Once every ten years, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) comes to Bronx Community College to determine if the school qualifies for the renewal of its accreditation. With the next visit scheduled for the spring, BCC has been abuzz with preparation for this crucial event. A major milestone in the process was this year’s Bronx Community College Assessment Day, held on December 7 in the first floor classrooms of North Hall and Library. Though such assessment is a constant process at BCC, the coming MSCHE visit gave the sessions particular relevance.

The day was comprised of 16 different presentations from BCC faculty and staff. The topics were as varied as “Supplemental Learning to Increase Exposure and Basic Knowledge in Nursing Education,” presented by Nefertiti Cano of the Department of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences; “The Story So Far: Our Experience with Online Hybrid Teaching and Assessing Beginner Spanish,” presented by Alicia Bralove of the Modern Languages Department; and an end-of-the-day panel on “Bronx Community College’s Institutional Assessment Culture: Our Strengths, Weaknesses, and the Implications for Future Practice and Theory,” with Moderator Seher Atamturktur (Biological Sciences) and panelists Shylaja Akkaraju (Biological Sciences), L. Vicki Cedeno (Academic Affairs), Jordi Getman-Eraso (History), Jillian Hess (English), Richard LaManna (Academic Affairs), Leidy Pichardo (College Discovery) and Nancy Ritze (Planning, Research and Assessment).

Dean Ritze, an organizer of the event, called it “a snapshot of the quality of the assessment work that’s being done on campus — its depth and range,” adding “This is central to the expectations of MSCHE, as well as improving what we do here at BCC.”