Jon Dalton

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Communicating Core Values in College Websites

• Jon Dalton
• Kristina Goodwin
• Margo McClinton
• Pu-Shih Daniel Chen
• Florida State University
• Center for the Study of Values in Student College
  Development

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Presentation Overview

• Background Kristina
• Findings and Results Margo
• Suggestions for improving website communication
  of core values Daniel
• Group Discussion

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Background

• Why we looked at your websites
• Why websites are critical
• What did we look at?
• Mission statement
• Core values
• College Presidents
• Concluding Observations

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Why We Looked at Your Websites

• Internet as a communication vehicle
• Over 300 million people worldwide are using the
  internet.
• 3000 times more people are on line today then
  just seven years ago.

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U.S. Adults Using the Internet (in Millions)
Source Cyber Stats (1998)
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Number of Years to Reach 30 Penetration of the
U.S. Population
Source Morgan Stanley Research Group (1999)
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What Did We Look at?

• All Illinois Community Colleges
• Mission Statement
• Core Values Statement
• President Visibility
• Other places we looked, but didnt find
  information

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Why Did We Look at Mission Statements?

• Colleges communicate their most essential
  information in their missions statement
• Colleges revolve around their mission statements

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Why Did We Look at Core Values Statements?

• Are your core values in your mission statement?
• Illinois community colleges are committed to core
  values statements Its an important priority

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Why Did We Look at Your President?

• Leader
• Symbolic role in public leadership

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Concluding Observations

• Many prospective students and their parents use
  Websites when searching for a college.
• If the institution has core values and does not
  display them for others to see, then the college
  is loosing out on some valuable positive
  publicity.
• Are you sending the message you want to send to
  students, parents, faculty and staff, community
  members, and local businesses?

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Focal Points

• What we assessed
• What we found
• Sharing of Examples

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We wanted to Assess

• How are schools using websites to promote core
  values?
• How effective are websites in communicating core
  values?

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What we Did

• We evaluated 47 community colleges in Illinois
  Community Colleges system
• Initially, observed curriculum, student programs,
  and student activities

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Computer Assessment

• Created a computer template that evaluated
• What schools displayed core values on their
  website?
• How many clicks away from the main website?
• What were the Core Values?
• Did the school have a Mission Statement?
• Were Core Values mentioned within the mission
  statement?
• Was the President Visible on Website?
• Did the President make a reference to Core Values?

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What we learned

• Every School had a website
• From the 47 total number of schools evaluated 21
  (45) had core values published on their website
• 37 (79) had a mission statement published while
  only 27 or 10 of those make a reference to core
  values
• 30 (64) have a visible president and only 12
  (40) of those president make a reference to core
  values
• There were 2.6 clicks away

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These had a core values, has a mission, had core
values mentioned in mission, and the president
references core values

• Lincoln Land College
• Oakton Community College
• Parkland Community College
• Sauk Valley Community College
• Shawnee Community College
• Southwestern Illinois

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The Most Common Core ValuesMentioned

• Integrity (10)
• Respect (8)
• Responsibility (8)
• Fairness (7)
• Diversity (4)
• Quality (4)
• Excellence (4)
• Compassion (3)

• Value (2)
• Honesty (2)
• Service (1)
• Innovation (1)
• Communication (1)
• Caring (1)
• Leadership (1)

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Other Core Values Listed

• Learning
• Collaboration
• Curriculum support
• Teamwork
• Dignity
• Adoptability

• Self Development
• Accountability
• Humor
• Well Being
• Truth
• Tolerance
• Just treatment

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Examples

• William Rainey Harper
• Waubonsee Community College
• Danville Area Community College

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• INSTITUTIONAL CORE VALUES
• Consistent with its philosophy, mission and
  vision, we - the employees and public servants of
  William Rainey
• Harper College, have chosen values that we will
  work by. These values are as follows
• 1. INTEGRITYRESULT An environment where
  relationships and practices are based on trust
• Key Actions
• Demonstrate behavior and make decisions which are
  consistent with the highest ethical standards
• Be responsible and accountable for your own
  actions
• Respect confidentiality
• 2. RESPECTRESULT Interactions which add dignity
  to ourselves, our relationships with others and
  our organization
• Key Actions
• Continuously seek to build and maintain positive
  internal and external relationships
• Express appreciation and recognize people for
  their positive efforts and contributions
• Value and celebrate the uniqueness of individuals
  
• 3. EXCELLENCERESULT Student, employee and
  organizational success through a creative and
  responsive work environment by
• exceeding the needs and expectations of all
• Key Actions
• Effectively anticipate, identify, and respond to
  learner, employee and organizational needs
• Continually seek learning opportunities for
  growth development which improve personal and
  insti
• tutional performance

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• CORE VALUES
• IntegrityTrusting relationships and an ethical
  reputation with all of our key stakeholder groups
  (students, faculty, employees, community,
  business, other educational institutions,
  government).
• Being respectful
• Being honest and sincere
• Being fair and reasonable
• Acting responsibly by meeting commitments and
  obligations
• Remaining true to the academic disciplines
• ExcellenceConsistently achieving exceptional
  results that delight our key stakeholder groups.
• Being accountable through the evaluation and
  adjustment of our services, processes and
  programs as needed to assure timeliness, quality,
  effectiveness, and financial stability
• Providing superior learning experiences and
  services
• Being learner focused to meet the needs of those
  we serve
• Encouraging continuous improvement and lifelong
  learning, growth
• Being innovative and proactive
• CommunicationPositive and productive
  relationships and environment for all of our key
  stakeholder groups.
• Openly exchanging thoughts, messages, information
  and ideas throughout our college and community
• Fostering an environment of belonging, acceptance
  
• Encouraging participation, involvement and
  collaboration
• Demonstrating spirit, sound teamwork principles
  and practices
• Empowering others by enabling them to make
  decisions, take actions that match their
  capabilities

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Examples of Mission Statementthat Reference Core
Values

• Suak Valley Community College (diversity
  collaboration)
• Lincoln Land Community College (honesty
  responsibility)
• Morton College (responsibility diversity
• Oakton Community College (caring community
  leadership)

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Presidents that Refer to Values

• President John A. Neuhaus - Morton College
  (learning and supportive environment)
• President Zelema Harris - Parkland College
  (student learning)
• Dr. Thomas Hines - Spoon River College (learning
  prepare for success)
• Dr. Terry Ludwig - Shawnee Community College
  (learning opportunities)

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Suggestions for Emphasizing Core Values in Web
Design

• Make your core values and mission statement
  available on the web site
• Link core values to the mission statement
  example
• Make core values statement easy to access example
• Avoid complicated web design example
• Ask students how and why they use your web site

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Something to Think About

• How do you use web site to generate student
  interest in core values?
• What can students learn from your web site about
  your core values?
• How can you integrate the mission statement and
  core values into the most popular pages?
• How can you integrate core values into the most
  important pages of your web site?

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Discussion