Chris Gray, Ph.D.
Founding President, Erie County Community College of Pennsylvania
In 2022, Erie County Community College introduced its first strategic plan. It was a blueprint for launching a brand-new community college, a rare undertaking in higher education. The plan focused on five pillars that guided every major decision in our early years: access, student success, academic excellence, partnerships, and workforce innovation.
Those pillars have served EC3 well. They reinforced our commitment to student success and provided the structure needed to expand our academic offerings. We started with only three programs. Today, we offer more than twenty programs, all aligned with the workforce needs of Erie County.
The initial plan also laid the foundation for deep, meaningful partnerships across the region. EC3 now works closely with employers, community organizations, training experts, and economic development leaders. More than fifty companies have representatives on our advisory committees, helping ensure our curriculum reflects the realities of Erie County's workforce and the opportunities available in the region.
Despite our careful planning, however, the 2022 strategic plan could not fully anticipate the sheer volume of behind-the-scenes work required to build a college from the ground up.
Creating a new community college means creating everything:
- Developing and approving institutional policies
- Selecting campus locations across the county
- Building technology systems to support instruction, finance, enrollment, and student services
- Navigating the Pennsylvania Department of Education, a system built primarily for long-established colleges
True startups in higher education are rare. Much of what we encountered was new to everyone involved. There was no established roadmap for building a modern community college, so we were creating processes and infrastructure while simultaneously serving students.
With several years of experience behind us, the 2025 to 2030 strategic plan reflects both our growth and our clarity about what EC3 needs to thrive.
Many core priorities remain. The new plan continues to focus on four broad areas:
- Student access
- Student success
- Academic excellence
- Strengthening partnerships
These commitments remain central to EC3's mission. Students come first, and the community remains at the heart of everything we do. That will not change.
This time around, however, we are broadening our horizons. A major addition to the new plan is a focus on scaling for organizational growth. This priority acknowledges the operational work needed to support a growing institution.
Scaling for growth includes strengthening systems, improving infrastructure, expanding staffing as needed, and building internal processes that allow the college to operate efficiently as enrollment and program offerings increase. By highlighting this need as a strategic priority, EC3 ensures that we continue to grow thoughtfully and sustainably, maintaining quality and stability while expanding our impact across Erie County.
Another important change in this plan is the ability to set clear objectives and measurable targets. With four full years of data, we can create goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These SMART goals guide our work with precision.
We will continue to make decisions based on numbers as we move forward. Being data-driven has always been central to EC3's philosophy because data tells us how programs are performing, where students need additional support, and where workforce gaps exist in Erie County. It helps us measure success honestly and make decisions grounded in evidence rather than assumption.
The new strategic plan reflects this approach. It is focused on students, built on data, shaped by community needs, and designed to ensure that EC3 continues to provide Erie County with a talented and well-trained workforce while helping students achieve their educational and career goals.
These next five years are going to be exciting! Where EC3's first strategic plan established a foundation for a brand-new community college, the 2025 to 2030 plan builds on that foundation with a forward-looking vision grounded in experience and community partnership.
We are still a young institution, but we are no longer a startup learning as we go. We are a college with momentum, confidence, a vision, and a strategic plan designed for long-term growth and success as we live our student-centered mission.
Our community. Your college.
