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Values, Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan

Values

Students First | Equity | Access | Excellence | Integrity | Leadership | Responsiveness | Stewardship

Mission

To provide all students an excellent education that transforms their lives and expands their opportunities.

Vision

Providing the best community college experience in the Northwest.

Equity Statement

CCS believes that access to high-quality education in a safe and inclusive environment is the right of all individuals and imperative for the continued advancement of a strong democracy and workforce. We also believe higher education institutions have an obligation to work toward and demonstrate progress in ensuring equity amongst their students, faculty and staff. Equity is grounded in the principle of fairness. In higher education, equity refers to ensuring that each student receives what they need to be successful through the intentional design of the college experience.

Native Land Acknowledgement

We are honored to acknowledge that the Community Colleges of Spokane, and our main campuses for Spokane Falls and Spokane Community College, are located on the traditional and sacred homelands of the Spokane Tribe. We also provide services in a region that includes the traditional and sacred homelands of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Kalispel Tribe and Nez Perce Tribe.

We pay our respect to tribal elders both past and present as well as to all indigenous people today. This land holds their cultural DNA and we are honored and grateful to be here on their traditional lands. We give thanks to the legacy of the original people and their descendants and pledge to honor their stewardship and values.


Strategic Plan

Approved by the Community College Board of Trustees in July 2021, the 2021-25 Community Colleges of Spokane Strategic Plan includes updated values, vision and mission statements, in addition to three new strategic priority areas.

Those strategic priority areas are:  

  • Student Success:  Expanding the recruitment, enrollment, retention and academic achievement of a changing student population through consistently high-quality academic programming and innovative student support models that best serve the needs of tomorrow’s regional workforce.
  • Operational Excellence: Ensuring the continuous improvement of our financial sustainability through ongoing academic and student service innovation, consistent data-informed decision-making and the constant pursuit of organizational efficiencies that make us quick to respond to student needs and external opportunities.
  • Employee Success and Excellence: Advancing the engagement and change management capacity of a high-quality faculty and staff through purposeful recruitment, development and retention, consistent standards of performance and accountability, and the relevant, timely and transparent internal communication needed to best serve our students.

A team of students, faculty, staff, and administrators began work on the four-year plan in fall 2020, completing it in June 2021. The team envisioned a future best-case scenario for CCS by studying data about CCS students, employees, college infrastructure, state and regional economy, workforce trends, and initiatives. They also met with students, faculty, staff, educators, business people, diverse community leaders and service providers to identify perceptions of CCS strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

During the summer and fall of 2021, specific initiatives and key performance indicators will be developed for each of the strategic priority areas.