- Thank you, all of you, for being here today.
We appreciate your time today and your continued time.
I have seen all of you over the last year
and a half participate and attend forums, attend meetings,
address questions.
So I appreciate all that you have done to this point
and I'm sure continue in the next month and a half at least.
So today we're here to talk about accreditation
and the mission and vision statement.
We're going to break this up into two.
We're going to start with the mission and vision,
revisit where we have gone in this last semester
and what we are now going to be proposing as another draft.
And then we will finish up with the accreditation
of what to expect in the upcoming weeks,
especially the week before and the week of.
But I will introduce your speaker for the mission
and vision today.
Dr. Fierro will be speaking on the mission and vision.
Also, we'll break for questions.
So you can ask some general questions
but if you have some overarching questions, bigger questions
when it comes to accreditation, we have a microphone up here.
Yes.
I can hear you fine.
But we are recording today as well for those who cannot
attend.
So if they want to watch us.
OK?
So if we need to, please address your questions in the mic.
Other than that, Dr. Fierro.
Welcome.
Thank you.
Good morning, everyone.
I hope my voice sounds better than Rick's now, or continues
to.
Well, first of all, I want to thank
everyone who participated on writing the accreditation
report.
I had the pleasure of reading the report a number of times,
from the beginning and all the way to the end.
And in the process, and every time
I had to read it from the beginning to the end,
but I feel very comfortable what we have described
about the college or processes.
And essentially, I feel the report really captures
what we do, what we're trying to do,
and where are we going into the future.
And it is an accurate reflection of the work we all do.
So I want to thank every single person that contributed
to writing the report, reviewing the report,
providing feedback on that report.
Because it truly is a very professional,
well put together that document that shows
what we do at Cerritos College.
Usually, as we read the report, I
think there are things that jump at us of, OK, it
will be nice to do these in the future.
But there is the purpose of these reports,
provide an opportunity for all of us
to reflect on what we've been doing, and based
on that reflection say, OK, we'd like to do this next.
So again, thank you for all of that work.
Now we embark on reviewing the mission
and vision of the institution.
And as you can see here, they had a couple
of definitions of what a mission should have,
what the vision should have, and what
the values of an organization should reflect.
We have gone through an extensive process doing this,
taking in consideration every aspect
of the definition of a mission, vision, and values.
During this process, we had a campus survey
in which we received quite a bit of feedback.
The survey was open for about three weeks.
Then we had a couple of open forums
in which a lot of feedback also was received
that contribute to shaping the version of the mission, vision,
and statements that I will show you in a second.
It has been reviewed by the Faculty Senate,
by ASCC, Planning & Budget, Coordinating,
and the Board of Trustees.
So essentially, everyone on campus
who wanted to participate on this process
had the opportunity to do so.
As we went through the process and through the feedback,
one of the things that we notice is the modifications
were small, which is not necessarily bad.
It is good that we still feel connected
to our current mission and vision,
and that we are making progress to maintain
it relevant according to all needs of all the students.
So this is their latest draft of our mission statement.
And as you see, maintains the overall structure of
or previous one, but becomes a little more aggressive
as to our position as an educational institution.
It becomes a little more aggressive
by making pretend that we're make
or will make all the students or help
all the students be competitive in the global community.
I think this is a very good step in the right direction.
And it's very simple.
Most of our students are going to encounter individuals
from many, many backgrounds, multiple nationalities,
whether they stay here or they decide to go elsewhere,
and becoming global and understanding
a global perspective obviously is
something that will give our students an advantage.
So I'll give you a second to read that.
And if you have any questions, you could us now or to the end
once we break for questions.
This is a draft, the latest draft of our vision statement.
And demonstrates a very determined focus
on continuously work on closing the persistent equity gaps.
And when you're talking about that,
it's ensuring that all the students, every student,
is able to perform at the same level.
And what that means is that the highest level of performance
in all the institution.
So we are committed, obviously, to support
learning opportunities, services, that lead
to closing those equity gaps.
Our core values, they continue to demonstrate
that Cerritos College is a student-centered institution
continue to demonstrate our commitment to inclusion,
to equity, to diversity, and to support
for comprehensive curricular offerings
as we have been doing.
So again, I'll give you a minute to read this one.
And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Or you can write them down and wait for the break.
So again, we have the same schedule
for continue and reviewing the mission statement.
So we are here today in an open forum.
Hopefully, by 11th, everything continues to go well,
goes to Faculty Senate, then planning a budget.
So on, until we get to April 15 board meeting.
We are planning to do our bars to meet all of those deadlines.
But obviously, we don't want to stifle the discussion.
So if the discussion is robust, the feedback
continues to come on and so on, there
is room, of course, to try to accommodate
different deadlines.
But these are our target deadlines and what
we hope to be able to meet.
But we do not want to put timelines
ahead of meeting the actual needs of the campus.
So now, we're moving into our accreditation process.
- I wonder if you want to close this
with questions for this area?
- Oh, sure.
- Sorry.
Any questions about mission, vision?
- Could you go to the microphone, please?
Thank you, Miya.
- For those of you who just arrived,
we are recording this for those groups today, any constituents
with within or outside of the campus who want to view this.
It will be on the website.
- Good morning.
- My question is for the value statements.
Will our service excellence focus
be included under the values?
Or is this list solid?
Is it done?
- No.
The list is not solid.
As I said, we're continuing to work all the way
through April 15.
So you're making a very good point.
We'll take note of that and add it
within the items for discussion.
So thank you for bringing it up.
- OK.
Thanks.
- Thank you.
Carol?
No.
I thought you raised your hand.
Sorry?
Any other questions?
- April.
- April?
- On our current mission page on the website,
I've noticed that there's additional items, including
educational philosophy and commitment.
Have those been discussed to change
as well with the change in the mission and vision statement?
Or are those to remain the same?
- Say again.
Repeat.
- So on the web page for the mission statement,
we have our mission, vision, and values.
Underneath, there's also listed educational philosophy
and commitment.
- Oh.
- Will the educational philosophy and commitment also
be changing?
- That's a great question.
So we approached the mission and vision statements solely.
So those extra statements were not
part of the original survey, nor were they ever brought up
in the last four months.
So we can look at them again and bring that back.
Maybe we should look at that as we move forward
in the upcoming months?
- And I was wondering, also, if we could go back
to the vision statement.
So the vision statement read, Cerritos College
will provide innovative learning opportunities.
And so, as Faculty Senate president,
I'm just curious about providing these innovative learning
opportunities, is this something that the district will provide?
Or that faculty will provide?
How is this going to be resourced?
And I guess, how are we allocating funds to this?
- Well, the district is all of us.
So we are not independent entities
separated from the district.
So faculty, classified, managers, board of trustees,
the community, we are all the district.
So the expectation is that if we commit to a vision statement,
as a district, it's our job, all of our jobs.
That's why the input from everyone is required.
My hope is as we all commit to it,
this has an impact in our budget allocation process,
meaning as we allocate resources,
we realign our goals and our direction
with our mission vision statement
and trying to achieve that.
So the expectation is yes, that we'll have an input.
Who is responsible?
All of us.
- And I'd request that we actually
do look at the commitment statement
and perhaps review it for a couple of reasons.
One is that it indicates that one of our main--
how we achieve our goals is a strongly supportive instruction
in basic skills.
And so I know with AB705, we're moving a little bit away
from that.
And also, it talks about technologically advanced
educational community.
And so I'd like to see us talk about how we do that.
- Good points.
- Thank you.
- Valencia?
- I have more of a process question.
So as this process is continuing and different areas are
doing planning or other things, trying to make sure
we're aligned.
How do you recommend we be nimble
to make sure that we're aligning--
being mindful of our previous statements
but also trying to think forward.
Good question.
And I think until we go to our next cycle,
we will have to continue to operate
with our current processes.
It will take us a full cycle to be able to realign everything
once this is approved.
So once we approve here, it will be April.
And many of your unit plans have been
already developed, and so on.
So we will have about a year in which
all this different adjustments, we'll make, will take place.
During that year, and April brought up
a very good point with the teaching philosophy and all
that.
I think at that point, we'll be good to look
at all those definitions on the statement
and see if they continue to support whatever new mission
and vision we have.
So that will give us about a year of transition.
The other part with that is as you look at the drives
that we have here today and the current vision and mission,
there are some changes but they are not drastic changes
on the core of what we do.
So I believe a year should be enough time
to make those transitions.
In the event that we make drastic changes,
we will have to develop, obviously,
a timeline to potentially do the changes over a period of two
years or depending of how the changes may be.
But I think this one first year, we'll
continue to plan as we have it.
Any other questions?
So once again, mission, vision, and the core
values, they are not final.
We are hoping to finish them by April.
But they are not final.
So as you look at them, read them again, over and over
again, and talk to people.
If there is something that is missing,
if there is something that needs to be changed,
something that isn't quite transmitting
the message that we want to transmit to our students
and to the community, bring it forward.
There is plenty of time to do that.
And if the conversation need to be extended a little bit,
we'll extend it.
We just need to make sure that what we adopt
is something that we actually believe in.
If we don't believe in our mission and our vision,
it will make it very difficult for us to set a direction as we
go into the future.
So now, we are moving into accreditation.
And I will bring back to the stage Rick Miranda.
- Thank you.
So I'd like to start with an acknowledgment.
I have acknowledged all of you.
And I will continue to acknowledge
the efforts of the campus, everybody, regardless
of constituent group.
We all come together to do this.
But I also like to acknowledge a few key people in this process
as well.
Shawna Baskette served as the manager,
coordinating the bulk of the ISER and the logistics,
and the late nights and long weekends and helping out.
Also she cannot be with us today,
but I also want to acknowledge the support and continued work
of Dr. Michelle Llewellyn.
She also helped tremendously in all the efforts as well.
And also, as we went through multiple drafts,
we had Chad Greene continue to work
until the last moments of it before we sent it to ACCJC,
in editing, making suggestions, reading for consistency,
bringing multiple voices together.
Because we all have multiple voices.
We write differently.
We present differently.
And Chad deserves a round of applause as well.
[APPLAUSE]
So thank you again, all of you who
have had the opportunity to read, add, write,
continue to support when we knock
on your door for information.
But again, the team of Shawna, Michelle, and Chad,
I can't thank them enough.
So what is accreditation?
Essentially, it boils down to a mirror.
It was a mirror for all of us to look
at what do we do on this campus, how do we do it,
are we doing it well.
And to reflect and find where our gaps are,
it's also a gap analysis.
So accreditation, primary process
by which colleges and universities in the US assure
improved educational quality.
Provides assurance that students are receiving the education
with a set standard.
And the colleges accredited status assures students easier
transfer.
Our mission is to transfer to the workforce
or transfer, matriculate, to a four-year institution,
or just maybe take a class because they need to
and they want to for their own personal growth.
So this is what the accreditation will do,
are meant to do.
Now many of you have been part of this entire timeline.
Spring 2018, organization of the work.
Fall, writing the draft.
By spring, writing draft two.
By fall, again, final review.
This was pretty aggressive.
We moved very quickly.
It was well laid out.
Again, the team reviewed, the campus reviewed these timelines
and we met the timelines with not much change.
We were always within just a couple weeks
of where we needed to be.
So again, that's to your efforts and the team's efforts
of where we were at.
So what is the purpose of today?
Many of you have written parts of the ISER,
read parts of the ISER, continue to supply?
The purpose of today as not to go over the ISER itself,
but to inform you of what to expect in the upcoming weeks,
especially the week before and the week of the site visit.
So the site visit will be February 24 through 27.
The 24th through the 27th.
But there is still work to be done.
We have received requests for some information.
It's ongoing.
And the week before, we will continue to receive requests.
So we'll get to that little bit more, the timeline.
If you have not seen the entire ISER in its complete form,
it is here on the web page of the--
you see it, www.cerritos.edu /accreditation/2020.
And you can download the entire ISER there to have.
I would recommend that you do have it downloaded and easily
accessible.
Review, if needed, some parts.
If you are asked to meet with an accreditation team,
review your parts.
They'll all.
All right?
But it is here.
So how does the process work?
ACCJC utilizes a peer review.
So you tend to have, as a team, you
have Vice President of Instruction,
Business Services, HR.
You will have Faculty Senate, faculty
classified representation.
ACCJC themselves will send, usually,
one of their vice presidents along for the site
visit now, as well.
In the past, they did not.
But they will have the vice president on hand,
and a chair which is a president of another district
at this time.
So they'll use a peer review process.
And the peer review is they will go through training.
It's a norming process between all the site visiting teams.
It's seasonal, fall and spring.
They come together.
They go through, what are standards,
how to read standards, and, more importantly,
not to evaluate things that are not on standards.
That is the challenge.
Some of us, some of you, have been on earlier teams
where we would go down paths that
don't address the standard.
So now the training includes for the peer review team
to really focus on what is the standard,
ask questions for the standard, review the standard with us,
and that is it.
So that is kind of a goal these days.
During the site visit, the team will
meet with any and all of us.
So employees review evidence as part of the college's ISER.
Now they have that now.
And the way the current ISERs are written,
it is somewhat of a desk audit for the most part.
I believe all but Chad up here has served
on teams within the last year.
And it really should read as a desk audit.
But now that he's done that, we'll recommend you.
- Oh, thanks.
- As a desk audit, you're supposed
to be able to go through and find the evidence, the linked
evidence.
And look for and, dare I say, nearly complete
a draft of where you believe that campus is at before they
even step onto the campus.
All right?
That is important for them to know
what they're going to ask for and where
we may have a gap or a question that they
want addressed as they visit.
So that's kind of the approach these days.
So they review the evidence, ask for more evidence.
Write a team report, recommendations,
lastly to ACCJC.
Now remember, they are a recommending body.
That is what this team is.
It is a recommending body that goes back to the Commission
at ACCJC to act upon any recommendations that--
or consider recommendations in which the team would bring.
So who is the team?
We thought it's important that you start
to recognize who the team is.
Also in front of you, there should be a--
I say one-pager, but it's two sides but it's still one page.
On the backside are a little bit of who
the individuals are and quickly what their title and role is.
So we have our chair Dr. Kathleen Rose.
She is the President Superintendent
from Gavilan College.
The assistant, I think, is key as well, Ms. Sidney LaRose.
Assistance, for those of you who have been on teams
or been around, they are the ones
who will more than likely be calling, running around,
finding us, making sure the team is receiving what they need,
both from snacks, meetings, scheduling meetings, more
information.
So more than often, that is our main point of contact.
- From experience, if you run into the assistant
give them what they want, on time.
Treat them well.
Because they have more influence than you
think of what the final outcome of that report is.
They are putting all the pieces together.
They are connecting every single part that comes to them
and checking for consistency and standards.
So between the person leading the team and the assistant,
that's where most of the final outcome comes from.
But the assistant has a tremendous amount
of influence on organizing and structure in that report based
on the feedback that is received by the team members.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- Also, ACCJC Staff Liaison, Senior Vice President Dr.
Stephanie Droker.
That title has changed in the last week and a half,
last week.
She is now the President of ACCJC.
She has been promoted.
And I say that is a great thing because she has brought
a lot of change to the process.
And I am hopeful of her continued kind of approach
of change to make the process more
in-line with national standards.
Mark.
- Quick question.
Is it by design that the assistant and the chair
are from the same college, or is that just a coincidence?
- Design.
- OK.
So that's the way it typically is,
they're in the same college.
- Yeah.
I've never been a chair.
Obviously Dr. Fierro has.
But the chair has the final report
that they send, essentially, in their name.
And having that assistant there pulls it all together.
So it is a team between those individuals before the visit,
during the visit, and then after.
- I'd like to respond to that as well.
In the last visit that I was on, the assistant actually
was from a different college, but prior
to that employment, had worked with the chair.
So they were from the same college.
But the chair wanted that assistant to help her.
- We also had Mr. Sam Aunai, Vice President
of Education Services from West Hills Coalinga College.
And I think just within the last couple of weeks,
he went back to Porterville as well.
Been a slight change.
Stephanie Curry, Academic Senate President,
Librarian from Reedley.
Dr. Denise Bailey, Associate Professor,
Department Chair Santiago Canyon College, so just down
the road from us, down the freeway in Orange County.
Dr. James Patterson, Professor of English
from Imperial Valley.
Ms. Jennifer Tejada, Professor of Communication Studies
from Diablo Valley College.
And Dr. Elizabeth Coria, Associate
Vice Chancellor of Student Services,
City College of San Francisco.
Mr. Jacob Kevari, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness,
Moreno Valley College.
And Ms. Russi Egan, Vice President
of Administrative Services, Lake Tahoe Community College.
So, as I already mentioned, we have
been receiving some requests from the admin support, Lydia
LeRose, for information that comes to my office.
Thank you.
I also have to thank Julie Moon.
Julie has helped with a lot of the logistics, organization,
and continue to supply information through my office
to the visiting team.
So thank you, Julie.
So what to expect?
Well, the week before, the team liaison
sent a compiled lists of requests.
This will be the final list.
So on the 18th of February, we will receive a final list
of what they're asking for.
Now final's a funny word.
Because they can continue to ask for information when
they arrive.
But this is our final prep to have them have
in hand before their arrival.
OK?
So they will also, in these last few these days
of the week coming up, tell us who they want to meet with.
It is our responsibility to reach out to you all, whoever
you may be, in this room or outside of this room,
to schedule the meetings.
So please, please, please make yourself available
not only the week of, but the week prior if Julie's
contacting you.
Because we're trying to schedule the meeting times.
I'm not saying you're all called.
We don't know yet.
But we won't know to the week before.
OK?
I will also, in those last few days,
pull together any information that we
need that they're requesting.
So not only be responsive to scheduling
requests, but any information if we need it.
Because we have to get it all done the week prior.
We don't receive it any sooner.
The requests come that week.
Schedule the meetings, provide the last bit of evidence
in which they're asking for.
The week of, Monday, the team comes in on Sunday, actually.
They have working conference rooms
at the hotel in which they're staying.
They're staying there.
They do not arrive on our campus Monday morning.
But they will arrive at a 3:00 PM team
arrival and campus tour.
So they will be here in the afternoon for a tour.
Tuesday and Wednesday are their long days
on campus, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, they will be on campus.
Notice they have two forums on these days.
This is different between teams.
Sometimes there's a meet and greet on the first day.
And they may have one forum.
And then a closing forum.
Or they will have a closing.
But this team is asking for two open forums for them to--
I'm assuming-- hear your questions, hear your comments,
hear some concerns if you have them.
I don't know if they're going to be providing information
to us at that time.
Doubtful.
Because they're reports are not public at that time.
And their individual reports and comments
will have to be collected by the chair and then a final report.
So they do not tend to report out singular comments.
But it's mostly for, if you want to be there,
if you have any questions, or bring anything up.
So those will be on those days.
So Tuesday and Wednesday is the times in which they asked.
And then on Thursday at 1:00 PM, an exit report.
That exit report is, typically, they
come into the room with the entire team.
The Chair will make some comments.
Thank you all, basically make the statements
of where the strengths they have seen
for the campus and potentially some things
that we can improve on.
And then they leave with no discussion.
No discussion.
That is their comments.
Here you go.
Thank you.
And they leave merely immediately to their cars.
All right.
Any questions so far?
- Oh, just real quick.
Do we pay a fee to the ACCJC for all this?
- Yes, we do.
- How much is it?
- I think average year, we pay like $30,000
and we cover all costs of their visit, everything.
- Great question.
An accountant's question.
- So on the forums, they're one-way only.
So when you go on the first two, when I Chaired,
I hosted only one forum on the last one.
It's only one-way, meaning when you come in, you're the public,
you talk, and they say pretty much nothing
or follow up questions.
The exit wound is only one way.
But it's only this direction.
Say, whatever we found or didn't, thank everyone,
and literally you're escorted to your car
and leave campus immediately.
[QUIET LAUGHTER]
- So these last three bullets, I pretty much already
made comments to.
Please be prepared anytime between now and the visit,
but especially also within the last couple of days leading up
to the visit.
Because we will receive an updated request
lists, and then also to attend meetings.
Please, if you've been part of a team,
writing team or the leadership of a team,
please plan on attending at least one of the forums.
Those of you who have not had the opportunity
to make any of our forums, and you have comments,
please plan on attending as well.
We're looking for the entire campus
to participate if they so choose.
And again, attend the team's final exit meeting.
Now, a little bit more housekeeping.
Where will the team be housed?
We spent time touring the campus, walking around.
Looking out on Auto Partners, it was too far out,
looking here and there.
And I have to thank the CTX, Chad Greene.
He looked at the schedule and said they could accommodate.
The CTX is a prime spot.
It's in the middle of campus.
There are private facilities nearby.
There are small conference rooms nearby.
There is a small conference room within CTX themselves.
They have access to computers, printers,
everything is pretty much there.
All CTX staff will be moved out for that week.
There will be no trainings, no seminars,
and no staff within the CTX.
That room is 100% only occupied by the visiting team.
So I'll let you know.
Any comments from Shawna or Chad?
- Since there's some time, I thought
it might be interesting for people
to know a little bit more about the academic backgrounds
for the visiting team.
Can you go back to the first slide?
So just briefly, the Chair, Dr. Kathleen Rose,
her academic background is in psychology
and organizational leadership.
And she, according to her bio, still teaches classes
to this day in psychology and organizational leadership.
She's also a certified counselor and has been
a private therapist as well.
She does keynote speaking and has spoken and provided
workshops on leadership development,
organizational change, ethics, and women's leadership skills.
So she seems like an all around very interesting person.
The assistant, Sydney LaRose, her background
is in Career Services.
She was a career counseling faculty.
And she's been a director of career services in the past.
Before her current role as director of research, planning,
and institutional effectiveness.
The next one.
Sam-- I'm not going to pronounce his name right--
Aunai, he is basically Rick's equivalent,
I believe, on his college.
And his instructional background is in political science.
Stephanie Curry, she is the librarian
as it states and the Academic Senate president.
She's also the Guided Pathways coordinator on her campus, too.
And then Dr. Denise Bailey, she is the chemistry chair
on her campus.
Then the next slide.
Dr. James Patterson he is a professor of English
and also theater arts and film studies.
In the past, he has been the Faculty Accreditation
Coordinator.
So he performed Michelle Lewellen's role on his campus.
He's been a department chair.
He has been in the past a Senate president.
And he was also the Interim Dean of Arts Letters and Learning
Services.
Jennifer Tejada is currently both a Professor
of Communication Studies, But currently, she
is serving as the Interim Dean of the San Ramone Campus
of Diablo Valley College.
Dr. Elizabeth Coria, her background is in financial aid.
So right now, she is the Associate Vice Chancellor
of Student Services at City College of San Francisco.
So she has oversight of all student services program.
But in the past, she has been a Dean of Financial Aid
and she was a Director of Financial Aid at Rio Hondo,
so just up the street from us.
Mr. Jacob Kevari, his academic background is in economics.
And he also taught at Rio Hondo College.
- And Cerritos.
- And Cerritos?
Oh, wow.
I didn't see that.
Russi Egan is the Vice President of Administrative Services.
So she's Philippe's counterpart at her college.
Is that the last of them?
- That's it.
Thank you.
- That's-- I just wanted to add that because I found it to be
interesting for people, if you have some similar areas,
to connect with the visiting team.
- Thank you.
Good job.
Also, so again, that one-pager, the one-sheeter
you have in front of you, I pointed out the quick bio,
if you will, that was there.
But on the other side, Guide to Successful Accreditation Visit,
please take a look at what these are.
They are basically points to think about,
how are we doing, review section of ISER
that you're most relevant to, your area.
If requested, collect additional information.
Introduce yourself.
Smile, a handshake go a long way.
You don't need to memorize the mission statement.
But please do have this around.
If you need quick contacts, if you're
asked questions you don't know, there
is a list of individuals who you should reach out for.
Because typically, it's going to be for information or people.
That's why Julie's first on this.
She will put you in contact, and so on and so forth.
Be prepared to brag.
We do a fantastic job here.
I think sometimes we forget that because we're
caught in the middle of this forest, at times,
and we're not able to pull back and see
what a great place this is.
So stop, evaluate, brag, because we deserve it,
our students deserve it.
Refer to standards.
Please keep that in mind.
It is a visit to look at the standards.
Attend the following events.
And what happens to college that does not meet?
We shouldn't even have that there.
We're going to meet.
We're in good standings.
Thank you, Shawna, for putting that together as well.
Are there any questions or any last comments
from Dr. Fierro after questions?
Lisa?
- So can we expect the team to stop by in classes
or come to meetings like Faculty Senate?
Or is that just really up to them?
That's my question.
- So I will tell you my experience.
And I think they can tell you yours.
Typically we will reach out to the campus as a team
and ask who we want to meet with, provide that.
Or it's kind of an on-the-spot meeting.
Hey, can-- we're looking for.
We'll provide that person that information
to you almost immediately.
You go and meet.
So it's pretty organic that way.
They will have the set.
And they will be the organic meetings as well that
could be the one-offs quickly.
Then on top of that, though, I was offered,
hey, we're going to have this--
I think it was a chairs council meeting
in which my counterpart, the Vice President at that campus,
also attends.
She goes, would you like to watch?
Would you like to come in?
And they introduced me.
And I just sat quietly and listened.
I did not see anybody attend classes in the groups when
we had tours.
We would look in a window and smile
and just see what's happening.
But we did not interrupt any courses.
That is my experience.
Any other questions?
Any closing remarks?
Dr. Fierro?
- Again, thank you everyone.
As Rick mentioned, feel free to brag.
There is a lot of good work that goes on.
And it is recognition of our work
what needs to be represented there.
Are things that we can do better?
Absolutely.
But those of not overshadowing the work that we do.
So our goal is to get high marks in our accreditation,
to solidify and continue to move our level of excellence.
So these are a reflection on the work that we do.
So feel free to showcase it.
Many times. you run into the accreditation team on campus.
If they ask you, overshare.
Right?
If you think it's something that needs to be highlighted,
highlight it.
At least in my experience, when I chaired, I walked campus.
And people talk to you so.
You're not necessarily looking for anything.
But sometimes those things lead to commendations
or to highlights or a list of good comments
and good references of the experience that everyone had.
So embrace what we have done, embrace
the work that is being done everywhere,
and continue to take pride on our campus.
This is essentially what accreditation is for.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
All right.
Thank you all for being here.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
And if you have any questions, please
continue to ask questions of us.
We'll be happy to answer them in the upcoming weeks.