community partners, supporting the student journey from the point of program selection to completion, and fostering robust connections to transfer and employment opportunities.

Engagement with Stakeholders

The active and engaged participation and insights of our students, employees and community was vital in crafting our strategic commitments, because every voice matters in developing a vision for the future.

The process included outreach and listening sessions with community members, organizations, and industry and workforce partners. All our regional and metro campuses and their business and community partners, each serving different student populations, have provided input, and the college has actively engaged all employees and students through videos, forums, surveys, and focus groups.

Last fall, employees shared work-related ideas and challenges, as well as personal stories. Utilizing Artificial Intelligence tools and traditional research methods, our Institutional Research and Data Management team led the distillation of key insights from over 1,000 submissions.

This past January, over 800 employees participated in a virtual town hall to discuss Vision 2030 and give voice to priorities, and over 400 employees engaged in idea-generating focus groups to further identify steps forward. And, this past spring, two comprehensive collegewide survey tools, one for students and one for employees, gleaned more insights.

Most recently, we have been sharing our insights and commonly voiced themes back out to key stakeholder groups. These sessions ensured the shape of our Vision 2030 framework resonated and was consistent with initial feedback. These sessions included students, employees, community members, industry partners, and liaisons from the college’s board of trustees. In total, the college hosted over a dozen listening sessions throughout the district. Here is a glimpse into this engagement process.

Student engagement included:

  • Student Satisfaction Inventory
  • Holistic Support for Mental Health and College Success Survey 
  • Community College Survey of Student Engagement
  • Board Liaison/Student Senate loop-outs
  • Student representation on advisory panel

Employee engagement included:

  • Employee advisory panel input
  • Climate survey input
  • College Community Days (Fall and Winter)
  • All Employee Updates (Multiple)
  • Vision 2030 website live with data and updates
  • Manager Updates (Multiple)
  • Employee survey which garnered thousands of responses
  • Large scale, facilitated focus groups
  • Idea-generating workshops in-person and virtual

Community engagement included:

  • Community focus groups
  • Regional and metro community surveys
  • Listening sessions at all campuses
    • Truax
    • Regionals
    • Goodman South
    • Commercial Ave

Timeline

Vision 2030 Launch | October – December 2023

  • Reaffirmed mission, vision and values
  • District Board approval of Vision 2030 goals and four strategic themes
  • Developed timeline and framework for planning process

Employee Engagement | January 2024

  • Hosted multiple events such as virtual townhalls, listening sessions and online events
  • 1000+ survey responses from engaged employees
  • 400+ employees participating in idea-generating focus groups
  • Vision 2030 advisory committee is formed

Student and Community Engagement | February – March 2024

  • Collegewide student surveys
  • Multiple community-focused surveys for input and discussion
  • Intentional reach outs to community leadership, organizations, businesses

Development and Analysis | March – April 2024

  • Analyze quantitative and qualitative data from employees, students and community
  • Identify key themes and focus areas within each of the four strategic themes
  • Advisory committee makes recommendations
  • Insights shared with employees and community members

Initial Framework | April – May 2024

  • Advisory committee refines initial framework, focus areas and final product of Vision 2030
  • Engage with District Board, leadership, community and employees to gain feedback

Vision 2030 | June 2024

  • Share final product with Madison College District Board of Trustees
  • Share final product to employee community

Sharing the vision | July – August 2024

  • Share final product with community groups
  • Share next steps of Vision 2030 with employees at College Community Days

Integration into unit planning | September – December 2025

  • Ensure internal alignment and accountability with unit plans at all levels