Looking Forward …

The major focus of College of DuPage has been on the following Institutional Priorities:

Implement Enrollment Management

• Achieve enrollment target
• Increase completers in each program
• Achieve targeted market penetration
• Increase student persistence toward goals
• Expand academic offerings to meet community expectations

Improve Operational Efficiencies

• Achieve a balanced budget
• Improve processes and reallocate recovered resources for initiatives, new programming, and to strengthen services

Improve Student Experience and Customer Service

• Increase student satisfaction
• Improve responsiveness to potential students and clients
• Improve employee satisfaction through increased internal customer service

• Improve outcomes of governance systems
• Review and revise, as necessary, the college’s mission, vision and strategic plan
• Improve employee satisfaction with and knowledge of college communications and direction

Application for Center of Excellence at College of DuPage

The Center of Excellence designation is determined by a set of direct and indirect measures that identify the applicant as being a top-rated College of DuPage program or discipline. As a Center of Excellence, the program stands out among other College of DuPage academic entities as well as among other national programs. The application process is meant to be rigorous. A selection of a program or discipline as a Center of Excellence is not mandatory for each review cycle.

This initial application is a summary of the measures a program or discipline must meet in order to be considered a Center of Excellence at College of DuPage. There are direct measures and indirect measures. The applicant will need to have met seven of the eight direct measures and six of the seven indirect measures at the meets or exceeds level.

If one of the measures is not appropriate for a program or discipline, the applicant should indicate why the measure is not applicable. The applicant should not merely respond with Yes or No but rather explain how the program or discipline meets or does not meet the measure.

If a program or discipline is selected by the President as a Center of Excellence, the designation will be for a three-year cycle. The program or discipline must submit a self assessment to the President at the end of years one and two validating that the program or discipline continues to meet the criterion as a Center of Excellence. At the end of year three, the program or discipline must submit a new application to the Application Review Committee for consideration to continue the designation as a Center of Excellence.

Download a PDF of the Application for Center of Excellence