Accreditation is very important to Los Medanos College. It gives the school credibility and qualifies the school for financial aid funding. This is important to all of the staff, but it should be just as important to the students.

Kiran Kameth is the Sr. Dean of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, but is also the liaison for accreditation, and she attended the November 25, 2013 Associated Students meeting to raise student awareness.

“It is an entire campus issue,” she said.

During the meeting she spoke of the importance of the students voice being heard during the accreditation process, and was hoping to gain students on the committees to hear their voice.

LMCAS President Brianna Klipp was surprised to learn at the meeting that she will have to sign off on the final draft of the accreditation on behalf of the student.

To help better educate the AS, Kameth is arranging for different members of the accreditation committees to come to the meetings and answer questions about their sections.

The first to speak was at the LMCAS meeting on December 9, 2013.  Dean of Liberal Arts, Nancy Ybarra and Librarian Kim Wentworth, spoke representing the Student Learning Plan and Services section of accreditation.

The Student Learning Plan Services sections is one of the most important sections of accreditation for students as it covers the library and lab rooms.  These are sections of the campus that are the biggest use to students on the campus, and that makes student feedback important.

Wentworth went over step-by-step what the committee has been working in the new accreditation including an updated library catalog that is more user friendly, has new collections, a larger Spanish language section, the ability to stream video and more children’s books for the child development program.

In addition to the upgrades they are working on in the library, Ybarra went over the changes that they have made in the Center for Academic Support (CORE).

They have relocated to its current location on the third floor of the main campus since the last accreditation, and they have added programs such as Study Slam and Professor Is In.  They have also expanded tutoring and all tutors now must attend a two-day training.

Even with all of these new upgrades there is still more that could be done to accommodate students which is the kind of feedback Kameth is hoping to get from students.

She got just that from the LMCAS officers and public that were in attendance.

Student R.C. Kubota was in attendance and voiced many of her opinions on the matter asking multiple questions including if there could be signage in the library to notify students of which computers can run what programs.

Klipp had a similar issue as she pointed out that many of the computers in the library cannot run the My Math Lab program that is used by many professors in the Math department.

Wentworth responded that the reason all the computers do not run every program is that not all computers have been updated properly.  Kameth said that this is an issue because of the small size of the IT department which could be remedied by the new tech plan that could result in a grant.

These are only a few of the issues that were covered in the one hour discussion, and if you have any other questions, Kameth says that all students should review the standards on the LMC website /accreditation.

If you want to be more involved in accreditation you should check the contact us tab on the accreditation page to learn about joining a committee.