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Pasadena City College’s (PCC) new Superintendent/President Dr. Erika Endrijonas announced a new Educational Master Plan (EMP) last month that would use in-house resources rather than hiring outside help to guide the school’s future endeavors.

The main benefit for not soliciting outside help is for the school to save funds. Endrijonas believes that hiring a firm to develop a plan would be an unwise use of money and would take too long.

“We already have all of the data compiled and the environmental scan completed that an Educational Master Plan is usually based upon,” Endrijonas said. “It would take an outside firm months to develop such a plan. We are also using the statewide Vision for Success goals as a framework for establishing our college goals, so there is no need for an external group to help establish our goals.”

The current EMP was written during the 2014-2015 academic year, and was only planned for five years. Before Endrijonas came to PCC, four outside firms were in the process of being interviewed to create the plan.

Endrijonas already has a successful history of developing EMPs at other colleges. She helped develop and write the Oxnard College EMP, as well as the Los Angeles Community College District master plan. Before Endrijonas was hired by PCC, she was in the beginning stages of revising Los Angeles Valley College’s EMP.

With her hefty experience, Endrijonas has no doubt that she is capable of creating a sustainable plan for PCC.

“Educational master plans do not really fail,” Endrijonas said. “The question is whether the college or district works with its internal and external communities to reflect the direction of the institution and whether it gains broad-based support.”

The funds saved by this development strategy won’t be reallocated immediately to other projects.

“The money saved comes from one-time funds that are used for needs like [the educational master plan],” Endrijonas said. “When the next need like this comes along, there will be funds available to hire a consultant to help.”

This new EMP is planned to last through 2024, PCC’s 100th anniversary, but will be re-evaluated and updated each year. The formal outline still needs to be officially developed, but some core values are already being considered for the new plan.

“The plan will cover such topics as student success, equity, and access; technology; professional development; and student support services, among many others,” said Alex Boekelheide, the executive director of strategic communications and marketing. “[We] will work with the on- and off-campus community to develop the strategies and actions to achieve those goals.”

Endrijonas’ current plan is to have the EMP fully developed and put into place by late spring, or early summer.

Matthew Brown
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