MTCommunity College

Great Falls College Montana State University

Taking Small Steps That Lead To Big Impact

Resource AllocationData Governance & Analytics

About Great Falls College Montana State University

Great Falls College Montana State University is a public community college serving rural areas across North Central Montana. The college serves approximately 1400 students each year. Workforce development needs and barriers to access experienced by students are significant across the rural region served.

Improvement Project

Improving Business Office Practices to Support Programs and Students

Toolkits Used

IPEDS Peer Benchmarking Dashboards Budget Builder Financial Impact Analysis

Browse all toolkits

Results

The toolkits used by Great Falls College served as catalysts, offering models of operational practice for leveraging data to support decision-making and enhance planning and budget development.

Through creative modification and application of resources found in the toolkits, mechanisms to refine resource allocation practices, with a focus on sustaining and scaling proven programs that meet regional needs and reduce barriers, were generated.

The Full Story

Great Falls College hoped to improve its use of data to support decision-making activities and ensure resource allocation practices build capacity to sustain and scale improved student outcomes. The CBO wanted to better support program managers when asked to assess outcomes, plan, and prioritize time and money allocated to their respective programs. Great Falls College leveraged several toolkits, taking advantage of the flexibility of the resources. The IPEDS Peer Benchmarking Dashboards provided comparator data and catalyzed conversations about data literacy.

“As the CBO, I see all these pieces that come together, but I also see how those pieces aren't always put to best use because of changes in funding, evolving workforce development needs, and the challenges we have because we are so small. Our students have so many barriers to accessing our programs. Our job is to serve the people of the state of Montana.”
Carmen RobertsExecutive Director of Operations