With any transition of leadership and associated administrations, whether it be at the national, state, or local government level, change is inevitable.  While this is most prolific with elected officials, the same thing can be said when a new owner takes over a company, or a business replaces its manager, or a team gets a new coach.  New eyes create some disequilibrium which allows us to view our organizations differently.  

Presidential Executives Orders are a part of transition.  Recently, two Executive Orders (EO) were issued which have significant impact upon higher education.  One EO issued in January required all those institutions receiving Federal funds to discontinue all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.  The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) followed this EO with a directive of its own referenced as the “Dear Colleague Letter.”  Under the DOE communique, we were instructed to cease DEI activities or jeopardize any future Federal funding.  In conjunction with the Executive Order, the Dear Colleague Letter suspended admissions and hiring based upon factors of race, gender, or other protected classes.  Salem Community College was not affected by this Executive Order or the Dear Colleague Letter as we are an open-admission institution, with the exception of Glass and Nursing.  In those selective programs, admission follows a very well-defined set of criteria.  SCC pursues the best person for every position.  Race is not a consideration in hiring.  

Under a separate Presidential Executive Order, accreditation is called into question.  There will be an assessment of accrediting processes under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education.  If you follow this blog, you may recall recently we discussed the Middle States Re-Accreditation of your Salem Community College.  After two years of scrutinizing ourselves through the Self-Study protocol, we hosted a Visiting Team of peers to review our Self-Study and our general operation as a community college.  Though we will not receive official results until July, the sense of our leadership team is that we passed with flying colors.  The Middle States model of continuous improvement has served SCC well over the years, helping us to become the best community college in New Jersey.