CPCC encourages innovation, entrepreneurial initiatives and likes to lead from the front. One of the most important contributions the Learning Unit can make in support of the college vision and its enrollment growth strategy is to develop new programs. In doing so, it also allows us to keep pace with the county’s population growth rate, as well as, align our programs with strong local employment growth and workforce development trends.

The program areas, and in particular the faculty, have done an outstanding job of developing, implementing and evaluating new programs over the life of the College, as evidenced by our abundant and diverse portfolio of offerings. However, there existed an opportunity to enhance the current process by conducting more market research (in addition to what the State process requires) to ensure a regional market need, and also to conduct an analysis of the required resources on the front end. These additions to the current process will be especially helpful, for instance, as we flush out the opportunity and the feasibility of the seventy new programs the Learning Unit recently identified for the State’s Six-Year Long Range Facilities Plan.

To assist with these ongoing efforts, the Learning Unit has recently decided to formalize the process to develop new programs via a “Road Map” to serve as a job aid. The Learning Unit also wants to ensure a program’s sustainability since the launch of a new program may result in a substantial allocation (or reallocation) of resources. This process, which is an adaptation from another League school, will help us capture ideas is a structured way so that we can manage our programmatic growth effectively. Below is a graphical depiction of the process.

In addition, embedded within each of these five phases are the following four components:

Components in Each Phase

In conclusion, special thanks go out to all the people in the Learning Unit who participated in this important initiative (an “instructional intersections” committee, the curriculum committee, administrators in the office of the VP of Learning, Deans, Division Directors, Program Chairs and Faculty). As result of their input and efforts, the following features were incorporated into the Road Map:

The Road Map to Develop New Programs can be completed online through this website. Click on "Next" to continue.