thecollegian Friday, March 23, 2012 • deltacollegian.net
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Reaching out
Survey first step to improving effectiveness of campus communication by eliana romero eliromero06@gmail.com
Delta student wins Miss San Joaquin scholarship Page 4
Apollo Night helps amateur artists Page 5
Generation 4 Change raises money for Invisible Children Page 6
UPCOMING Track and Field Mustang Invitational at Delta April 6-7 Summer class schedule available April 16
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Communication on campus becomes more accessible every semester. Information about emergencies, news, upcoming events and other services are found on the Delta College website, or sent to the campus community through email and text alerts. But does the community really take advantage of communication services? Administration recently conducted an online survey to answer this question. The survey asked students and faculty what sources they received information about the college and its services from. Sources included social media, Delta’s website, the college radio station and the marquees on Pacific and Pershing avenues, as well as text and email alerts. Student Vanessa Gonzales, 22, said she is aware the college offers social media and text alerts for communication, but she prefers to use Delta student email for any information or notifications. Student Christopher Short, 25, also knows about the services avaliable. “I don’t have text alerts because sometimes I don’t have a phone on me, but I do receive alerts through email,” said Short. Acting President/Superintendent Kathy Hart, along with other staff members, developed an educational master plan to ensure communication on campus improves.
The plan is to improve the effectiveness of college operations by developing and implementing a communication plan that provides regular, timely, open and transparent communication. Hart assigned Michael Kerns, the vice president of student services, to review existing communication strategies, such as committee agendas and minutes and the Delta College website, among others. The survey will help in reviewing which sources of communication work and which don’t for the campus community, allowing administration to improve these strategies. Director of Police Services David Main said the campus police department is exploring new ways to better communicate with the campus using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as well as the “Alert-U” text alerts. “We need to have a mass communication system that will be fast and in which we can utilize several different avenues such as; email, text messaging, phones, class room phones, you know those kinds of things are what we need to move into and the kinds of things we are exploring right now,” said Main. The campus police aren’t just looking into alerting about emergencies, but also building trust with students, faculty and staff members. “We are asking our community officers to communicate with our staff and students on
campus by getting out of their cars and opening up dialogue with them and you know just establishing that rapport relationship,” said Main. “Students are just one aspect of our population; it’s not only about communicating with students, but how we communicate better with our entire campus community.”
PHOTOS BY JUSTIN TRISTANO
the institution is continuously improving and growing to meet the needs of it’s students and the society.” Marsee used the threat of losing accreditation as a reason he should be allowed to stay. Marsee’s lawyers, earlier this year, implied releasing the now former president would cause a loss in confidence in the Delta campus, possibly leading to a loss of accreditation, meaning units earned in classes at Delta would not be transferable to other colleges or universities. Delta is accredited through the Accrediting Commission
for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Delta is currently listed as “on warning” on ACCJC’s website. According to Hart, “on warning” is the lowest level of sanctions through the organization. “Dr. Marsee warned that the Accreditation Commission might put us on ‘probation’ or ‘show cause’; both are ‘greater’ sanctions… but neither means that our degrees or certificates are actually in jeopardy — they do mean that we would need to
address the issues.” Hart wrote. Delta’s next report to the ACCJC is due March 29. After a follow up visit, Delta will be informed about its sanction level and what areas need improvement. Hart is confident that Delta will meet accreditation standards. “We’ve made a lot of progress since our last report, and if we need it, with another 6 months of work, I know we can satisfy the Commission’s standards. Whether Dr. Marsee is here or not, we know where we are and what we need to do,” said Hart in the email.
Acting President Hart puts accreditation fears at ease by chris howze vivilu226@aol.com
The threat of losing accreditation was repeated often in the weeks leading up to Dr. Jeff Marsee being removed from his position as president earlier this semester, but many had little understanding of what that actually meant for the campus. As Acting President Dr. Kathy Hart explained in an email interview, “Accreditation is the way for a college or university to provide the public/ students with degrees and certificates that students and the community trust, it assures that