Executive Committee Newsletter

SBCC’s Accreditation Steering Committee has begun the college-wide work of preparing our next Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER), due in December 2027. At its first two meetings in October, the committee reviewed accreditation expectations and began identifying standard leads, potential writers, and sources of evidence.

This fall, teams are examining current practices, comparing them with accreditation expectations, and identifying areas that need improvement, stronger documentation, or further investigation. This work involves gathering documents and data, interviewing campus colleagues, and examining how the college supports student learning and success. A central focus is connecting institutional commitments with everyday practice and evidence of results. For each standard, we are asking: What do we do? How consistently do we do it? How do we know it is working? What have we changed in response? Documenting a policy, service, or professional-development program is part of the story; we also need to show how it is implemented and whether it makes a difference.

We are looking for concrete examples that connect an identified need with an action taken and an assessment of the results. These may include changes to teaching, scheduling, student support, communication, or coordination across departments. Our working goal is to develop a rough draft of the ISER by February 2027. Beginning now gives us time to document strengths, identify missing evidence, address gaps, and assess changes before submitting the report. The self-evaluation process itself provides an opportunity to make improvements and demonstrate what we learn from them.

One current example is the Faculty Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) Survey for credit faculty who teach fully online courses. The survey will help us assess the usefulness of online-teaching support, identify additional needs, and measure improvement through a follow-up survey next year. The survey opened October 22 and will remain open through November 15.

As our accreditation work progresses, the Steering Committee may contact you for interviews, documents, data, or examples from your departments and programs. Thank you for sharing your expertise and candid assessments. Your contributions are essential to an accurate and useful self-evaluation.

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Thank you to all of our faculty and staff for your dedication, hard work, and support of our students this semester! We know this time of year can feel exceptionally busy, and we hope you are hanging in there and taking care of yourselves. Your ongoing efforts make a meaningful impact across our entire campus community. Thank you for everything you do for our students and our campus. 

Here are some updates from Academic Affairs: 

The Channels Triumphs at JACC SoCal Conference 

Huge congratulations to the student journalists of The Channels for earning General Excellence once again at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) Southern California Regional Conference!

On Saturday, Oct. 10, The Channels staff traveled to California State University, Northridge for a full day of workshops and on-the-spot reporting competitions. The team brought home a combined total of 18 awards, the most earned by The Channels since 2016, recognizing both live conference reporting and outstanding work published during the 2025–26 school year.

Congratulations to the entire Channels crew on this outstanding achievement! 

The Theatre Group at SBCC Voted Best Theater Company

We are also thrilled to share that The Theatre Group at SBCC has won Best Theater Company in the Santa Barbara Independent’s 2026 Best Of Readers Poll! Congratulations to our talented cast, crew, and performing arts department for this well-deserved community recognition.

Fall sports are wrapping up, Basketball season is here!

November is a big month for SBCC Athletics. Visit govaqs.com for the full schedule and more information, and don’t forget to check neoQuad for on-campus events.

Both Men’s and Women’s Soccer are competing for conference championships and hope to make a postseason run, which begins on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Meanwhile, Women’s Water Polo is vying for a state championship after finishing in the top three each of the last six seasons. The 3C2A Championship tournament begins Thursday, Nov. 19, at Mt. San Antonio College.

Earlier that week, Women’s Golf hopes to play at the 3C2A Championship in Monterey starting Monday, Nov. 16.

As Fall sports wrap up, Men’s and Women’s Basketball have already started. We encourage you to take a visit to Robertson Gym on UC Santa Barbara’s campus to watch both teams play! The Men’s team is coming off their best season in 19 years, and Women’s Head Coach Sandrine Krul is three wins away from 350 career wins at SBCC.

Faculty Reminder: Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

A reminder to all faculty to score SLOs in all of your classes this semester! If you need support or guidance, please visit the SBCC SLO page, check out the SBCC SLO Help page, or reach out directly to Laura Woyach.

Professional Development Opportunity

Teaching Across Cultures: Building Connection in a Diverse Classroom

The first webinar in the Pan-African Virtual College (PAVC) series, part of the California Community Colleges’ Study Abroad at Home initiative.

Developed collaboratively by the California Virtual Campus (CVC), @ONE, California community college faculty, and Ghanaian faculty, this webinar explores practical strategies for embracing classroom diversity, building meaningful connections, and creating inclusive learning environments. While designed to support faculty preparing to participate in Study Abroad at Home, the session is open to anyone interested—with strategies applicable across disciplines in online, hybrid, and in-person settings.

• Date: Thursday, November 12, 2026
• Time: Noon–1:00 p.m. Pacific Time
• Register here: registration link 

Systemwide Professional Development & Communication Updates 

As systemwide teaching and learning professional development offerings continue to expand, the Chancellor’s Office Teaching and Learning Team is streamlining communications to make staying informed easier. Going forward, expect the following schedule:

• TLC Monthly Newsletter: Sent at the start of each month featuring upcoming opportunities and full event details.
• Monday Snapshot (“PD at a Glance”): A bi-weekly preview of Teaching and Learning Professional Development scheduled for the upcoming two weeks, complete with direct registration and event links.

Faculty are encouraged to join the Faculty PD Listserv to stay connected. 

Faculty Spotlight: 

Laurie Vasquez Honored with Exemplary Service Award

Congratulations to Laurie Vasquez on receiving the Exemplary Service Award from the California Association for Postsecondary Education and Disability (CAPED)! This award honors her exemplary, long-standing service and dedication to CAPED and the students it serves. Thank you, Laurie, for your leadership and outstanding commitment to accessibility and student success!

Welcome to the new Theater Arts faculty member, Andrew Layton! 

The Theatre Arts Department was delighted to welcome a new full-time faculty member in the area of technical theatre, Andrew Layton, to the department this fall.  Andrew brings a wealth of experience from teaching and designing at colleges including MiraCosta College and UCSB and professional design experience at theatres including the Williamstown Theatre Festival and PCPA. He also has extensive experience as a designer for Film and Television–all of which is already positioning him to be a tremendous resource for our technical theatre students. His first show as a lighting and scenic designer at SBCC was the hit show, Clue, in the Garvin Theatre.  Audiences and reviewers were so impressed with the beauty and scope of his design.  We can’t wait to see what he’ll come up with next! 

Has a colleague inspired you recently through their work inside or outside the classroom? Fill out this quick form to help us highlight and celebrate them in an upcoming newsletter!

We look forward to collaborating with the Academic Senate and campus stakeholders throughout this process. Thank you for your continued dedication to our students and community!

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The Fiscal Services department welcomes three new additions to the SBCC family.  Isabelle Rhode Portrait is our new Director of Fiscal Services (formerly Controller).  Cesar Balbuena Photo has joined the team as an Accounting Technician III.  Hua (Coco) Woollard Photo has joined the team as an Accounting Technician III.

Feel free to stop by and welcome them to SBCC!

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Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Human Resources would like to remind you of the opportunity to utilize our EAP program to support you, your dependents or anyone living in your immediate household with confidential counseling and referral services for job-related and personal challenges. You may contact them at 800-999-7222 or visit anthemEAP.com and enter SISC for the company code.

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month Wrap-Up and Key Accomplishments 

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month comes to a close, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their participation and commitment to helping strengthen our institution's cybersecurity posture. Throughout the month, we focused on increasing awareness, promoting best practices, and implementing important security enhancements designed to better protect our Faculty, Staff, Students, and technology resources.

Some of the key activities and accomplishments included:

• Weekly Cybersecurity Awareness Communications
• Distributed weekly emails covering important cybersecurity topics and best practices.
• Shared guidance on recognizing phishing attempts, creating strong passwords, protecting sensitive information, and reporting suspicious activity.
• Provided practical tips and resources to help everyone become more vigilant and cyber-aware.
• Cybersecurity Awareness Webinar
• Hosted a cybersecurity awareness webinar that was attended by over 200 faculty, staff, and administrators from across the college.
• Discussed current cybersecurity threats, common attack methods, and actions individuals can take to better secure their accounts and devices.
• Encouraged collaboration and engagement, with participants actively helping one another throughout the session.
• MFA Enforcement Enabled
• Over 12,000 authentication methods enrolled (see below).

Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and the success of these initiatives reflects the commitment of our campus community to maintaining a secure learning and working environment. While Cybersecurity Awareness Month has ended, our efforts to improve security awareness and protect institutional resources will continue throughout the year.

Thank you again for your engagement, support, and partnership in making cybersecurity a priority. Together, we are building a stronger and more resilient security culture.

SBCC Multi-Factor Authentication: Over 12,800 Authentication Methods Enrolled

In the weeks leading up to the October 26th launch requiring Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for off-campus network logins, students, faculty, and staff have responded with overwhelming participation. Over the course of this month, a total of 12,870 authentication methods have been successfully registered across campus accounts, marking a significant win for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

This milestone significantly reduces the vulnerability of campus systems to credential theft and unauthorized off-campus access. Thank you to our dedicated IT staff who helped make this happen!

Students and employees who have not yet configured their multi-factor authentication methods or wish to add backup verification options can use the step-by-step setup guides found here or contact the IT Support Desk for assistance.

October Registration Breakdown

The campaign pushed for widespread adoption of secure sign-in verification for all SBCC users. As shown in the chart below, method preferences during October heavily favored SMS and the Microsoft Authenticator:

• SMS Text: MFA code via text message, largest share, convenient for mobile users.
• Microsoft (MS) Authenticator App: Second-largest share, most secure approval via push notifications and device prompts.
• Email (Password): Personal email address for password resets only.
• Passkey: Passwordless access through alternate authenticator apps, third-party solutions such as Google Authenticator.
• Voice: Automated voice confirmation by phone call on mobile or landline numbers.
• Device Key: Passwordless access via a device passkey such as a Yubikey.

IT (Administrative Systems) October Updates

This month, the Administrative Systems team focused on targeted workflow improvements, regulatory readiness, and cross-departmental collaboration:

• EOPS Document Workflows: In close collaboration with the Director of EOPS & Care, the team successfully launched a new Etrieve form, modernizing the application and document process for EOPS students.
• CCCStart & Enrollment Modernization: The team advanced development on CCCStart import builds and system architecture, while actively participating in cross-departmental program mapping to support modernized student onboarding.
• Payment Systems & Document Workflows: IT actively troubleshot payment gateway configurations in Banner with TouchNet to resolve retiree payment access issues. 
• Integrations & Interface Upgrades: The campus officially transitioned to the new Softdocs/Etrieve content interface. Behind the scenes, the team worked heavily on API and Ethos endpoints to unblock the PRISM integration, support N2N access, and evaluate Banner Position Descriptions and EPAF workflows for HR.
• Campus Support & Access: Alongside clearing aging service tickets, the team resolved Accudemia integration glitches for tutors and managed ongoing Banner and Degree Works environment synchronizations to support financial aid and academic reporting.

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There are three big areas of activity happening in IR: 

1. Launching our Program Review reporting platform (Precision Campus), 
2. supporting development of the accreditation Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER), and 
3. finalizing preparations to launch our Campus Climate Focus Groups, which are part two of the college’s Campus Climate Study (recall that part one was the Climate Survey administered last spring). 

Read on for more details. 

Program Review Platform

As part of the ongoing revision of the program review process, the IR team has been collaborating closely with Precision Campus, the vendor developing SBCC’s new platform. This work has focused primarily on designing and refining evaluation templates, with input from senior leadership to ensure the revised process produces actionable information that supports continuous improvement across the college. The team has also been meeting weekly with Precision Campus developers to validate institutional data and facilitate a smooth transition to the new platform.

ISER Development

Work is underway on the Institutional Self-Evaluation Report (ISER), a key component of the college’s submission to ACCJC as part of the reaffirmation of accreditation process. Organizational meetings with the leads for each of the four standards and their subsections are ongoing, and drafting has already begun. The IR team is supporting this effort by leading the development of the Standard 1 narrative and providing data to inform and substantiate narratives across the remaining three standards.

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All requests for the Office of Communications (OOC) must receive a OOC Help Request Form - click here. 

The Office of Communication is in the “Enhancement” phase of the SBCC Comprehensive Marketing & Communications Plan. Please see the slide deck that has been presented to College Planning Council, Academic Senate, and other constituent groups. Click here to view the slide deck. Email Jordan Killebrew, with any enhancements you might have at jkillebrew@sbcc.edu. 

Please find our Social Media Orientation presentation here where you can educate yourself on the SBCC Social Media Guidelines and find the Social Media Registration link - click here.

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Please join us at the School of Extended for the following events: 

Saturday, November 14, 1-3pm, BC Forum: Rewriting the Human Aging Clock with Professor Joel Rothman: Event Ad

Join Professor Joel Rothman, Founding Director of the UCSB Center for Aging and Longevity Science, for an engaging discussion on groundbreaking advances in the science of aging and emerging technologies that may slow or even reverse age-related decline. The presentation will explore innovations such as gene

therapies, cellular reprogramming, AI-driven drug discovery, and anti-aging vaccines, while also examining

the ethical, social, and financial questions surrounding longer and healthier lives.

Saturday, December 5, 10am - 2pm, Wake Campus: Annual Arts & Craft Fair (flyers and ads on their way via office of communications) Applications open for student vendors will close on October 16th at 5 p.m.

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Priority Registration open

 

Discovery Day - November 20th

PRIDE November Events Calendar

Director of Equity and Engagement Programs, Dr. Roxane Byrne and Financial Aid Advisor, Elsa Chavez, will be participating on a best practices panel at the first Financial Aid and Basic Needs Collaboration Training on November 16 & 17 in Sacramento.

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• October 2026
• September 2026