FOLLOW UP MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT JAIME:

We are now in receipt of the full letter from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. A full report is due back to the Commission in March of next year, at which time they want us to address three recommendations. This is a reduction from the eight that originally were contained in the Team's March evaluation report, which I have also attached for your reference.

The recommendations to be addressed:

1. Linkage of Institutional Goals and Objectives  from the Educational Master Plan with our Operational Plan goals and resource allocations. This was Recommendation 1 in the Team's original report.
2. Add a component detailing effectiveness in producing outcomes to our Student Learning Outcome evaluations. This was Recommendation 7 in the Team's original report.
3. Develop a fiscal strategy to have a balanced budget. This was Recommendation 8 in the Team's original report.

I feel very good about the Commission's action and I am confident we will meet or exceed their recommendations and prove it to them next March. Meanwhile, I also think it is important to keep this in context and remember that the Team also had four commendations in its report to us.

While all were significant, I want to note especially Commendation 3:

"It was clear to the visiting team that despite the fiscal challenges the College is overcoming, the central focus of the Board, administrators, faculty, staff and students is educational quality, student success and achievement. This was evident during team member interviews, observance of committee meetings, IVC educational projects and communications, e.g., the College Catalog."

Providing quality education is totally what we are about and it is very gratifying that the Team recognized this. We will correct the shortcomings and get even better at what we do.

INITIAL MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT JAIME:

We received word Wednesday, just before our long weekend, that we are one of six community colleges in the state that have been issued a "Warning" as the result of the comprehensive accreditation evaluation conducted on campus last March.

While this is officially a 'sanction,' it is basically what we had hoped for given the fiscal challenges we have faced over the past several years. It is the lowest sanction that is issued and really does not come as a surprise to any of us.

We remain fully accredited and will continue to work on the fiscal issues that have faced our campus. The fact that a Vice President of the ACCJC was part of our evaluation is unprecedented and truly shows the confidence the commission has on our ability to provide quality education

Of the 13 colleges that received full accreditation reviews, six were reaffirmed, six were issued warnings and one was placed on probation. The commission also voted to terminate accreditation of the City College of San Francisco which had been placed on "Show Cause" status last year.

As we all know, this could have been much worse. Again, I really want to thank all who have been involved in this process. We have not yet received the full letter from the commission, explaining the next steps but when it does arrive, I will pass it on to the greater campus community.

For your information, I am attaching the notification we received via email today.