SPARC Spring 2026 Semester Update

During the Spring 2026 semester, SPARC’s work shifted to support the development and rollout of the college’s multi-year budget reduction plan, which became the central focus of shared governance efforts across the institution.

The Annual Planning subcommittee continued its work by processing Cycle 3 resource requests using the same framework established in the fall. This included executive leader prioritization followed by subcommittee review and finalization. Maintaining consistency in the process allowed the committee to focus on efficiency and clarity while broader institutional attention was directed toward budget planning.

See submitted requests and their status here.

Outside of the annual planning cycle, the majority of SPARC-related work centered on the College Budget Advisory Council (CBAC) and the development of the budget reduction plan. Throughout the semester, multiple shared governance groups were convened to review, discuss, and refine specific reduction proposals. In order to support this work within a compressed timeline, regular SPARC subcommittee meetings were paused, allowing these groups to meet more frequently and respond quickly as proposals were developed and evaluated. This structure supported the goal of releasing a finalized plan prior to Spring Break.

The result of this work is a comprehensive, multi-year budget reduction plan that reflects input from across the college and follows established shared governance processes. Additional details, including the full plan and supporting materials, are available on the budget reduction website.

As the semester concludes, SPARC will reconvene key subcommittee work to close out the annual cycle and prepare for the upcoming academic year. The Annual Planning subcommittee will meet once more to process Cycle 4 and the next Cycle 1 resource requests, ensuring continuity between fiscal years and maintaining the established planning cadence.

The Strategic Planning subcommittee will also reconvene to finalize alignment between the college’s Strategic Plan and the newly released District Strategic Plan. Initial review of the district plan confirmed strong alignment in areas such as student success, workforce pathways, and program development. At the same time, several gaps were identified that will be addressed as part of this alignment work. These include the need to establish clearer ownership of technology leadership priorities, incorporate digital fluency as a more explicit focus for students and the workforce, strengthen emphasis on workforce responsiveness and agility, and further develop how the college frames its economic and community impact.

This alignment work will position the college to move forward with a more cohesive and coordinated implementation approach in the next academic year.

Overall, Spring 2026 reflected a shift in focus from standing committee work to time-sensitive, institution-wide decision-making. SPARC’s role during this period was less about advancing new processes and more about supporting shared governance structures that enabled the college to respond to immediate financial priorities while maintaining alignment with long-term strategic goals.

SPARC Fall 2025 Semester Update

The SPARC committee began the 2025–2026 academic year by continuing implementation of the planning, program review, and budgeting structures developed during the prior year, with a focus on testing processes in practice and gathering feedback to inform future refinement.

During the fall semester, much of the operational work of SPARC was carried out through its subcommittees, with an intentional emphasis on efficiency and clearer role delineation between groups.

The Annual Planning subcommittee led the full Cycle 2 resource request process. To streamline the work and reduce the burden on the full committee, the process was managed almost entirely at the subcommittee level. Executive leaders first reviewed and prioritized requests, after which the subcommittee finalized recommendations for approval. Several practical enhancements were introduced to improve usability and transparency, including the development of a dashboard to track the status of requests. This dashboard also connects to follow-up forms used by receiving departments to formally accept funding and move projects forward, helping to create more continuity between approval and implementation.

See submitted requests and their status here.

In program review, the focus during the fall semester was on observation, engagement, and early process development. Members of the Program Review subcommittee were invited to attend program review sessions across units to better understand how the process was functioning in practice and to gather feedback for future improvements. In addition, toward the end of the semester, the subcommittee began supporting the early development of a threshold review process, with initial work occurring just prior to the winter break.

The Strategic Planning subcommittee made progress in identifying responsible groups and potential implementation structures for the college’s strategic plan. However, implementation efforts were intentionally paused to allow time for the release and review of the District’s new Strategic Plan. This pause ensures that SCC’s implementation approach will be aligned with district priorities before moving forward in the next academic year.

The College Budget Advisory Council (CBAC) continued its work on developing a multi-year budget reduction strategy. Throughout the fall, CBAC reviewed divisional input, explored budget scenarios, and discussed the processes that would be used to bring forward recommendations for shared governance review. This work laid important groundwork for more detailed planning and decision-making in the spring semester.

Overall, the fall semester served as a period of implementation, observation, and incremental improvement. Rather than introducing new structures, SPARC focused on working through established processes, identifying opportunities for refinement, and building a clearer foundation for more coordinated planning and decision-making in the semesters ahead.

Spring 2026 Updates

The annual planning subcommittee reviewed the work that has been done to communicate and fund the Cycle 3 resource requests that were approved. 

November 21 2025 Updates

The annual planning subcommittee reviewed the work that has been done to communicate and fund the Cycle 2 resource requests that were approved. We will begin scheduling meetings in the early spring semester to address requests in Cycle 3. The group also discussed potential enhancements for the SAF leads to consider that could make that process less cumbersome and more aligned with annual planning. There was also a brief discussion about effective communication and how to leverage the Buzz.

September 30 2025 Updates

The annual planning subcommittee prepared for Cycle 2 resource requests and reviewed the status of an already approved request. The group also began cleaning up statuses and data from the previous cycle to ensure accuracy and consistency moving forward. In addition, the subcommittee reviewed a pilot tool designed to support long-term planning efforts. 

September 12 2025 Updates

The annual planning subcommittee began preparations for Cycle 2 resource requests. This subcommittee will be collecting input and questions from SPARC and then prioritizing the release of the Cycle 2 funds to the requests using the rubrics that were completed last week.

Communication to unit leaders was sent out later that day to remind leaders of the upcoming deadlines for Cycle 2 resource requests.

The subcommittee also discussed its alignment to Program Review and the Strategic Action Framework.

March 17 2025 Updates

The new pilot resource request process closed on 2/19. The requests that were submitted were first prioritized by executive leaders and then reviewed and priotized by SPARC on 2/28. Communication to those that are prioritized for immediate funding will be sent the week of 3/17. As additional funding becomes available, more requests can be prioritized for funding. 

Next Steps: 

• The committee will review the pilot process and begin preparing for a cycle of resource requests and goal setting that will be established for academic year 2026.

February 4th 2025 Updates

Between December 2024 and January 2025, the annual planning subcommittee held multiple meetings to develop a new annual planning process, streamlining the information collection on an annual basis, improving the efficiency of resource requests, and relying on the redesigned program review process to collect in-depth analysis. 

Early discussions focused on developing a standardized form and improving communication about the new process. Subsequent meetings reviewed the clarity and effectiveness of the annual planning form and prioritization rubric. The group also worked on structuring different types of funding requests, addressing concerns about collecting the right information for the right purpose and aligning scoring. 

In the final meeting, they explored creating a centralized Google site to streamline resource requests and goal setting, refining submission timelines, and clarifying resources available for allocation. 

The annual planning process was released on February 3rd. 

Next Steps: 

• Forms are due on February 19th from unit leaders

• Requests will be prioritized by executive leaders by February 25th and forwarded to SPARC

• SPARC will finalized their recommendations for allocation by February 28th

March 17 2025 Updates

The Strategic Planning Committee has been reviewing and prioritizing initiatives and goals for the new strategic plan in preparation for the Campus Conversation on March 21st. A full list of ideas collected up to this point was reviewed at the last meeting, with all members of the committee selecting the iniatives that should move forward. These will be reviewed by President Leshinskie in preparation for the full campus review at the Campus Conversation. 

Next Steps:

• Campus Conversation around the Strategic Plan on March 21st

• Additional event planning needed to finalize the plan

February 4th 2025 Updates

Between December 5, 2024, and February 4, 2025, the team held a series of meetings focused on the development and refinement of Scottsdale Community College’s strategic plan, known as Scottsdale ASPIRE.

Initial discussions involved refining the college’s mission statement, preparing for a college solution design session, and integrating strategy into budget planning. As the process advanced, the team reviewed community input, considered potential updates to the mission statement, and prioritized key aspirations for the college’s future direction.

The final meeting focused on reviewing outcomes from the solution design session, emphasizing specificity that is needed in the objectives of the new strategic plan, and prioritizing ideas while accounting for budget constraints. Throughout the process, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and fostering broad stakeholder involvement remained central priorities.

The Committee is finalizing themes and prioritizing ideas from initial ideation, which will be shared with the campus through events to capture detailed feedback to guide the next steps of the plan development.

Next Steps:

• Preparing for upcoming events for campus engagement with initial themes and ideas

• Campus Conversation around the Strategic Plan on March 21st

December 5 2025 Updates

CBAC reached consensus on pausing significant financial investments into Signature Programs until the list of Signature Programs can be revisited and reconsidered with broader participation from campus stakeholders. The Strategic Planning Subcommittee will be asked to develop a new process for reevaluating the programs on this list. 

CBAC also discussed how best to protect sensitive budget data when it is being reviewed by the group. CBAC discussed interests for an upcoming communication to the campus about the current state of the work to develop the budget reduction plan.

CBAC reached consensus to establish a deadline of 2/20/2026 for a financial strategy plan to be developed within three specific strategies in Academic Affairs. Academic Affairs leadership will be working with stakeholders on this new timeline in order to bring CBAC the information requested in time for it to be incorporated in the college's plan. 

November 21 2025 Updates

CBAC discussed updates  from each division for developing the reduction plan. The group also discussed any questions that came from the 11/7 CBAC retreat. 

CBAC discussed the consensus & decision-making processes that will be used to approach the reduction plan. To prioritize a focus on financial strategy and not operational decision-making, CBAC will be asked to come to consensus on packages of reduction options that are brought forward from the division leadership. CBAC's goal is to evaluate their support for the financial strategy reflected in the options, not the line item details, and with respect to the shared governance processes that were used to bring each option to CBAC. Consensus to include each package in the reduction plan will move that package to SPARC for discussion and consensus and then finally to Cabinet and the President. 

November 7 2025 Retreat Updates

CBAC held a retreat to be presented with information from each division on their work to identify options for budget reduction. Each division discussed their priorities and the groups they are working with to finalize options. 

September 5 2025 Updates

CBAC received a summary of preliminary data on the prior fiscal year including the estimated Carry Forward amounts from the prior year to the current year.

CBAC also reviewed a concept for the long-term budget build to establish a high-level strategy for how budget amounts are allocated across our major units. This approach will continue to be refined and presented to CBAC for consideration.

CBAC discussed a target for a multi-year budget reduction plan. The target for this plan will be announced to Campus in early October with the plan finalized by Spring Break 2026. A townhall will be scheduled for the Campus to discuss the details of the work towards this plan collaboratively.

CBAC also began gathering interests from the Council for the work this year.

March 17 2025 Updates

Here is a summary of the budget reduction proposals that have been approved for implementation:

• $150,000-$200,000 Recalculation of General Supply Budgets – last year, over $200,000 of general supply budgets went unused by the end of the fiscal year. CBAC has recalculated general supplies budgets across the college to more closely reflect actual spending and transfer activity. Budget managers will have an opportunity to get support in making adjustments to the proposed budget amounts before they are final. More information about the specific reduction amounts will be sent to budget managers.

• $462,309 Reduction of Unspent Funds in Part-Time Faculty Lines – several budget lines that fund part-time faculty pay have been historically over budgeted. CBAC has come to consensus on reducing these lines by a total of $462,309 to reflect actual levels of spending from these lines over the past two years. 

• $323,212 Reduction of Four Vacant Lines – CBAC, in collaboration with leadership and stakeholders in the impacted areas, has identified four vacant lines that will be a part of our reduction. These lines are not funding any person or activity at the campus currently:

  • Development Vacancy - Program Coordinator

  • SEL Vacancy - Administrative Specialist Sr.

  • CTL Vacancy - Training Development Consultant

  • President’s Office Vacancy - Administrative Specialist

• $500,000 Summer Faculty Pay Budget Line Adjustment – SCC remains fully committed to providing summer courses at the level that best meets the needs of our students. However, this proposal will shift $500,000 of this expense from our adopted budget, and, alternatively, a portion of this expense will be funded by one-time funds available within the academic year. This shift allows us to take advantage of the timing of the first part of our summer to pull from available funds that have to be spent down before the year ends.

• $80,000 Part-Time Wage Reductions - several part-time wage budgets that have not had any expenses in the last two years will be reviewed for potential reduction. 

On March 7, CBAC approved an additional proposal that will result in an additional $122,000 reduction that will be reviewed the week of 3/17 by SPARC. CBAC also approved the development of a contingency line for additional additional savings over and above our expected reduction that will be prioritized for units who reduced their general supplies budgets and need additional funding support.

Next Steps:

• Identify guiding principles for future year reduction planning

• Rank underfunded line items in order of importance for permanent funding reallocation

• Monitor and support the current year spend down

February 4th 2025 Updates

As of the end of January, two CBAC decisions had reached consensus through Cabinet 

• CBAC identified overfunded budget lines for reallocation or reduction in Fall 2024 = $382,479

• Zero-based budget pilot approved by CBAC for general supplies and part-time wages = $205,000 estimated

On January 31st, CBAC was presented with an initial list of potential budget reduction options for consideration that were developed from conversations with executive leadership and a review of historical spending patterns. For year one, all indications are that the options for consideration will not impact staff or faculty currently in OYO or permanent roles.

Next Steps:

• These options will be reviewed for consensus conversations on February 7th. If consensus is reached, the recommendations will be provided to SPARC for consideration.

• An estimated year 1 reduction has to be identified by mid-February

• The year 1 reduction has to be finalized by March

• After the year 1 reduction plan is finalized, CBAC will engage in developing a plan for years 2-5.

March 17 2025 Updates

The pilot program review is running in March and April for the following programs:

• Yoga

• Visual Communications

• Education

• Community Health Worker

• Cannabis

All piloting programs have had an initial pre-planning meeting to prepare for the process. Data Review sessions and Planning sessions will be held to complete the process.

Next Steps:

• Run the pilot Data Review and Planning sessions for pilot units

• Develop SWOT analyses for piloting units and long-term plans

• Summarize the outcomes for committee and Cabinet review

• Determine adjustments to the process and plan for academic year 2026 implementation

February 4th 2025 Updates

Between December 2, 2024, and January 31, 2025, the team held a series of meetings to develop and refine the program review process. Initial discussions focused on the initiation of concurrent classes for high school students, the formation of subcommittees, and the importance of defining program parameters to ensure effective evaluation. Emphasizing collaboration, the group recognized the need for input from various stakeholders.

As the process progressed, the team discussed the importance of clear communication, a supportive framework, and the integration of budget reviews and institutional goals like 4DX. They explored different approaches to program review, aiming to balance structure with flexibility while addressing challenges in shifting existing mindsets.

In the final meeting, the group focused on refining key elements of the program review, including defining terms such as "unit" and "program," determining relevant data points like withdrawal rates and student demographics, and planning a pre-planning session for the pilot phase. They also considered incorporating stakeholder feedback in future iterations to enhance the review’s effectiveness. Throughout these discussions, ensuring a meaningful and well-structured review process remained a top priority.

Next Steps:

• Academic Instructional Programs will be identified from a list of volunteers by mid-February

• Pilot program reviews will be run in March and April

• A final program review evaluation report will be presented to Cabinet by the end of the Spring semester