MOSES LAKE — Owing to Big Bend Community College’s failure over the years to meet a past recommendation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the college has been issued a notice of concern/private sanction, which could spell more trouble if the recommendation is not met in the near future.

On July 18 the NWCCU sent a letter addressed to BBCC president Dr. Terry Leas, advising him that the NWCCU’s Board of Commissioners accepted the college’s spring 2017 ad-hoc (for the occasion) report, which addressed one of the two recommendations that were made during a fall 2012 comprehensive peer-evaluation.

Institutions that have achieved accreditation maintain it through a strict obedience to the NWCCU’s accreditation criteria. The commission follows a seven-year cycle where “institutional review is continuous,” according to the NWCCU’s website. The reviews include an annual report, a year-one report, a year-three report and a year-seven comprehensive institutional self-study and evaluation committee peer review.

BBCC conducted a comprehensive self-evaluation report in 2012 and received two recommendations from the NWCCU in response:

1. Evaluators recommended an alignment between the college’s mission statement and core themes. They recommended that the core themes “individually manifest” and “collectively encompass” BBCC’s mission statement, that the core theme objectives and indicators be sufficient to evaluate if the core themes are accomplished and that the evaluation of programs and services be informed by indicator data for each core theme objective.

2. Evaluators recommended BBCC document enhancement of student learning achievement, which is led by a systematic assessment of student learning. They recommended the college create an effective, regular and comprehensive system of assessment that details student achievement of an identified course, program and degree learning outcomes.

Although the NWCCU’s board of directors accepted the college’s 2017 ad-hoc report, the commission found BBCC has not met expectations on recommendation No. 2 of the 2012 peer-evaluation report. They requested the college address the recommendation again in an ad-hoc report, without a visit, in fall 2018.

“What is less positive is the third paragraph in which they inform me that the Board of Commissioners has issued a ‘Notice of Concern (a private sanction).’ The term ‘private sanction’ means that the NWCCU does not notify the public or the U.S. Department of Education of our current lack of acceptable progress,” Leas stated in an email sent to BBCC administration and faculty. “If we do not fully address the recommendation, however, we would be subject to a 'public sanction' such as a ‘Warning’ or ‘Probation’ in which case the public and U.S. Department of Education would be notified. A move to a public sanction would undermine confidence in the quality of Big Bend’s programs, so we all should feel a sense of urgency to resolve this matter promptly.”

Dr. Bryce Humpherys, BBCC's Vice-President for Learning and Student Success, told the Columbia Basin Herald the sanction is to be looked at as a way for the NWCCU to get the college's attention about the issue.

"I see it as a mechanism by which they use this notice of concern to create a sense of urgency at the college level," Leas told the Herald in an interview.

Later in Leas' email, which was obtained by the Herald, Leas explained BBCC was not able to show that it is implementing a complete assessment cycle, in the program and/or degree level in particular. The NWCCU gave the college a year to show it is fully implementing the assessment process.

“The Board of Commissioners will take action on our fall 2018 report in its January 2019 meeting. They could rescind the Notice of Concern and the recommendation at that time,” Leas wrote. “They could rescind the Notice of Concern but leave the recommendation. They could also elevate the concern to a ‘public sanction.’ Thus, the stakes are quite high for us in regard to the 2018 report.”

A public sanction is serious in that it could possibly put the college at risk of losing its accreditation. Leas went on to lay out a series of goals that can help the college meet the recommendation over the next year, stating he believes BBCC can meet the NWCCU’s requirement by “being more intentional about our existing work.” Leas and Humpherys believe the college can fully meet the recommendation in the set time period.

"We are engaging with college faculty and staff. We have done some work in updating our assessment of student learning work, We are implementing those updates this year. We are also updating our institutional planning process," Humpherys stated.

The NWCCU, in essence, wants the college to be able to demonstrate how it is using different pieces of information, in this case student assessment information, to improve what the college is doing as an institution.

"When you compare the outcomes our students are achieving with other colleges around the country, we are near the top. We do a really terrific job. So at one level substantively we are doing quality work. It's just that if you are a visitor from another college on an accrediting team and you are talking to us, 'well how do you get these results?' 'How do you manage the information and use it to improve practice?' We just don't have that model in place," Leas told the Herald.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.