IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute
The IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute provides an immersive 10-month, three-path learning experience for Newcomers, Seasoned Professionals, and Veterans.
This inclusive learning experience for institutional research, planning, and effectiveness (IRPE) professionals focuses on equity-minded leadership and social justice for California’s community colleges. Within this context, participants will identify their goals and learning priorities at the onset of the institute to help unpack how these goals can positively impact student equity and success.
We build community by supporting networking between participants with common goals and interests, providing structured thought partnership engagements, and cultivating deeper mentorship connections where appropriate.
Participants will leverage their Summer-to-Summer Institute learning and relationships to develop and present a Capstone Project that celebrates individuals’ personal and/or professional growth throughout Summer-to-Summer Institute among their peers. Capstone Project celebrations can encompass a wide range of activities, from building IRPE foundations to sharing outcomes from long-term college work projects, to highlighting personal and/or professional learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion within the context of IRPE and California community colleges.
Who Should Attend?
Any IRPE professional who is interested in advancing student equity and social justice at their college or district is invited to participate. The IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute is a professional development opportunity designed to validate, engage, and build upon the diverse experiences and backgrounds IRPE professionals bring to the field.
Mastery Paths
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NewcomersGenerally for participants attending the IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute for the first time and who have 0–3 years in the CCC IRPE field
- Provides foundational context about CCC and IRPE operations
- Heavier focus on applied research methods in CCCs
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Seasoned ProfessionalsGenerally for participants with 4–7 years in the CCC IRPE field who might have previously attended the IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute as a Newcomer.
- Focused more on the technical aspects of IRPE operations, such as leadership and cross-functional planning efforts around accreditation, enrollment, and organizational development
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VeteransGenerally for participants with 8 or more years in the CCC IRPE field and who are interested in leading transformational systems change.
- Customized learning experience tailored to participants’ identified institutional and/or personal development priorities
- Co-facilitation and thought partnership opportunities with IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute topic leads and RP Group subject matter experts aligned with identified learning interests
- Opportunities to mentor and guide other IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute participants with similar backgrounds or identified interests
Curriculum
The IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute is a comprehensive learning experience with a focus on advancing equity-minded research, planning, effectiveness, and innovation across California’s community colleges. The Institute is designed to be an immersive learning experience that emphasizes equity-minded leadership, where participants will reflect on their own equity journeys, work on their institutions, and learn strategies to integrate racial equity and social justice into college processes, structures, and practices.
The Institute will address core competencies that will culminate in an opportunity to identify, apply, and evaluate essential skills as an IRPE professional.
Topics Covered
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All Participants
- Common Equity Language & Equity Literacy
- Career Development Support
- Assessing & Reflecting on our EDI Learning & Development
- Statewide Initiatives
- Goal Setting, Mentoring, & Learning Communities
- Participatory Governance: Institutional Culture, Systems, Structures & Integrated Planning
- Artificial Intelligence & Software Applications for IRPE Offices
- How to Partner with Faculty on Student Equity-Minded Student Success
- Institute Capstone Project
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Newcomers
- The Role of an IRPE Office in Today’s Community Colleges
- Supporting the Accreditation Process
- Applied Research & Planning in a Community College Setting
- Equity-Minded Qualitative Research
- Using Visuals to Effectively Tell the Data Story
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Seasoned Professionals & Veterans
- IRPE Change Leadership & Management
- Leadership & Politics in Accreditation
- Strategic Enrollment Management & Efficiency
- Strategic Planning & Evaluation
- Organizational Development & Action Research
Program Learning Outcomes
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Facilitate courageous conversations
Examples of possible session topics/session learning outcomes for Newcomers, Seasoned Professionals, and Veterans:
- Self-reflecting and monitoring implicit bias
- Responding to microaggressions
- Navigating resistance
- Focusing on organizational responsibility for student success and equity
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Integrate equity-minded approaches
Examples of possible session topics/learning outcomes for Newcomers:
- Apply equity-minded inquiry and research approaches
- Routinely disaggregate data by race/ethnicity and gender
- Question who new programs, processes, systems, structures benefit and who they do not benefit
- Describe the historical context for the system and higher education as a whole
For Newcomers and Seasoned Professionals:
- Applying a racial equity and social justice lens to various levels and types of project management
For Seasoned Professionals and Veterans:
- Centering equity in planning
- Decolonizing research
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Apply effective strategies for advancing data literacy and collaborative leadership
Examples of possible session topics/learning outcomes for Newcomers and Seasoned Professionals:
- Framing conversations with context
- Assessing campus culture
- Centering the student voice and student experience
- Highlighting employee (EEO) and student demographic data to bring awareness to campus climate, systemic racism
- Utilizing “calling out” and “calling in” where appropriate to ensure practitioners take institutional responsibility for student success and equitable outcomes
- Acknowledging and managing racial battle fatigue
- Effectively engaging resistance
For Seasoned Professionals and Veterans:
- Empowering others to lead/co-lead and serve as agents of change
- Building and leveraging relationships with other college/district departments (e.g., HR) to help develop more equitable, data-informed hiring processes
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Assess and reflect on one’s own personal and professional development
Examples of possible session topics/learning outcomes for Newcomers, Seasoned Professionals, and Veterans:
- Describe the historical context for the system and higher education as a whole
- Critically reflect on the culture of the higher education institutions
- Unlearning biased approaches to research, planning, and higher education as a whole
Samantha Homier, Director of Institutional Research, Everett Community College
Mayra Padilla, Acting Senior Dean of Strategic Planning & Special Programs, Contra Costa College
Brad Trimble, Director of Learning and Strategy, The RP Group
Alex Adams, Senior Director of Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness, Fresno City College
Elizabeth Balint, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Lake Tahoe Community College
Darla Cooper, Executive Director, The RP Group
Christie Gabriel-Millette, Senior Research & Planning Analyst, San Bernardino Valley College
Lisa Holmes, Director of Research, Development, and Planning, Barstow College
Elaine Kuo, Director, Research and Planning, Foothill College
Cassie Leal, Director of Institutional Research, Shasta College
Micheline Pontious, Research Analyst, City College of San Francisco
Adore Davidson, Senior Director of Professional Development, The RP Group
Lila Tavelli, Associate Director of Professional Development, The RP Group
2.5 Day Kick-off in Pomona, CA
The IRPE Summer-to-Summer Institute begins with a 2.5-day in-person kick-off event at:
Sheraton Fairplex Suites & Conference Center
601 W McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA 91768
In addition, virtual sessions focused on topics relevant to each of the three Mastery Paths will be offered during the fall (September–November) and spring (January–May) semesters.
The institute culminates with a wrap-up event and participant project showcase in June at the Sheraton Fairplex Suites & Conference Center.