Summary
Client: City Colleges of Chicago (CCC)
Partner: Slalom
Project: A strategy engagement to help City Colleges of Chicago define what “service excellence” means for its frontline student services and identify the changes needed to deliver it consistently across all seven colleges.
Outcome: A shared definition of service excellence and a prioritized set of recommendations to achieve it, helping CCC build the foundation to reach its goal of 90% student satisfaction. Grounded in analysis of student feedback data, staff interviews, and a stakeholder workshop across all seven colleges, it delivers a current-state assessment, a working definition of service excellence, and a sequenced implementation plan with project charters and a governance structure.
Opportunity
City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) serves 74,000 students across seven colleges and is one of the city's most important pathways to economic mobility. In March 2026, CCC released Forward, Together, its 2026-2030 strategic plan, centered on a 55 for All goal: by 2032, 55% of credential-seeking students across all groups will earn a degree or certificate or transfer to a bachelor's degree-granting institution within four years, which CCC estimates would transform 5,300 more lives by 2032.
To get there, the plan commits CCC to provide unrivaled, holistic student supports and the highest-quality instruction and curriculum across every pathway. A component of these high-quality student supports includes a commitment to service excellence across every student-facing service, with a target of 90% student satisfaction.With a clear, measurable target in its strategic plan, CCC needed to define what service excellence looks like in practice and what it would take to deliver it. CCC asked CCA and pro bono partner Slalom to help set those standards and chart the practical steps to meet them consistently.
Action
CCA and Slalom assessed the current state of priority student services and worked with CCC stakeholders to define and operationalize service excellence in line with the strategic plan.
Discover: The CCA team analyzed multiple data sources (compliments and complaints, student services appointment feedback, and Net Promoter Scores) and interviewed district and college staff to map current practices, pain points, and bright spots across admissions, financial aid, and advising.
Design: Slalom led research on service-excellence principles and facilitated a workshop with stakeholders from all seven colleges and the district office to draft a shared definition of service excellence, validate the key themes, and surface opportunities to improve.
Deliver: The team synthesized the findings into a current-state summary, a working definition of service excellence, and prioritized recommendations organized in three areas (strengthen organizational alignment, invest in the people who deliver the service, and build a connected service ecosystem) plus draft project charters and a sequenced implementation plan.
Photos courtesy of City Colleges of Chicago
“Through our partnership with Civic Consulting Alliance, Slalom’s people bring their skills pro bono to the organizations that make Chicago stronger. Helping City Colleges turn service excellence into a concrete, student-focused plan is exactly that kind of work, and it will make a real difference for Chicago students looking to build a successful career.”
Impact
“Our strategic plan outlines an ambitious goal of serving our students with excellence, and Civic Consulting Alliance and Slalom helped us build a practical roadmap to achieve this standard. Our work together will ensure every Chicagoan who comes to us is welcomed with care and receives the support they need to thrive.”
Service excellence is essential to an exceptional student experience. This project will serve as the foundation as we build a culture of service excellence across all functions. This project prioritized three departments, including admissions, advising, and financial aid – critical offices in supporting students’ enrollment, persistence, and ability to pay for college, ultimately impacting credential attainment. This project supports City College’s capacity to deliver on its commitment to build an exceptional student experience and advance a culture of excellence.
City Colleges came away with a common language for service excellence and a concrete, prioritized roadmap to deliver it. The engagement also gave CCC a governance structure (a core implementation team, an advisory council, and initiative-based task forces) to carry the work forward through the life of the strategic plan.
The City Colleges team was left with a set of assets: a summary of relevant research; a current-state assessment; a shared definition of service excellence; prioritized recommendations across alignment, people, and systems; and project charters with a sequenced implementation timeline.
The shared definition and prioritized roadmap give City Colleges a standard its staff can align around and a sequence of concrete initiatives, several already scheduled to begin, to make excellent service the norm across all campuses.
