By Natela Cutter
DLIFLC Public Affairs
The accreditation team, visiting the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center as part of the Institute’s reaccreditation, concluded their visit March 8, with an exit report to faculty, staff and leadership. The head of the team, Dr. Jill Stearns said that her group was “impressed, inspired and appreciative of the work you do.” (U.S. Army photo by Natela Cutter/Released)
MONTEREY, Calif. – Following two years of painstaking work on the Institutional Self Evaluation Report for the reaffirmation of the Institute’s accreditation, faculty, staff and leadership of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center welcomed 10 members of the accrediting commission March 6-8, who spent several days interviewing staff and students about academic practices and procedures.
“At the end of their visit, the team reported that they were extremely impressed with the teaching and learning they observed and noted that the Institutional Self Evaluation Report was one of the best they had ever read,” said provost, Dr. Robert Savukinas, in a letter to faculty and staff.
“Furthermore, they were going to take several things they learned from DLIFLC back to their colleges to help them improve their teaching and administrative processes, “explained Savukinas.
As part of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the team came to validate DLIFLC’s Institutional Self Evaluation Report. Team members came from community colleges located throughout California and Hawaii. The team included two college presidents, two chief academic officers/provosts, and two chief student support officers, a dean of library and learning resources, a chair of language arts, a director of fiscal and administrative services, and a faculty member.
The accreditation team, visiting the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center as part of the Institute’s reaccreditation, concluded their visit March 8, with an exit report to faculty, staff and leadership. The head of the team, Dr. Jill Stearns said that her group was “impressed, inspired and appreciative of the work you do.” (U.S. Army photo by Natela Cutter/Released)
During their exit report, attended by faculty, staff, and leaders, DLIFLC received seven preliminary commendations and four preliminary recommendations based on what the team read in the self-evaluation, witnessed in classrooms, and observed in the over 100 meetings with faculty and staff.
The preliminary recommendations included: review the processes to identify and allocate resources to support institutional needs inclusive of curriculum; ensure that data collected is distributed in a consistent manner to inform decision-making; strengthening integration of program review, evaluation, and planning; and the regular assessment of library resources for their effectiveness and contribution to student learning outcomes.
Preliminary commendations offered by the 10 member accreditation team consisted of seven items: Extremely clear mission that drives planning; strong student learning and achievement – focused programs with program-level learning outcomes; Sensing Sessions for student feedback; holistic student support, including Military Language Instructors as essential support for students; professional development opportunities for faculty and staff; shared governance structures and practices; and the Board of Visitors in providing relevant support to promote constructive change.
The next step is for the team to send their findings to the ACCJC commissioners and staff.
“We will receive the official notice of our reaffirmation of accreditation by ACCJC a few weeks after the Commission meeting in June,” said Savukinas.
