Once again, Bakersfield College was visited by a team representing the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
The team was headed by Chancellor Jerome Hunter, from the North Orange County Community College District, to evaluate the progress BC has made in acting upon the recommendations that the team suggested to BC after reaffirming BC’s accredited status. BC was reaffirmed after the Oct. 23-26, 2006, visiting team’s report, and BC’s self-study report, were reviewed by the Commission. BC was then obligated to send the Commission a progress report by Oct. 15, 2007. BC had been informed in the Commission’s Jan. 31, 2007 letter of only district-wide recommendations; however, on March 22, 2007, the Commission sent BC an amended letter containing recommendations specific to BC, which indicated areas that needed improvement. Work on the recommendations began in late August 2007.
In recommendation 3, the accrediting team asked that the overall district-wide “strategic plan” be employed to control BC’s general aims and goals as well as requesting that BC develop and use its educational master plan.
In his summation in BC’s Fireside Room, Dr. Hunter commented that the educational master plan did not appear to be in current use; however, it appeared to him to be in a state of development.
Recommendation 1 addressed the many planning procedures.
This includes training on the implementation of information in “unit planning and program review.” This recommendation suggests fixing an implementation deadline.
Recommendation 4 was discussed in the Fireside Room by both faculty chairs and directors of council, and concerned installing firm communication lines between the areas of curriculum, program review, assessment, campus procedures and budget plans.
Furthermore, recommendation 4 states that BC should start an institutionalized way for conveying data on programs and budgets in an unobstructed manner. To this recommendation, Sue Vaughn, director of BC’s admissions and records department, who supervises mainly classified staff, stated that the “classified staff seems better informed now than they have been in the past.”
At the conclusion of the discussion of recommendation 4, Vice President of Academic Affairs Ed Knudson cautioned the attending faculty chairs to be very prudent in spending and to work in tight collaboration with their deans.
Recommendation 6 asked that BC institute a planning code that will competently address staffing requests.
This recommendation also states that BC must be flexible in regards to the shifts in service department demographics.
To recommendation 6, Andrews said that BC wants to “better mirror our student body population by individuals selected” for employment.
Most BC students understand that BC must receive and maintain an accredited status, or the classes they are taking will not transfer to other institutions.
Many BC students take it for granted that BC will never have a problem staying accredited; some students did not realize that there was an accrediting procedure that community colleges must undergo.
“I never gave it any thought really, but it makes sense to have a process like that,” said Michael Waite, 21, philosophy major. “We shouldn’t have a problem.”
“It never crossed my mind that BC would ever be considered not good enough to be accredited,” said Chris Munoz, 31, business administration and music major.
Belan Ortiz, 19, nursing major, mentioned that she knew of a California community college student who was attending a community college that was not accredited and was not able to transfer the credits from that college. She admitted she was horrified.
“BC better get accredited because I need to transfer,” said Victoria Beaudette, 23, business administration and economics major.
“I’m not taking all these Gen. Ed. classes for nothing!”