BHCC Annual Retreat Reviews Preliminary Findings in NEASC Self-Study

Friday, October 12, 2018

Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) faculty and staff gathered on Friday, September 28, 2018, to review preliminary findings for the College’s New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation process.

“The NEASC self-study is a terrific way to self-reflect on the work that we’ve done, and project the work that we can do for students,” said President Pam Eddinger. “It’s also a place for us to take pride in the work we’ve done. When I came to this College five years ago, it was a different place. We had roots of innovation, a lot of good things were happening. Five years later, the College has now matured a lot of that work and those are the types of conversations that we can have.”

BHCC is at a critical juncture in the NEASC self-study and the retreat provided an open forum for broad, college-wide feedback, and the opportunity to hear BHCC students reflect on their experiences inside and outside the classroom.

Provost and Vice President, Academic and Student Affairs, James F. Canniff, welcomed the BHCC students invited to speak at the retreat and discussed the significance of their reflections in the NEASC process. “Through the self-study, the endpoint has to be: Is this a better College for our students? And will it provide a better experience?” he said, speaking to the importance of engaging the college community in the discussion. “That’s part of our focus as we look at these nine standards and your feedback is critical to this process.”

Following the student reflections, faculty and staff participated in concurrent breakout sessions where participants reviewed research conducted by NEASC standard teams over the past years and provided their input on the preliminary findings for the 2020 self-study.