From its origins in a warehouse in Southwest Omaha with fewer than 500 students enrolled in 1974, Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha, Nebraska, has grown to become the second-largest postsecondary institution in the state. MCC’s fall quarter headcount routinely exceeds 15,000 students, and the college offers more than 100 associate degrees and certificate programs. Having moved out of the warehouse long ago, the college now operates three full-service campuses with planning underway for a fourth full-service campus.
In the early days, the curriculum process at MCC might have consisted of a senior administrator attending a chamber of commerce function and acting on a hot tip from a local business leader. While a small and agile institution might be marginally effective with such an approach, MCC has grown well past that. The college has built a curriculum process that, while still fairly streamlined, is much more thorough now.
Crafting a Model
Although not directly tied to MCC’s curriculum development process, the college adopted a guided pathways-like model in 2022 to help improve efficiency and student onboarding. The MCC Path Forward model organized academic programs into broader academic focus areas (AFAs). The intent is to help undecided students by guiding them into an AFA, then narrowing their focus into a program of study. Prior to the Path Forward era, undecided students were encouraged to select general studies as their major to qualify for federal financial aid. As years of data demonstrate, however, the general studies degree had the lowest completion rate. Now, undecided students declare a career exploration degree with an area of academic focus and the goal of moving from their chosen AFA into a specific degree or certificate within that AFA.
Streamlining Credits for Completion
Another key change to come about with the launch of Path Forward was the elimination of credit creep. MCC Board of Governors policy sets a target semester credit range of 60 to 64 credits for an associate degree; however, many programs required 67 or more credit hours to complete. In fact, at the start of the Path Forward era, only 40% of degree programs were within the 60 to 64 credit range. Now, over 75% of degree programs are within the desired range. One of the ways the college was able to meet the target was to reduce general education requirements from 18 to 15 credits, per Higher Learning Commission guidelines. The second step was to engage in program mapping to assure timely program completion was feasible for students.
All programs at the college completed the program mapping exercise. Faculty program directors and their deans were called upon to demonstrate how many academic terms it takes to complete their program, what prerequisites and corequisites are required, when the required courses are offered and where they are offered (which campus or off-site location). Additionally, internships, clinicals, practicums and other cooperative work experiences had to be accounted for as well as lecture and lab hours. All these considerations were taken into account to determine if courses could be eliminated or combined without compromising academic rigor. With input from industry partners, it was determined that changes could be made to make timely completion (three years to earn a two-year degree) more feasible.
The Role of Program Mapping
With the success of the program mapping exercise for existing programs, program mapping is now standard for all new program proposals at MCC. The first step, prior to determining course sequence, is to establish a set of program-level student learning outcomes (SLOs). SLOs provide the big picture to demonstrate how the proposed program supports the college’s mission and what students will know or be able to do upon program completion. Per MCC guidelines on writing program level SLOs, they meet the following criteria:
- Are broader and more general than course objectives
- Support the program mission but do not state what the program, faculty or
courses provide
- Are what students, at the end of the sequence, or graduates, depending on the program, can do after they have finished it
- Are more focused on student learning in the program than learning in general
education
Like course objectives, program-level outcomes should be learner-centered, observable and measurable.
Before any program mapping or SLO writing occurs, new academic program proposals must be thoroughly researched to determine their feasibility. In Nebraska, the Nebraska Department of Labor has classified desirable careers as H3: high wage, high skill and high demand Career programs must meet immediate and long-term needs to be viable.
The MCC Curriculum and Instruction (C and I) team first vets all program proposals internally before passing them onto the MCC executive team, then the college’s publicly elected board of governors, for approval. From there, the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education must also give its approval. The C and I team, a team academic affairs administrative staff, is instrumental in assuring new proposals fit the NDOL definition of an H3 career.
Additionally, new program proposals must be consistent with the community college mission, avoid unnecessary duplication both internally and with other higher education institutions in the region and be considered financially feasible.
Getting a Program Off the Ground
Once a new program is developed, work begins on course development. Whether it’s a new course or a major course revision, MCC has developed a thorough process to guide faculty through their work and provide robust supports along the way. The process begins with a preapproval, which is a pro forma action to help track how many new or revised courses are being proposed college wide. Once the preapproval is recorded, course developers set out to produce three products: a course outline, a curriculum map and a Canvas source course. For each of these products, the C and I team and the MCC Instructional Design Team provide developers with written guidelines, templates and support.
A course outline guide and template that covers all essential elements of a course outline supports course outline development. Perhaps the most important element is that faculty must be able to write course learning outcomes that are measurable and appropriate to the course level. In the outline and again in the curriculum map, course development must show how learning outcomes are assessed and assure individual assessments align with the correct learning outcome.
The curriculum map, in turn, subdivides course learning outcomes into learning modules with assessments in each module laddering up to course objectives. MCC uses the course workload estimator that Rice University developed as a guide to determine sufficient course rigor.
With a course outline and curriculum map in hand, faculty course developers can create a source course in Canvas, MCC’s online learning management system. Whether delivered online, in a hybrid format or on campus, all MCC courses utilize a Canvas shell where students can review the course syllabus, calendar, assignment list, view course resources and track progress. With the help of a C and I director and IDS course design specialist, value-added elements such as video demonstrations can also be included in the Canvas source course.
MCC has come a long way in developing a thorough and rigorous program and course development process. As the college mission states, “MCC delivers relevant, student-centered education to a diverse community of learners.” Through guided pathways, H3 programs and intentional course design, MCC delivers on its mission.
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