(Emily Hermosillo/Clarion/Logos)
Colleges throughout the state are required to ensure students receive quality education– quality that is monitored by a supervisory agency that desperately needs to be replaced.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges is the governing entity regulating accreditation of colleges in the western region of the U.S.
As reported in the San Francisco Examiner, “a two-pronged plan to change the process of accrediting the 113 community colleges in California,” was presented to and approved by the California Community Colleges Board Of Governors on March 21.
This plan, voted through by about 80 community college district chancellors, includes introducing the option of choosing a new accrediting agency.
The CCCBOG voted unanimously to direct the state Chancellor’s Office to request options other than ACCJC in November 2015.
We support the CCCBOGs initiatives to implement a new course of action or agency for the process of accrediting higher education institutions.
We at Citrus College are among many who, after working diligently over the process of several years, feel they have been slighted by what is supposed to be a constructive peer review process.
This controversy with ACCJC ignited in 2013 after they had revoked the accreditation status of the City College of San Francisco, California’s largest community college, when it could not recover in time from its “severe sanction” probationary period.
The Board of Governors approved a resolution in November 2015 that said, “Within a span of 10 years, ACCJC placed 2/3 of all community colleges in California on some level of sanction; and between 2009 and 2013, ACCJC had a sanction rate of approximately 53 percent (compared to 12 percent within other regions).”
Disappointment in the agency’s ability to determine higher education standards and feedback did not stop there.
In October 2015, Citrus College experienced the unconventional tactics of the agency firsthand after an unjustified self-evaluation report review from a site-visiting team.
This team was made up of 14 peer administrators and faculty, meant to deliver substantial constructive criticism and recommendations.
Chancellor of the Yuba Community College District and ACCJC visiting team chair Douglas B. Houston delivered a harsh reprimand on Citrus College’s ability to collect data, saying, “the committee feels they have done your job for you.”
The official report said Citrus’ self-assessment was “incomplete, lacking reflection, and non-compliant with ACCJC self-evaluation manual and guidelines.”
A CCCBOG press release on March 21 said ACCJC is out of compliance with federal standards and has been warned by the U.S. Department of Education of the possibility to lose its accreditation authority.
The agency sent out a press release just one day later.
President of ACCJC Barbara Bino said in the press release, “ACCJC is carefully reviewing the resolution passed by the (CCCBOG)…we are prepared to consider recommendations from a group of California community colleges and make appropriate improvements to our accreditation standards and processes.”
ACCJC appears to have reached its limit in providing fair and substantial feedback on the quality of education at community colleges.
California community colleges deserve a whole new accreditation agency.
The CCCBOG and Chancellor’s Office should move forward in picking a new one.
