Wednesday Message From Ed Bonahue

October 17, 2012

Dear Everyone,

With our SACS site visit less than two weeks away, I wanted to send everyone a couple of reminders of some important resources and ideas to bear in mind.

SACS Reminder #1
In my recent visits to the faculty units, I've been asked what we can all do to prepare for the SACS visit. One of the most important things I think we can do is be mindful of the College Mission. The mission statement was revised in 2010 to make it more comprehensive and to better address our specific mission of teaching and service to the community, but it still has the visionary statement of "adding value to the lives of our students and enriching our community" at its core. If it's been a while since you've looked at the Mission, the College values, and the College goals, this would be a good time to refresh your memory.

SACS Reminder #2
In addition to checking our compliance with the Principles for Accreditation, the upcoming site visit will also be our first chance to get feedback on our Quality Enhancement Plan or QEP, "Navigating the College Experience." As you know, the basic elements of this plan will be to implement an academic early warning system that will provide for early intervention with students showing signs of being academically at risk, and to launch an ongoing, personalized, and progressive advising system that will help students take ownership of their own educational goals and stay on track to completion. If you haven't taken a look at the QEP website recently (including its new video features), please do before our visitors arrive. (Again, they'll be visiting us on campus from Monday the 29 until Wednesday the 31.)

Thanks to all, and I'll see you soon.
–Ed