Times are tough. Students are up against rising tuition costs. Administrators have come and gone. The State Center Community College District is in the midst a daunting budget crisis.
With all these issues and more looming, Fresno City College is undergoing its first accreditation review since 2005.
Despite the challenges however, the confidence within the district has not been shaken.
“While we are challenged by a really difficult fiscal situation, our district is among those districts that are in the best shape because we have managed to maintain a good general fund balance,” said Deborah Blue, chancellor of the State Center Community College District. “As long as we don›t start spending that reserve, we have the ability to get through the difficult period.”
Interim president, Tony Cantu said the district has handled the budget crisis well so far. “We are always looking at what we do to see where we can save and redirect resources, but in general, we are doing okay,” said Cantu. “There have been no layoffs. We are still offering quite a few classes.”
What is not certain is how the difficult fiscal situation could impact FCC’s accreditation review.
In the 2006 accreditation report, FCC was found to not be in compliance in the area of its government structure and planning.
Chancellor Blue said that the college has done a lot of work with its government structure and its planning processes, so that should no longer be an issue.
“The college has resolved all the recommendations from 2005. It has been reported in a self-study report how those recommendations were resolved,” said Blue. ”Now the team will come and they will make an assessment and give their own opinion on whether or not they believe the recommendations have been resolved.”
Cantu agrees that the college has made much progress since the last accreditation. “We are a better institution since our last accreditation, especially in terms of our processes,” said Cantu.
But while he is satisfied with the progress, Cantu says he is still focused on how to make things better. “Part of the things we have to address is our integrated planning process, making sure that all the components are there, and all the components work.  And the integrated planning process includes the programs here, and the allocation of all resources,” said Cantu.
In a recent meeting of the board of trustees, students expressed concerns about the cutting of classes and difficulty meeting with counselors.
Blue does not think that reduction in class offering would impact the college’s accreditation review. “I can’t imagine that would be an issue because we have to make those determinations ourselves based on what we can afford to offer,” Blue said. “That’s not something that’s dictated by accreditation.”
As for students’ complaints about difficulty meeting with counselors, Blue said she believes this may or may not be an issue with accreditation, but added that the counselors are trying to do the best they can with limited staff members.
According to Blue,
counselors are faculty members, but they are not included in what is known as the 50 percent law, which mandates 50 percent of the district’s funds go towards instruction. Since counselors are not included in the 50 percent, the district is limited to what it can do when it comes to counselors.
Another concern that students have is the cost of textbooks. A year ago, a program review of the bookstore addressed the concern.
“We are going to be looking more closely into the finances of the bookstore and evaluate what alternative options we have to provide services that are keeping current with the industry,”  said Blue. “The industry is going to E-books and renting textbooks; we want to make assessments of how we can make sure that our bookstores are moving in the direction that the rest of the industry is going.”
Cantu also said he believes students play a vital role in helping the college do well in its accreditation.
“We have been very fortunate. We always had very high student involvement on campus. They participate in the committees and they bring up concerns of students,” said Cantu. “Like everybody else, they are part of the institution.”
Leniah Lewis is in her first semester at FCC, but is already aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the college. Like most students, Lewis is concerned about parking space but she is also thrilled to have many wonderful professors.