College Leadership

Code of Ethics for Chief Executive Officers of Community Colleges

Haywood Community College's President follows the Code Of Ethics as approved by the AACC Board of Directors

Preamble

The Chief Executive Officer of the community college helps to determine ethical standards for his/her institution through personal conduct and institutional leadership.

The Chief Executive Officer is expected to maintain the highest ethical standards through his/her individual actions and decisions within the institution and to expect adherence to the same standards by Boards of Trustees, administrators, faculty, staff and students.

A set of core values can help foster the ethical standards for an institution. The following core values can serve as a guide for Chief Executive Officers:

Core Values

The Chief Executive Officer and other members of the campus organization should strive to promote the following core values both internally and externally.

1. Trust and respect for all individuals;
2. Honesty in all actions;
3. Just and fair treatment of all people;
4. Integrity in all actions.

Responsibilities to Board Members

1. The Chief Executive Officer will strive to ensure that all members of the Board receive essential information efficiently and in a timely manner.
2. The Chief Executive Officer will avoid direct conflicts of interest and actions that might create the impression of a conflict of interest.
3. The Chief Executive Officer has an obligation to accurately represent the Board in internal and public communications, both written and oral.
4. The Chief Executive Officer is expected to execute Board policies and decisions in a conscientious and timely manner.
5. The Chief Executive Officer has the responsibility to foster teamwork among Board members and to facilitate a sense of common purpose.

Responsibilities to Administration, Faculty and Staff

1. The Chief Executive Officer has the obligation to encourage the highest standards of excellence in teaching and learning.
2. The Chief Executive Officer has the duty to encourage standards of excellence in the advancement and application of knowledge.
3. The Chief Executive Officer will promote and support an institutional environment that fosters open communication among all administrators, faculty, staff and students.
4. The Chief Executive Officer will respect the integrity and professionalism of administrators, faculty and staff at all times.
5. The Chief Executive Officer will set expectations for the highest ethical standard and actively encourage adherence throughout the institution.
6. The Chief Executive Officer shall not use the CEO position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself/herself or others.
7. The Chief Executive Officer should strive to ensure that administrators, faculty and staff do not engage in sexual or other inappropriate behavior with students.
8. The Chief Executive Officer will seek and respect the recommendations of administrators, faculty, staff and students in matters pertaining to college life and governance.
9. The Chief Executive Officer has the obligation to treat all college employees fairly and equitably.
10. The Chief Executive Officer will work to preserve confidentiality, to provide appropriate due process, and to allow a clearly specified process for corrective action among all college employees.

Responsibilities to Students

1. The Chief Executive Officer will ensure that all students are treated equally and with respect.
2. The Chief Executive Officer will promote diversity both internally and externally.
3. The Chief Executive Officer will work to provide educational opportunity that embraces the highest standards of excellence and access for all students.
4. The Chief Executive Officer will seek sufficient resources to ensure viable programs of study.
5. The Chief Executive Officer will ensure that accurate and complete descriptions of available academic programs are provided to students through official college communications channels.
6. The Chief Executive Officer will seek recommendations from students with respect to college decisions that affect them.
7. The Chief Executive Officer will ensure that there is no unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, or exploitation of students in any aspect of college life.
8. The Chief Executive Officer will ensure a safe and secure learning environment for all students.

Responsibilities to Other Educational Institutions

1. The Chief Executive Officer will keep both his/her office staff and members of the college community informed of key developments at local, state and federal levels.
2. The Chief Executive Officer will be honest and forthright in reporting college data, budgets and needs of the institution to the public.
3. The Chief Executive Officer will honor all agreements and maintain confidential information as allowed by law.
4. The Chief Executive Officer will promote collaboration among institutions.

Responsibilities to Business, Civic Groups and the Community at Large

1. The Chief Executive Officer will work to ensure that the college is continually meeting the changing program needs of its state and local community.
2. The Chief Executive Officer will set expectations that are realistic and will work vigorously to facilitate the realization of those expectations.
3. The Chief Executive Officer will ensure that all parties have the opportunity to express individual viewpoints regarding college policies.
4. The Chief Executive Officer will facilitate opportunities for all groups to participate in the programs of the college.
5. The Chief Executive Officer will avoid conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest in contracts, services or the sharing of information.
6. The Chief Executive Officer will honor all laws and regulations pertaining to the operation of the college.

Rights of Chief Executive Officers

A Chief Executive Officer should have the right:

1. To work in an open, honest, and professional environment;
2. To a clear, written statement of the expectations of the Board of Trustees;
3. To participate in setting goals and policies of the college;
4. To a written contract between the Board and the Chief Executive Officer outlining conditions of employment, method of evaluation, and levels of compensation;
5. To have a clear and concise job description outlining duties, expectations of the Board, and areas of responsibility for the CEO;
6. To a clearly defined scope of authority and to exercise judgment and perform agreed upon duties without disruption or harassment;
7. To not be placed in a position, by board action or political pressure, to participate in any activity which would be deemed to be unethical or illegal under state, local or federal laws;
8. To be able to select the management team that will allow the Chief Executive Officer to meet the goals and policies set by the Board of Trustees;
9. To be present or represented at meetings of the Board of Trustees.

Members of the Board for 2023-2024

Name	Appointed by	Appointment Duration
H. Lee Davis	Haywood County Board of Commissioners	7/1/2021 - 6/30/2025
Gorham Bradley	Office of NC Governor	7/1/2023 - 6/30/27
Dr. Ed A. Brown, III	Haywood County Board of Commissioners	2/19/2024 - 6/30/2026
Carol Larsen	Office of NC Governor	10/7/2022 - 6/30/2026
Tammy Hall McDowell	Haywood County Board of Commissioners	7/1/2024 - 6/30/2028
Lynn Milner	Haywood County Board of Education	7/1/2021 - 6/30/2025
Thomas Olliff	Haywood County Board of Education	7/1/2022 - 7/30/2026
Jon Overbay	General Assembly Senate/President Pro Tempore	7/1/2024 - 6/30/2028
Kaleb Rathbone	Haywood County Board of Education	7/1/2023 - 6/30/2027
Rhonda Schandevel	Office of NC Governor	7/1/2021 - 6/30/2025
John Wadsworth	General Assembly House/Speaker of the House	7/1/2024 - 6/30/2028
Danny Wingate	Haywood County Board of Commissioners	7/1/2023 - 6/30/2027

Ex-Officio

Brooke Davis - HCC SGA President

Officers of the Board

Lynn Milner - Chair

Kaleb Rathbone - Vice Chair

Dr. Shelley White - Secretary

 

Vision (Who we want to be)

To Enrich Everyone Through Education

Mission (Who we are)

We serve the educational needs and economic growth of our community, by promoting lifelong student learning and success.

Core Values (What guides us)

Approved: June 1, 2021

Support
Providing a helpful and encouraging environment where exceptional learning and experiences can exist. 

Collaboration
Working together for a shared purpose by fostering positive and productive relationships with diverse populations throughout the college and our community.

Excellence
Striving for the ongoing pursuit of the highest quality inside and outside the classroom.

Integrity
Maintaining honest and open relationships, utilizing strong ethical principles, in everything we do.

Creativity
Encouraging thinking and exploring beyond the bounds of traditional ideas.

Strategic Plan for Institutional Excellence Goals and Objectives

Approved: June 7, 2021
Revised: July 29, 2024

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Goals are defined for a 5-year period. The Objectives defined herein are for the 2024-2025 academic year only. Further objectives will be defined in the second half of the academic year for the following academic year.

Goal 1  Increase enrollments by 5% over a three-year period college wide, with a focus on targeted populations (eg. high school, adult learner, workforce continuing education, career & technical education, college transfer) and an emphasis coming from Haywood County residents (Enrollment).

Objective 1 Develop and execute a formal strategic enrollment management plan that focuses on increasing the variety of the student body and prioritizes programming that proactively responds to community and student needs.
Objective 2 Develop standardized metrics for enrollment in targeted populations and programs with a plan to create tactics for improvement.
Objective 3 Creation of holistic onboarding processes in coordination with NCReconnect to increase new student enrollment. 

 

Goal 2  Consistent year-over-year improvement on our engagement levels with students, alumni, community, and employees (Engagement).

Objective 1 Use a variety of measurement tools to track student engagement with a focus on tracking communication method success and event/meeting attendance. Review trends to determine which methods are most effective and how to strengthen those not.
Objective 2 Create an alumni engagement plan to engage and connect with students following. graduation consisting of event invitations and sharing success stories.
Objective 3 Engage with our community in a variety of ways to increase overall brand awareness. Tracking community events in a new way will allow proper examination of the events which will be included in the formalized recruitment plan.
Objective 4 Engage with employees on a variety of levels to encourage organic program marketing, community involvement, and overall awareness of campus happenings.

 

Goal 3  Progress on our short- and long-term facilities and infrastructure needs based on our comprehensive infrastructure, academic, and facilities master plan. (Facilities & Infrastructure).

Objective 1 Develop a formal, comprehensive, and well-integrated technology, infrastructure, and facilities roadmap.
Objective 2 Conduct annual evaluation to prioritize capital projects needs.
Objective 3 Create a communication strategy to inform faculty, staff, and students about the progress and future plans for capital improvements and projects.

 

Goal 4  Meet or exceed expectations on employee engagement, diverse representation, people development, and talent recruitment, based on a defined workplace culture of excellence, well-being, and high performance (Talent).

Objective 1 Improve and grow employee satisfaction by listening to employee needs and then developing planning and execution strategies relative to these needs.
Objective 2 Provide meaningful and frequent employee professional development opportunities.
Objective 3 Monitor, measure, and respond to employee turnover; perform proactive planning for transitions.

 

Goal 5  Increase student success metrics by 5% over a three-year period, to ensure students are progressing on or meeting their goals and the college is providing skilled workers to the community (Growth).

Objective 1 Monitor the standardized set of student success data indicators (graduation rate, retention rate [fall-to-fall, fall-to-spring], course success rate [fall, spring]).
Objective 2 Increase student completion rate of course evaluations to 40%.
Objective 3 Implement a strategic retention plan for all instructional program areas.
Objective 4 Develop a standardized set of student success data indicators for continuing education / workforce development.

 

An electronic copy of the strategic plan as an Adobe PDF can be downloaded using one of the following links:

• 1-Page Summary
• 2024-2025 Strategic Plan Summary
• Original 2021-2026 Strategic Plan Summary

SACSCOC

Haywood Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate degrees. Haywood Community College also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of Haywood Community College may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (https://www.sacscoc.org). 

Most recent Reaffirmation Report (2019): Soon
Most recent Fifth-Year Interim Report (2024): Soon