ACCJC Reaffirms GCC’s Accreditation for Eight Years

Guam Community College Receives High Marks in Reaccreditation

ACCJC Reaffirms GCC’s Accreditation for Eight Years

Guam Community College received official notification of Reaccreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The College was awarded accreditation for eight years, the highest number of years allowable under reaccreditation standards. 

“I want to commend the entire GCC community, from our leadership team led by our VP for Academic Affairs, Dr. Virginia Tudela and Pilar Williams, the Dean for Trades and Professional Services, for taking the lead in this accreditation review,” GCC’s President, Dr. Mary Okada said. “But in the end, what makes the accreditation process so valuable is that it brings the entire GCC community together to showcase what makes what they do so special and impactful to our community.”

GCC’s accreditation review process spanned nearly two years and culminated with the official focused site visit by the Accreditation peer review committee in March of this year. The Guam Community College accreditation review process focused on engagement and inclusion of all stakeholders, with a specific focus on students, faculty, and employees. This approach was acknowledged and commended by the site visit review team.

According to the notice provided to Dr. Okada, 

The purpose of this review was to determine whether the College continues to meet ACCJC’s Eligibility Requirements, Commission Policies, and Accreditation Standards (hereinafter, the Standards). Upon consideration of the written information noted above, the Commission acted to Reaffirm Accreditation for eight years. 

Commendations

Commendations signify institutional practices for which the Commission believes exceed

Standards. The Commission recognizes the exemplary performance of Guam Community College in the following areas.

Standard 1.4, 2.6 (Commendation 1): The Commission commends the College for building a culture of student input and feedback in a systematic way each semester to inform and enhance instructional practices, student support, schedule development, and program improvement.

“I thank the Commission for acknowledging GCC’s culture of including and engaging our students and stakeholders in our process of providing the most impactful educational experience possible,” added Dr. Virgian Tudela, Vice President of Academic Affairs. “Our ability to continually provide the education and training that is needed and desired in our island and region is rooted in engaging our whole stakeholder community.”

In the letter noting GCC’s reaccreditation, the Commission stated:

On behalf of the Commission, we wish to express our appreciation for the diligent work and thoughtful reflection that Guam Community College undertook to prepare for this review. These efforts confirm that peer review can serve the multiple constituencies of higher education by both ensuring and encouraging institutional quality and effectiveness.