Accreditation as a system of voluntary, non-governmental self-regulation and peer review is unique to American educational institutions.  It is a system by which an institution evaluates itself in accordance with standards of good practice regarding goals and objectives; the appropriateness, sufficiency, and utilization of resources; the usefulness, integrity, and effectiveness of its processes; and the extent to which it is achieving its intended outcomes.  It is a process by which accreditors provide students, the public, and each other with assurances of institutional integrity, quality and effectiveness.

Each institution affiliated with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) accepts the obligation to undergo a cycle of periodic evaluation through self study and professional peer review. The heart of this obligation is conducting a rigorous self study during which an institution appraises itself against the Commission’s standards in terms of its stated institutional purposes.

The cycle of evaluation requires a Comprehensive Self Study every six years following initial accreditation and a visit by a team of peers.
The cycle includes a mandatory midterm report in the third year as well as any other reports requested by the Commission.
All reports beyond the Comprehensive Self Study may be followed by a visit by Commission representatives.

The Butte College Accreditation Self Study process is currently underway.  The process began with a training session sponsored by the ACCJC (Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges) on February 26, 2007.

Butte College held additional trainings for campus committee members on March 27.

The Self Study will be completed in the fall semester, 2008.  An Evaluation Team, made up of our peers from other institutions, will visit Butte College in the Spring of 2009 to validate our self study and assess how well we comply with the current Accreditation Standards.

Self-Study Standards Teams
The Butte College Accreditation Self-Study is organized around an accreditation support team, an accreditation steering committee and accreditation standards teams.

Periodically, the District conducts surveys to determine student, faculty and staff satisfaction with services and processes.  The Fall 2007 student survey and the Spring 2008 faculty and staff survey are provided at the following links:

Student Survey Fall 2007
Student Survey Fall 2007 by Location
Faculty & Staff Survey Spring 2008

Accreditation Newsletters
Update IV - March, 2008
Update III - January, 2008
Update II  - August, 2007
Update I   - May, 2007