I've been asked to bring folks up to date on the accreditation situation at College of the Sequoias. That's the community college in Visalia, California where I teach History.
On February 13 of this year the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) put College of the Sequoias (COS) on a status called "Show Cause." That means they determined we had serious organizational shortcomings that need rapid remediation. The college has a deadline of October 15 to submit a rectification plan including solid evidence of strong progress in remedying these deficiencies actions to we could be forced to close our doors. Classes for the current spring semester, summer and fall will automatically retain their accredited status, but spring 2014 and after is dependent on getting a favorable ruling from ACCJC. We are taking the situation very seriously and I am confident we will be able to reaffirm our accreditation.
The "Show Cause" ruling was made due to failure to make adequate progress on recommendations ACCJC made pursuant to our 2006 Accreditation report that remained unfinished in our 2012 report. There were seven recommendations in all. They included planning, campus dialogue, research capacity, student learning outcomes, student support services, human resources processes and evaluation of processes. Basically, what it boils down to is this: First, we need to firm up our governance structure, with a clear flow chart of responsibilities and widespread understanding of how requests and ideas move through the system to adoption or rejection. Planning processes need to be based on research data with built-in self-monitoring processes in place. Second, all our courses must have specific student learning outcomes, these outcomes need to be assessed, and we must have documentation of how these assessments are being used to make continuous improvements in the courses. Finally, there has to be evidence of collegial working together to implement and operate these systems.
President/Superintendent Stan Carrizosa has convened a 40-member Response Task Force (RTF) composed of administrators, faculty and classified (non-teaching) employees to spearhead the compliance effort. It's divided into the four accreditation standards areas ACCJC requires, namely Mission, Academics, Resources and Governance. Knowing the people involved, I can say for certain it is an extremely dedicated and competent set of people we will have on this task. He has also secured the help of a governance/administrative professional and an academics/student learning outcomes pro. These two consultants have helped other schools with accreditation problems bring their processes into line with ACCJC requirements and restore their accreditation status. They both know their stuff and will greatly help us with their expertise.
I have been appointed to the Standard IV group and will be working hard with the rest of the team to make sure our governance and planning processes are in good shape. I have also been appointed to be the liaison between administration and the teacher's association to help keep them on the same page working hand in hand to help facilitate any changes that might impact the contractual Master Agreement.
Given the gravity of the situation, the overall quality of the education and staff at COS, and the specific high calibre of the task force working on RTF, I am confident COS will be able to make the necessary changes and get on track to affirm our accreditation. Here is a link to the COS website page on our accreditation effort. There is also a citizen component task force. A public presentation to inform the community of our status and efforts will be given in the Ponderosa Lecture Hall on Monday, March 18 from 4:30 to 6:00 P.M. There will be another forum at the Tulare Center on Tuesday the 19th from 5:00 to 6:30 and one in Hanford on Wednesday the 20th from 5:30 to 7:00 in Education Building Rooms 72 A & B.
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