Welcome to Spring 2026

A message from the Vice President of Instruction.

Personally, I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, those pesky, overly optimistic intentions that ultimately fall to the fate of reality a few weeks into January. Instead, I attempt to maintain good habits year-round so that when January 1st arrives I don’t feel the need to declare a grand, corrective redirection.

I’ve felt similarly about our work at MJC. Some time ago when I was working with a department that was subject to external programmatic accreditation, I often said that the accreditors were welcome to walk into the department and review us unannounced at any time because I was that confident in our excellence. Evaluate us any day of the year, and our efforts will be validated, remains my view on accreditation at Modesto Junior College.

So, as I anticipate Spring 2026, I see plenty of exciting work ahead, and I see no reason for any of the anxiety that sometimes accompanies a long to-do list. Why? Because together, we’re going to knock this out!  

Top of mind is the ACCJC accreditation follow-up report and visit on April 1st. Online educators, the Online Education Department, YFA and District negotiators, Academic Senate, and Classified Professionals have rallied around the one recommendation ACCJC made during our recent review, and I’m feeling confident that we’re going to resolve their concerns and move forward, together, with new expectations for online instruction that ultimately benefit students. Of equal importance is the pending selection of two deans and ten full-time faculty. Deans and faculty are central to the instructional core at MJC, and the greatest way to propel innovation is by making the right hiring selections. Lauren Berlin, Abigail Sebastian, and Joyce Sebastian, with Vice President of Instruction Patrick Bettencourt, are three MJC Alums who created the first-ever community mural for DoMo Walls, entitled “We Beat Together.” And finally, a project for the soul: This semester, pending approval, we’re planning to offer an additional student-created mural on campus. Motivated by the goodwill and positive energy inspired by the Centennial mural on the Library and Learning Center and by the DoMo Walls Project, we’re going to bring a bit of sunshine and celebration to campus this spring.

Having said all this, I also need to say that I remain open to change, and this year I did in fact add a new, small habit to my day, in my mind too small to call a resolution.  I’m starting each morning by reading a meditation from The Daily Stoic, a gift I received from a friend. The quote at the top of this message is the January 5th passage, a reminder to keep all our efforts focused on the end goal of educating students and enriching lives. In doing that, we will work in such a way that embraces challenge, confronts false perceptions, and remembers why we’re here.

Onward!