The visiting accreditation team leader, Peter Garcia, praised Fresno City College for its “momentum” and “emerging leadership” during the group’s exit report on Oct. 20 in the OAB auditorium.
Garcia’s closing speech described the 2011 visit to FCC as well as the team’s observations during their visit. He reported that the team had more than 90 encounters with the FCC community in groups and individually, with each providing them an opportunity to truly meet FCC as first a community, and secondly a college.
“We observed while we walked around, looking lost, and we may have been, but we observed while we were lost,” Garcia said. “It’s safe to say that we have met you. We have met you in a number of ways.”
Regarding the college’s self-study report, completed ahead of the visit, Garcia made suggestions for improvement but also praised FCC’s preparation
“When we read your report, we found it to be a good report. We think you could update it more frequently and we think you could document it more solidly,” he said. “You need to stay in touch with the good work that you’re doing. You need to embrace the fact that you are almost always writing an accreditation report these days.”
Reading from a report, Garcia commended FCC for student involvement and its shared governance, an issue that had come up repeatedly in the open forums.  The president of the Associated Student Government, Cindy Quiralte, said she was pleased with the commendation as well as the college’s improvements in governance. “I think it’s great that our campus has improved dramatically since our last accreditation. I think it shows student involvement,” Quiralte said. “We make sure the students have a voice.”
Interim FCC president, Tony Cantu said he was pleased to have the college’s governance praised by the accreditation team. Cantu said that the governance is a participatory process and couldn’t be done without the students and the ASG.
Cantu said he was not bothered that the topic had been raised a number of times in the open forum sessions. He explained that the open forums are for individuals that wish to express their opinion which do not necessarily reflect what is happening on campus.
The leader of the accreditation team commended the vibrancy of the college, particularly the force and determination with which FCC strides forward on a daily basis. “What we will say in our minds about you and in the report, is that we see a college with momentum,” Garcia said.
Garcia also expressed some concern that FCC might lose its momentum and stray from the progress that it has made since the past accreditation visit.
“Our concern is, keep your momentum. You are not far enough across the finish line to cease and desist,” Garcia said.
Cantu said he is confident that the college will continue with its momentum. He added that the progress will hold and possibly grow in the years to come.
“I don’t know that I necessarily agree with him [Garcia],” Cantu said. “I believe that the momentum that we’ve had on this campus throughout the last two and a half years will continue. There are good processes in place.”                Garcia said the team was impressed with the many services and programs that FCC offers to its students. He applauded the relocation of the Disabled Students Program and Services (DSP&S) office to the flat administration building. The team was greatly impressed with this and all of the access that the students have to the campus and the services that it offers.
Garcia’s presentation ended with the recommendation of a district-wide discussion regarding the role and possible projections for every site in the district. The team leader expressed confidence that the college’s leadership and processes will be able to deal with the changing roles of the college in the district.
With the accreditation team gone, the campus waits for the full report, mindful that while FCC was commended on a number of fronts, there were numerous suggestions by the team in the closing statements that would be part of the final decision of accreditation. The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges will review the final draft of the report in January 2012 and will take action in February if necessary.
On what to expect from the report, Cantu says he understands the process as a whole and that it is now time to wait. Still, he expressed optimism about the overall performance of FCC in this year’s accreditation visit. He is however paying close attention to possible outcomes.
He explained that he is not expecting a sanction because the college responded adequately to the previous recommendations, but that all that is left to do is wait. Cantu said, “You never really know until the commission takes action.”