Austin Community College District (ACC) is working on a plan to deepen its culture of caring among faculty and staff, which includes redesigning evaluations, leadership development opportunities, and ways to build a stronger sense of campus community.

The only Theory of Change Design Team focused on employees—Demonstrated Practices of Caring for all Employees (DPOC)—presented their recommendations to an audience of more than 1,000 faculty and staff members during the August Virtual Employee Town Hall.

Renee Kuhles, head librarian at the Eastview Campus Library, and Dana Gutierrez, program assistant with ACC’s Building Construction Technology Program, presented the team’s charges, findings, and recommendations. 

The DPOC team was charged with cultivating a more collaborative and effective work environment that enhances employee satisfaction, engagement, and professional growth through a positive, values-driven organizational culture that empowers employees at all levels.

They focused on three things:

  1. A collegewide upward/360° evaluation system
  2. Creating campus community for employees 
  3. Supervisor training and leadership development opportunities

The group worked with countless stakeholders over the past year, including faculty, staff, administrators, and students. They looked at peer institutions, universities, and across industries to gather best practices that make sense within a community college setting.

Overview of New Recommendations 

Upward Evaluation Program

The team took a broad approach to employee evaluations. They looked at four models used in peer institutions:

  1. Upward evaluation invites employees to assess their supervisor’s effectiveness.
  2. 360° feedback gathers input from supervisors, peers, direct reports, and students or clients. 
  3. Formative evaluation supports onboarding and leadership development by capturing real-time progress.
  4. Ongoing performance development builds on formative evaluation.

They also examined internal models, including ACC’s redesigned faculty evaluations.

To support the vision that everyone—faculty, staff, and leadership—should receive feedback from students or clients, reflect on their performance, and be evaluated by supervisors, peers, and direct reports, the team recommended a holistic evaluation. They suggested using a multi-rater process that integrates upward feedback, formative reviews, and performance development to build a culture of growth.

Leadership Development

The team faced three key challenges in redesigning how the College conceptualizes and delivers leadership development at ACC:

  1. We need to expand our definition of leadership beyond job titles.
  2. We lack a unified, values-driven leadership curriculum. 
  3. We need a clear, coordinated leadership development roadmap. 

Kuhles presented three of the 10 solutions the team identified:

  1. Redefine leadership to include every employee. 
  2. Establish values-aligned competencies as the foundation for all leadership programming. 
  3. Launch a five-tiered leadership model that supports employees at every career stage. 

Campus Community

Building a campus community goes beyond events—it starts with the everyday spaces people use, neglected or under-resourced spaces, and a clear message that community isn’t valued, according to the DPOC team. They presented some solutions to the challenges of resource allocation: 

  1. Many campuses suffer from poor maintenance and a lack of resources – To address this, the team recommends equity-based budgeting, prioritizing funds for initiatives that support equity, student success, and community building, especially at campuses with a history of underinvestment. 
  2. Centralized resource models limit flexibility, making it difficult for campuses to respond to local needs – The recommendation is flexible resource distribution that would allow campuses to support staff, students, and culture in ways that matter locally. 
  3. Underutilized spaces are not being repurposed for student success and engagement – The team proposed a strategic plan to repurpose underutilized campus spaces. 

The team also heard from employees that communication is an essential part of the community. Employees describe current communication efforts as unclear, inconsistent, and one-sided. Without clear channels to connect, collaboration across campuses is difficult, which fuels isolation. 

To improve communication, the team recommended a two-way communication model, with active listening, visible follow-up, and leadership accountability, as well as a centralized digital platform where employees could share events, updates, and opportunities.

Recommendations to help improve campus advocacy and support include: 

  • Creating a new model for campus-based employee voices, one that ensures staff and faculty can shape local priorities, strengthen culture, and collaborate on campus initiatives.
  • Creating a community Engagement Specialist role at each campus to focus on events, community outreach, and fostering an inclusive culture.
  • Making community building part of employee evaluations and departmental goals so collaboration is expected, supported, and rewarded.

Find the full report and other documents on the DPOC repository on the Theory of Change website.