?We?re accredited every six years and last time it took us about 2 1/2 years to come off of warning status,? said Kathy Berry, vice president of academic services and accreditation liaison. ?The last time we had six recommendations and this time around we have three.?
Given the college has half as many deficiencies that need to be addressed and corrected this accreditation cycle, Berry anticipated it could take a year or slightly more for the sanction to be lifted, but could not say for sure as it is the accrediting commission?s decision.?Last time the recommendations were a little more serious and addressed the structure and organization of the college,? Berry said.
This cycle, the accreditation commission?s most notable recommendation focused on the college?s budget and the importance of keeping its revenues and expenses balanced.
Anticipating the college?s financial stability would be of concern, officials voluntarily called in the state?s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assessment Team to evaluate the college last year.
Since the release of the team?s findings in December, the college has taken many of them into consideration, which the accrediting commission commended them for.
?Over the last five years we?ve frozen salaries, taken furlough days, reduced pay, merged dean positions and really tightened our belt,? Berry said. ?(The accrediting commission) understands that every community college in California or all of higher education has been dealing with the fiscal crisis for long period of time. We can?t magically turn around a five year crisis in a day, so we?ve slowly been making changes.?
In addition to cutbacks, to college?s Board of Trustees recently voted to increase its minimum reserve balance from six percent to more than 16 percent.
?The board approved the increase in May, but it?ll take time to see that,? Berry said.
In addition to its financial stability, the accrediting commission addressed the college?s implementation and execution of its Educational Master Plan and its Student Learning Objectives.
?The Educational Master Plan lists the goals and objectives for the college and is the basis of which we evaluate all of our programs,? said Bill Gay, college spokesman. ?What they want us to do is show that those goals are being met and managed within our budget.?
When it comes to the college students? learning outcomes, the recommendation stated that ?faculty and others directly responsible for student progress toward achieving student learning outcomes have as a component of their evaluation, effectiveness in producing those outcomes.?
?We have five institutional learning outcomes,? Berry said. ?For example, in an English class there are assignments that are given to assess critical thinking, one of the learning outcomes. We?ll then ask faculty if they developed an objective for critical thinking and if they tested students.?
Both Berry and Gay voiced their satisfaction in the college?s sanction considering other community colleges like City College of San Francisco may lose their accreditation status all together.
?We?re all very proud of IVC,? Berry said. ?During the accrediting team?s visit they talked about how much the faculty, staff and administration have worked together to get us through the storm so to speak.?
Staff Writer Karina Lopez can be reached at 760-337-3439 or klopez@ivpressonline.com
trina rob dyrdek oberon donald driver donald driver mariana trench transcendental meditation
No comments:
Post a Comment