At Pierce College, planning is the basis for decision making and resource allocation.  On an annual basis, instructional programs, student services programs, and administrative units submit a plan that includes an assessment of past goals, short-term and long-term future goals, activity  updates, student learning outcomes and service area outcomes, and resource requests (staffing, equipment, software, supply budgets, and facilities).  Each program utilizes relevant data (including enrollments, class size, success rates, degrees and certificates, and full-time/part-time ratios for instructional programs and other specific metrics for the student services and administrative units) in completing and justifying its plan.  Program goals are linked to college’s strategic goals and learning outcomes are linked to the college mission and institutional learning outcomes.  Annual program plans are used to set hiring priorities and allocate block grant and other resources.

The information provided in the annual plans serves as the foundation for periodic program reviews, which are completed at two-year (for career and technical programs) or six-year intervals (for all other programs and areas).  The focus of program review is to identify long-term trends and directions for the program based on internal and external scans and analyses. 

The program review data is compiled to create the educational master plan, which is linked to mission review and the updating of other collegewide master plans: the strategic plan, the facilities master plan, the technology plan, the staffing master plan, and the enrollment management plan. .