Citrus College is preparing for an accreditation visit on Oct. 12 to Oct. 13.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges or ACCJC will conduct its site visit virtually via Zoom meetings.
A welcoming and introduction of visiting team members is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 12. Students are welcome to share their experiences at Citrus later at the open forum at 2:45 p.m. Finally, the team chair will deliver an exit report at 2:45 p.m. on Oct. 13.
Accreditation is a huge deal for the college, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Accreditation Liaison Officer Joumana McGowan said. Without it, the degrees students earn would be invalid.
Accreditation also ensures the public that the college is providing quality education, as well as enables access to federal financial aid funds.
In a presentation at convocation, McGowan explained the three stages of accreditation.
Self-Reflection
A primary goal of accreditation is to ensure continual improvement and satisfaction of standards at the college, McGowan said.
As a method of self-reflection, Citrus puts together its Institutional Self-Evaluation Report or ISER, which includes evidence that the college satisfies all accreditation standards.
Institutional Self-Evaluation Report Teams comprised of various Citrus College employees evaluate the college using four standards:
- Mission, Academic Quality and Institutional Effectiveness
- Instruction, Library, Learning Support and Student Services
- Physical, Technological, Financial and Human Resources
- CEO, Board, Decision Making Roles and Responsibilities
Peer Review
The ISER is reviewed by a visiting team of faculty, managers and executives from other California community colleges.
“We peer review each other because we know what work we do,” McGowan said.
From the report, the visiting team will develop core inquiries to present during the visit. Core inquiries indicate questions and potential areas of improvement from the ISER.
In a normal site visit, all 12 members of the team would be present. The new virtual focused site visit only requires five members to visit, which is more efficient and safe during COVID-19.
“It’s the same, it’s just nicer,” McGowan said. “You don’t have to have a group of 12 people coming. Five, I think is a nice group.”
Affirmation
After the site visit, the peer review committee writes a report of their findings and makes a recommendation to the ACCJC to grant the college full accreditation.
Last visit, the commission accredited the college, but made several recommendations in its follow up.
Follow-ups are normal, McGowan said, but recommendations, not so much.
The commission’s recommendations pertain to Citrus’ complaint procedures and sexual harassment policy. The college provides evidence of improvement in its ISER.
