For the second consecutive time, Fresno City College has been placed on warning by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC).
Interim President Tony Cantu announced the accreditation warning in an email to the college staff on Wednesday.
Fresno City College did not pass accreditation due to, “deficiencies identified in the team report with District Recommendation 1 from the 2005 evaluation team and eligibility Requirement 5,” according to the report issued by the accreditation team.
These deficiencies deal with, among other things, the district’s lack of shared governance which was a major reason for the ACCJC’s first warning in its 2005 accreditation report. The new report recommended that the college, “to engage in continuous timely, and deliberative, dialogue with all district stake holders to coordinate long term planning and examine the impact of the planned increase in the number of colleges and future roles of the centers on the existing institutions.”
This report came as a shock to many college administrators. In an interview during the ACCJC visit in October, SCCCD Chancellor Deborah Blue said, “The college has resolved all the recommendations from 2005. It has been reported in a self-study report how those recommendations were resolved.” However, ACCJC did in fact find deficiencies stemming back to “Recommendation 1 from the 2005 evaluation team.”
However, FCC Interim President Tony Cantu foresaw a need to improve shared governance, saying during the ACCJC visit, “Part of the things we have to address is our integrated planning process, making sure that all the components are there.”
The ACCJC also placed Reedley College on warning and deferred the initial candidacy of Willow International in its attempts to gain accreditation. The accreditation setbacks for FCC, Reedley and Willow International, all part of State Center Community College District, raise questions about the district’s leadership.
Fresno City College is required to submit a follow up report by Oct. 25, 2012 to prove its compliance in meeting the recommendations and improved standards set forth by the accrediting body.
Although the full report done by the ACCJC is not currently available to the public, Cantu says that it will be accessible on the college website by the end of the week. He stated plans to hold an open forum on Monday to discuss the report as well as the college’s future. The forum will be at 1:00 p.m. in OAB Room 114.
President Cantu said in his email that he remains hopeful. He wrote, “The college will, as it has done in the past, address these recommendations in a positive, collegial manner.”
