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College Communications

Reaffirmed!

Colleagues -

It is with great pleasure I notify you that today Bakersfield College received official news regarding our accreditation status. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) has taken action to “reaffirm accreditation” for Bakersfield College, without “warnings” or “sanctions.”

The full letter is available on the Bakersfield College Accreditation website. The letter includes descriptions of Bakersfield College’s eight recommendations, and the Kern Community College District’s five recommendations.

The letter specifically states: “Reaffirmation is granted when an institution is found to substantially meet or exceed the Eligibility Requirements.” This entire campus is to be congratulated.

In order to maintain this status, we are asked to submit a Follow-Up Report by October 15, which addresses the recommendations. Following submission of the report, a team of representatives from the ACCJC will visit the college to evaluate movement on the recommendations.

The accreditation process that assures quality in higher education through peer-review, I believe, works remarkably well, and our campus community has taken this seriously as we engaged in our self-evaluation work. This effort is embedded in the daily life of Bakersfield College, and is an ongoing commitment, not a reaction every six years to the accreditation process.

I thank the Accreditation Steering Committee and the Self Evaluation Committee for their hard work and leadership. The guidance of Kate Pluta, Bonnie Suderman, Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Becky Mooney, committee members, and the standards co-chairs is to be commended and recognized. 

I look forward to continuing our work and addressing the recommendations in preparation for the Follow-Up Report.

With Renegade pride and collegiality,

Sonya

A message as the new semester approaches - January 6, 2013

Dear BC Colleagues:

Happy new year 2013, the 100th year for Bakersfield College.

What an incredible time to be a Renegade! We carry with us a hundred years of excellence while leading the way on educational innovation and on creating learning environments for 21st century learners. We serve students who are often first generation, dislocated family breadwinners looking for new opportunities, recent high school graduates on their way to a four-year education, honors students and future scientists. We each have the responsibility to meet them where they are and to provide them with a Bakersfield College experience that moves them along their educational pathway to becoming critical thinkers and adaptive learners, whatever their goals may be.

Next week the Staff Development Coordinating Committee, under the leadership of Kimberly Hurd and Bonnie Suderman, has planned a series of learning opportunities for all of us. Working together under a theme of "Honoring our Past and Being Bold in the Future", a new slate of professional development workshops will be offered for January 15-18. These workshops will include presentations on BC History, "how-to" workshops on Web 2.0, DegreeWorks, CurricUNET, learning theory, and the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the 2013 Think Tank on writing in discipline areas. Make sure to register for these staff development opportunities on InsideBC (Luminis) under the Employee Tab.

Opening day is on January 11th. I look forward to seeing all of you pack the forum for our morning session from 8 to 10:30 a.m. with refreshments provided by CCA. As is our tradition, you will hear from the presidents of SGA, the Academic Senate, CCA, and CSEA. Also, as a post accreditation exercise, Kate Pluta and Jennifer Marden have been analyzing our institutional documents (the Strategic Plan, the Accreditation Self Evaluation, the Budget Criteria document, the Decision-Making Document, the Program Review Summary, and the Committee Co-Chairs Reports.) The level of overlap and convergence of items in the different documents is remarkable. I will be sharing the result of this effort that will form the basis of our collective institutional work. Please plan on attending.

The Centennial Celebration Committee is developing a year-long series of events which will bring the college closer to the community. The first major event will be Garden Fest 2013, and the celebration will continue through commencement in 2014. The committee, under the leadership of Amber Chiang, has prepared a variety of events and activities which will celebrate Bakersfield College's rich history of excellence.

I look forward to meeting you during flex week and reconnecting with colleagues and friends from our previous time together.

That's all for now?

With Renegade Pride and Collegiality

Sonya