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Accreditation
Accreditation Academic Statement
General Education Program Requirements
Degree & Certficate Requirements
Sessions & Fast Tracks
Course Types
Preparatory & Developmental Courses
Information Literacy
Scholars Program
Accreditation
Butler County Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; Phone: 217-662-5606; Fax: 215-662-5501; www.msche.org.
Butler County Community College is nationally accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP; www.acbsp.org) for the offering of all business programs that culminate in the Associate of Science and Associate of Applied Science Degrees.
Butler County Community College’s Nursing Program is approved by the State Board of Nursing, and accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
The Physical Therapist Assistant Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).
The Medical Assistant program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (www.caahep.org) upon the recommendation of the Curriculum Review Board of the American Association of Medical Assistants Endowment (AAMAE). Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, 25400 U.S. Highway 19 North, Suite 158, Clearwater, FL 33763; Phone: 312-553-9355.
Accreditation Academic Statement
As an institution of higher learning, Butler County Community College (BC3) strives to assist individuals in establishing and achieving their educational and professional goals. The College integrates academic standards throughout courses and programs created to encourage the highest level of achievement for all students. BC3 has many programs that not only follow the institution’s academic policies, but must also submit to intense scrutiny from accreditation agencies and field experts. Therefore, BC3 supports and expects that certain programs will follow the academic rigor required by the College and supports stringent guidelines, procedures, and policies recommended for specialty fields. The College trusts in the credentials and the expertise of its faculty to make decisions regarding these specialized fields and their subsequent implementation.
General Education Philosophy
General Education is the foundation of a student’s education at BC3. The General Education experience will enable students to think critically, analyze issues, make reasoned judgements, and develop the multicultural and diverse perspectives necessary to be engaged members of society. Integrated throughout the curriculum, General Education is the basis for establishing a positive sense of well-being to help students achieve their educational and occupational goals, as well as the foundation for lifelong learning.
General Education Program Requirements
To earn an A.A. and A.S. degree at Butler County Community College, students must complete 17 credits in general education. The BC3 General Education Program will enable students to develop the following nine competencies:
Oral Communication - 3 credits
Communicating effectively in standard spoken English to an audience.
Quantitative Reasoning - 3 credits
Understanding and working with numerical data.
Scientific Reasoning - 3 credits
Understanding how the natural world works through observing natural phenomena.
Wellness - 2 credits
Committing to a healthy lifestyle.
Written Communication - 3 credits
Communicating effectively and critically in standard written American English.
Values, Ethics and Diverse Perspectives - 3 credits
Assessing personal values and ethical principles in diverse settings.
In addition, the following competencies are embedded across the curriculum:
Critical Thinking
Thinking critically, reasoning analytically, and solving problems.
Information Literacy
Defining information needed and accessing, evaluating, and utilizing information.
Technological Competence
Applying computing software and electronic communication in their discipline.
For associate degree programs, these competencies are achieved by completing courses designated as meeting General Education requirements.
Degree & Certificate Requirements
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A GPA of 2.0 or better is required to graduate with an Associate Degree or to earn a Certificate of Achievement or Workplace Certificate.
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All requirements for preparatory coursework must be completed prior to the receipt of an Associate Degree, Certificate of Achievement, or Workplace Certificate.
• For an Associate Degree, maximum of 45 credit hours may be transferred back to BC3.
• For a Certificate of Achievement, a minimum of fifteen (15) college credits must be completed at BC3 exclusive of credits for prior learning.
• For a Workplace Certificate, a minimum of one-half of the minimum credit requirement for the certificate must be completed at BC3 exclusive of credits for prior learning.
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For a second major, a student will be required to complete a minimum of an additional fifteen (15) credit hours for an Associate Degree and nine (9) credit hours for a Certificate of Achievement or a Workplace Certificate. These credit hours must be approved in advance by the dean of the second major.
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A student is responsible for fulfilling all Associate Degree, Certificate of Achievement, or Workplace Certificate requirements.
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To be eligible for graduation honors, a student must have successfully completed thirty (30) semester hours at BC3.
Certificate of Achievement programs must have a minimum of 30 credits, 24 credits for a career specialty, 3 credits in Workplace Communications or English 101, and 3 credits in the general education core requirements as referenced in the College Catalog. Programs with external accreditation requirements or government mandates may vary from these guidelines.
Workplace Certificate programs must have a minimum of 12 credits. Workplace Certificate programs that require 22 or more credits must include 3 credits in Workplace Communications (ENGL 110) or College Writing (ENGL 101) and 3 credits in an additional general education core as referenced above. Programs with external accreditation requirements or government mandates may vary from these guidelines.
Sessions & Fast Tracks
Sessions 1, Session 2, and Session 3 may be available in the classroom, as a hybrid, online, and/or via iTV. Sessions that are shorter in length may have the same requirements/expectations as a full term course.
Fast Track courses run for 5 weeks and are available online only. Courses may have the same requirements/expectations as a full term course, but condensed to 5-weeks. It is strongly recommended that
only one fast track course is taken at a time as the workload is concentrated.
Visit bc3.edu/credit-schedule to view available courses in each session and fast track.
Course Types
Classroom
A classroom course requires on-campus attendance during scheduled meeting times.
Hybrid
A hybrid course is an online course, but also requires four or more campus meetings. Campus meetings are scheduled in advance by the instructor and may be used for any combination of lectures, discussions, presentations, labs, examinations, etc. An orientation to online courses (GENL 001 - ET Orientation) is required.
Online
An online course uses the internet, Blackboard (BC3’s Learning Management System), and other webbased applications for all instruction, activities, assessments, and course interaction. An orientation to online courses (GENL 001 - ET Orientation) is required.
iTV
An iTV course is taught in a classroom by one instructor, but delivered to two separate locations simultaneously using video or web conferencing technology. iTV courses may require assignments and tests be completed online outside of the regular class time through Blackboard.
Preparatory & Developmental Courses
Preparatory and developmental courses are specifically designed to prepare students for college level courses by developing the basic skills and understanding necessary for success. Placement test results determine if students are required to enroll in preparatory and/or developmental courses. Preparatory and/or developmental courses are available in English, reading, math, and algebra. Preparatory and developmental courses earn institutional credits and must be passed with a C grade or higher.
Information Literacy
The College has adopted the following definition of information literacy:
Information literacy is the ability to know when there is a need for information, to identify, locate, evaluate and effectively and responsibly use and share that information for the problem at hand.
An information literate individual is able to:
- Determine the nature and extent of information needed
- Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
- Evaluate information and its sources critically
- Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
- Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
- Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally: observe laws, regulations, and institutional policies related to the access and use of information.
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.
Scholars Program
The Scholars Program is a series of courses designed to reward students who seek a more challenging academic experience at Butler County Community College. Students who have accepted the Presidential Scholarship are enrolled into the Scholars Program. In addition to the scholarship and the benefit of early registration for classes, Scholars take four Scholars-only classes - two general education courses in the first year of enrollment and two courses leading to an independent study project in the second year of enrollment.
The independent study program answers a research question under the supervision of a mentor. Students may identify their own research question/project and then find the appropriate mentor or develop a research question/project under the guidance of a mentor (In addition to a faculty mentor, engagement with industry professionals through the project is allowable with approval of the faculty mentor). Students interested in learning more about the Scholars program should contact the coordinator of the Scholars Program, Michael Dittman mike.dittman@bc3.edu.
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