About

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Berkeley City College is central to maintaining the social and economic health of the northern Alameda County through its certificates, degrees, and workforce and transfer preparation.

As an open access institution, BCC addresses the needs of a diverse population of learners with vastly varying levels of academic preparation.  Assisting the underprepared student to attain the pre-transder skills needed to succeed in college-level work is a core function of BCC.

Excitedly, via the Basic Skills Initiative (BSI), a state-funded initiative aimed at effectively addressing equity and success for pre-transfer students, BCC has made significant strides for our students and community.

At BCC we have a Five-Year Plan to meet certain conditions in the areas of institutional administration, classroom practices, integrated student services and community relations.

Each year the college faculty, staff, and administration reviews pre-transfer student progress and provides an annual plan of our coordinated effort to better serve students with pre-transfer level English, ESL, and mathematics skills.

In fall 2014, the BSI team, a working group of the Education Committee met to understand updated data resources and collaborate to devise a plan for the school year. Our discussion included instructional and counseling faculty, student services and instruction staff and administrators, and students:

  • Antonio Barreiro, Dean of Instruction
  • Maeve Katherine Bergman, Director of Special Projects and CTE/BSI Coordinator
  • Laurie Brion, ESL Chair/Faculty
  • Lydia Bouzida, BCC Bookstore Manager
  • Dr. May Chen, Vice President of Student Services
  • Dr. Carlos Cortez, Dean of Instruction
  • Dr. Loretta Kane, English Faculty, TEACH Coordinator, Learning Resource Center Faculty Advisor
  • Jennifer Lowood,  English Department Chair/Faculty, Chair of Department Chairs’ Council, Curriculum Committee Chair, Learning Resource Center Writing Coach Advisor, ACCJC Accreditation Co-Chair, Assessment Coordinator, and Planning for Institutional Effectiveness Committee Chair
  • Kelly Pernell, Mathematics Department Chair/Faculty
  • Chris Lebo-Planas, English Faculty and PERSIST/PERSIST to College Learning Communities Coordinator
  • Christina L. Taing, Learning Community Counselor
  • Dr. Vanessa Vega, Researcher
  • Tram Vo-Kumamoto, Vice President of Instruction
  • Gabe Winer, English Faculty, TLC/PD Coordinator
  • Hermia Yam, Counseling Faculty and SSSP Lead
  • Allene Young-Hegler, Counseling Chair/Faculty and Career Counselor

We are delighted this discourse continued in our Equity Plan and Report working groups, particularly the pre-transfer and ESL core indicator team:

  • Maeve Katherine Bergman, Director of Special Projects and CTE/BSI Coordinator
  • Laurie Brion, ESL Chair/Faculty
  • Lydia Bouzida, BCC Bookstore Manager
  • Chris Lebo-Planas, English Faculty and PERSIST/PERSIST to College Learning Communities Coordinator
  • Cleavon Smith, Academic Senate President and English Faculty

For the latest details on our progress, please browse through our most recent BSI plan, and prior plans.

BCC 2014 EOY BSI ReportGoalsAction Exp Plan

BCC 2013 EOY BSI ReportGoalsAction Exp Plan