Letter from President Garcia

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

January 27, 2023

Dear Berkeley City College Community –

Berkeley City College is proud to announce that on Thursday, January 26, I received communication from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACCJC, or the Commission) reaffirming accreditation for Berkeley City College and our sister colleges in the Peralta Community College District.

The news validates the rewarding, and at times difficult, work BCC’s administration, faculty, and classified staff have committed to since PCCD was placed under “Probation” status by the ACCJC in January 2020. It has been an honor to work with such dedicated colleagues throughout the BCC and PCCD community. Over the past 3 years, we have engaged in extensive work to support the District in correcting the deficiencies and non-compliance issues from the Commission. Through our participatory governance processes, we have kept this work moving forward and transparent in our regular engagement with the broader BCC community.

Berkeley City College students continue to be the beneficiaries of this work and the results are evident with increased enrollment and persistence in the wake of the pandemic, increased transfer and degrees awarded to students from the region’s most historically minoritized communities, and the expansion of BCC’s operations in staffing and services offered. BCC’s commitment to equitable student completion has been persistent over this period, and the college’s future is bright. The Commission’s decision affords greater attention to students and outcomes, including the work of addressing the ACCJC Site Visit team’s recommendation for improvement in self-evaluation of our governance and the use of disaggregated data in our decision-making. Institutional effectiveness is an iterative process, and we will remain steadfast in our accreditation work. I look forward to building upon this success in our midterm report to the ACCJC on March 15, 2025.

I would like to thank everyone in our BCC community for their diligence and commitment to uplifting the College from a trying period in our herstory. I would like to give special recognition to our colleagues in Business & Administrative Services, BCC’s Accreditation Steering Committee, the college governance bodies, the Office of Financial Aid, the President’s Cabinet, our Accreditation Liaison Officer Kuni Hay, and most of all students who continue to choose Berkeley City College to achieve their future goals. BCC truly lives by our motto to “Transform Lives.”

In Community,

Angélica
Dr. Angélica Garcia (she | her | ella)
President, Berkeley City College