Blue Mountain Community College received two pieces of good news recently – the college received notification that its accreditation has been reaffirmed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and BMCC received a clean audit report for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
In early October, BMCC took part in an accreditation process to determine if its educational programs have been intelligently devised and that it can continue to offer degree programs. The accreditation process, which occurs in years 1, 3, and 7 of the seven-year cycle, is required by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) for all higher education institutions in the seven-state Northwest region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
The NWCCU Board of Commissioners sent a team of peer evaluators to Pendleton for the accreditation process in October. Accreditation status granted by NWCCU is recognition that an institution’s own purpose is soundly conceived, that its educational programs have been intelligently devised, and that its structure, resources, and programs support and result in substantial accomplishment of the institution’s stated purposes. During the accreditation process, BMCC provided the NWCCU representatives with access to all aspects of its operations, including accurate information about its affairs, and reports of other accrediting, licensing, and auditing agencies.
“The Commission commends Blue Mountain Community College for its heightened commitment to student success,” said NWCCU President Sandra Elman in a letter to BMCC President Cam Preus. “Moreover, the commission applauds the college for its commitment to meeting the educational needs of its extraordinarily widespread, diverse service area through initiatives such as its off-campus sites, well-designed online offerings, corrections programming, partnerships with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and collaboration with local schools.”
Preus said the affirmation of the college’s accreditation and accompanying praise “reaffirms the work our faculty and staff do each day to meet the education and workforce needs of our region, as well as further demonstrates our commitment to putting students first.”
Kenneth Kuhns from Kenneth Kuhns & Co. presented the BMCC Board of Education with a clean audit report, noting that “records this year were very well maintained.” The “clean opinion of financial statements” is the best opinion a community college can earn on a financial audit.
“The internal controls you have as a community college to protect your financial information is very good,” Kuhns said, commending BMCC’s financial staff of Associate Vice President for Finance and Business Operations Celeste Insko, Projects and Recording Accountant Tod Case, and Grants and Operations Accountant Rhonda Holcomb. The BMCC Board of Education expressed its gratitude of the diligent work of BMCC’s financial staff during the Feb. 4 Board meeting in Pendleton. “Your hard work makes our college look good,” said Board Member Bryan Branstetter. “We want to recognize our outstanding financial staff for the work that you do.”
