Addendum with evidence (8.2 MB) - Accreditation - Bakersfield ...

are providing one or more online courses throughout the state. The CVC list contains four four-year
institutions and eighteen California community colleges that collectively offer an associate degree in
48 different fields of study. 18 A chart of those programs can be found in the appendices. Another
source, Associate Degrees Online, identifies 78 different associate degrees that are available to
California residents from the various institutions that provide online instruction throughout the
United States. 19
Curricular Opportunities for Improvement and Expansion
With these labor market considerations as a backdrop, the College will be discussing new
instructional programs. In that regard, the general philosophy of the College is to focus on a limited
number of instructional programs and services that the College can do well. In the long run, there will
be a commitment to continue growing the College in ways that can be sustained.
On the transfer side of instruction, the emphasis is on developing articulation agreements
and implementing the SB 1440 transfer degree programs so that students can transfer with a minimal
loss of units. The College has four associate transfer degrees to date.
Over the years the College has been able to utilize grants to modernize classrooms, including
technology enhancements. In the recent past the College participated with CSU Bakersfield in a
cooperative federal grant targeted at improving instruction and student performance in the STEM
disciplines. In fall 2011 the College was awarded a Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) grant that
will be used to continue this work as well as to support curriculum design work in math basic skills.
Capital construction projects are currently being conceived to both improve instructional
facilities and to create a possibility for an enterprise operation. For example, the Theater building
will start construction in spring 2013 and has been designed with space that might be utilized for an
enterprise opportunity.
With respect to the basic skills courses, there is interest in consolidating the curriculum
where possible, and facilitating the students’ rapid completion of those foundational courses. Some
discussion has been occurring within the English and math faculty as to how students might be
accelerated through those offerings. English faculty piloted a compression strategy for some of their
courses offered in spring 2011 and have continued that approach in fall 2012. The College has a
new writing center that is open to all students, regardless of the courses they are taking. During the
fall 2011 term the center staff offered 1,200 30-minute coaching sessions in the center. The College
purchased the Pearson’s My Writing Lab software to provide diagnostic writing help to the students.
The center staff efforts, in combination with the software, are a “teach it on demand” approach to
composition basic skills instruction. The writing center is presently funded by basic skills money
from the State; however, if the evaluation of these efforts demonstrates successful outcomes, the
intention is to institutionalize the center and this approach. As part of the recently awarded
TAACCCT grant, Bakersfield College faculty will work to redesign delivery of basic skills
instruction. 20
On the CTE side of instruction, the focus is on continuing to offer programs that meet
community needs to help people find and retain employment or start successful businesses. The
TAACCCT grant will also focus health careers programs, particularly the LVN to RN program.
18
California Virtual Campus Programs Offered by College Retrieved November 17, 2011from http://www.cvc.org
19
Associate Degrees Online List of Participating Schools Retrieved November 17, 2011 from
http://www.associatedegreeonline.com
20
Grant Narrative Retrieved 1/22/12 from http://westhillscollege.com/district/about/partnerships/c6/taaccct/
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