By Ashley Hodge
As many of you have heard, our college is currently undergoing a self-accreditation process that involves faculty, staff, students, and Board of Trustee members. This is a process that occurs every 10 years to ensure that institutions are providing sufficient education to their constituents. The cool part of this study is that students get to be involved with the whole process—and our opinions matter.
Mel Johnson, one of the co-chairs for this process, asked fellow classmate Rob Craig and I if we wanted to be on one of the working groups. Through her little guilt-trip, we both agreed. At first, I was intimidated. I didn’t think I would be much help, and I was positive whatever I was going to say would be brushed off and considered useless. However, I was wrong, and happy Mel got me to join this process.
It’s refreshing to have your opinion matter in such a huge process. Whenever I speak out about a concern, or question what we’re doing, there’s no ignoring me or talking to me like I’m ignorant. My opinion and thoughts are valued because without the student’s input, we could never truly self-evaluate. We give a new perspective on the topics we’re discussing, and insight into how things really work on campus.
It’s also a fun learning process! Through my working group I’ve learned about our college’s mission and goals (which truthfully I had no inkling of) and how we are meeting them. It turns out, our college produces a strategic plan every five years that details the mission, vision, and goals of the college. It’s a great reference if you want to see what direction the college plans on going for the next few years.
I’m also gaining valuable skills. When working with someone who’s better than you at a task, whether it’s your basketball shooting or data collection skills, you can better yourself by observation. The members of my working group have been working in team environments for years, and their dynamics show me how to be a better team player.
Overall, this process has been a fun learning experience. I’m beyond happy that I got involved with our self-accreditation process, and proud that I’m working to help, in a sense, to improve our college.
Editor’s Note: MSA stands for Middle States Association
Ashley Hodge is a senior Biology major with a minor in Chemistry and GIS, and is also a member of the PSC Student Government Association.