While City Higher of San Francisco prepares to receive a team of evaluators who volition make up one's mind if the college keeps its accreditation and stays open up, the impact of what's at stake has spread beyond the campus, bringing into sharper focus a button for college standards at customs colleges.

"If CCSF goes downward, then accrediting issues will become a very big national fence," said Patrick McCallum, president of the College Encephalon Trust, a Sacramento-based consulting firm whose clients include some of the state's largest community college districts, but does non represent City College of San Francisco. "It's going to exist the shot heard around the country with enormous consequences, not only for the students and staff of Metropolis College. There are a lot of colleges we work with that are very nervous about that."

"Accreditation is under a large magnifying glass," said Robert Agrella, the special trustee overseeing City College of San Francisco's efforts to retain its accreditation. Source: City College of San Francisco. (Click to enlarge).

"Accreditation is under a large magnifying glass," said Robert Agrella, the special trustee overseeing Metropolis College of San Francisco'southward efforts to retain its accreditation. Credit: City Higher of San Francisco. (Click to enlarge).

Faced with a number of severe fiscal, structural and governance bug – some of them dating back to a 2006 accreditation review – City College was placed on "prove cause" status in July by the regional accrediting commission. A "prove cause" order is the most astringent sanction the committee can mitt out, short of yanking a higher's accreditation – which is what the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) could do at its next meeting in June if it determines that Urban center College hasn't stock-still its issues. Such a move would close City College and crave neighboring districts to take over direction of the college and its academic programs in order to proceed serving the students.

City College isn't alone on "show cause" condition. At its meeting in January, the accrediting commission imposed the sanction on the Higher of the Sequoias and at the same time removed College of the Redwoods and Cuesta Higher from the "prove cause" list. Just with more than than 90,000 students and ix campuses throughout San Francisco, City College is the largest community higher in the country and is amongst the largest 2-twelvemonth colleges in the nation to face having its accreditation withdrawn.

"The touch on around the state is that the other colleges would realize that all colleges, regardless of size, are subject to compliance with those standards," said José Ortiz, chancellor of the Oakland-based Peralta Community College District. All four of the district'southward colleges are on a "alarm" status from the commission, the least-severe sanction.

Accreditation is essentially an assurance that a campus is operating under best practices and meeting standards for high-quality instruction; providing adequate back up services, such equally counseling; demonstrating strong fiscal management; and employing sound governance and determination making, all designed to provide a strong education that enables students to transfer or get adept-paying jobs.

Ortiz said in the 22 years since he came to California, he'south seen a significant shift in the accreditation process going from commissions being satisfied if colleges were making progress toward coming together the standards to aggressively requiring them to accept met the standards. He said the button is coming from the federal government.

Pressure from to a higher place

From the Oval Office to Congress, momentum is building to raise standards for customs colleges and, asEdSource Today has reported, to place regional accrediting commissions themselves under federal scrutiny for not being tough enough with colleges that are out of compliance.

Coverage area for the six regional accreditation commissions in the United States. Source: Doctoral Dissertation of Nathan Tharp via the California Postsecondary Education Commission. (click to enlarge).

Coverage area for the six regional accreditation commissions in the United states. Credit: Doctoral Dissertation of Nathan Tharp via the California Postsecondary Didactics Commission. (Click to overstate)

In his State of the Union address last month, President Barack Obama unveiled a new college scorecard and made it clear that, with the billions of dollars in tax credits, grants and loans the federal regime has put into higher education, colleges ought to exist judged "based on a uncomplicated criteria: where y'all can go the nigh bang for your educational buck." Separately, the president has chosen for 5 million more community college graduates by 2020.

Betwixt 2008 and 2012, in preparation for this twelvemonth's scheduled reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the Council for Higher Pedagogy Accreditation (CHEA), created the CHEA Initiative, and held dozens of meetings with colleges, regional accrediting commissions and students on recommendations for improving accreditation.

During that same fourth dimension, writes CHEA President Judith Eaton, Congress began holding hearings and introducing legislation that sought to create more federal oversight on such bookish problems as credit hours and credit transfer, areas that had been considered the domain of local campuses' kinesthesia senates and administrators.

In the CHEA Initiative Final Written report, published last Nov, Eaton wrote that through these actions the U.S. Section of Teaching "has asserted authority over accreditation like to that of a ministry of education in other countries."

The report warns that these actions threaten the independence of the accreditation process and bookish sovereignty of colleges and universities. "CHEA heard repeatedly, throughout the Initiative discussion, that colleges, universities and accrediting organizations were securely concerned about this development."

Robert Agrella, the special trustee hired to oversee City Higher'due south efforts to save its accreditation, said discussions began during President George W. Bush'due south administration about creating national accrediting standards and that forced the regional commissions to be more than vigilant.

"I don't desire to say that accrediting used to be loose, merely things are looked at much more than advisedly at present," he said. "Accreditation is nether a pretty large magnifying glass beyond the country and I believe it will continue to be that fashion."

Agrella, who served every bit president of Santa Rosa Community Higher for 22 years, isn't opposed to tough standards, but is concerned that the federal pressure has led the ACCJC to exist more than assertive in its treatment of City Higher. "I think if information technology loses accreditation it lends credence to that, which would exist a shame," he said.

Some California community college leaders say the committee has already gotten more ambitious, and the numbers bear that out. In addition to "prove crusade," six of the state'southward 112 community colleges are on probation, the mid-level sanction, and thirteen are on the least-severe warning status, including Santa Barbara City College, which earlier this month won the 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

A written report by the RP Group, which conducts research on behalf of California community colleges, found that 14 pct of colleges under ACCJC were given sanctions, compared to between 1 percent and 3 pct of colleges overseen by other large regional commissions.

Barbara Beno, president of the ACCJC, wouldn't speak directly about City College, but acknowledged that the commission feels pressure level from above – and beneath. "We go to Washington and nosotros're hit for being also soft and hither we're hit for beingness too difficult," she said.

Peer pressure

San Mateo Community College District Chancellor Ron Galatolo says the accreditation commission moved too quickly to put City College of San Francisco on the most severe sanction. Photo: SMCCC. (Click to enlarge).

San Mateo Community College District Chancellor Ron Galatolo says the accreditation commission moved as well quickly to put City Higher of San Francisco on the well-nigh severe sanction. Credit: SMCCD. (Click to enlarge)

Ron Galatolo, chancellor of the San Mateo Community College District, finds that statement specious. He says the ACCJC is using the federal regime equally an excuse to be heavy-handed. Galatolo, whose district might be chosen upon to help take over management of Metropolis College if its accreditation is pulled, said the committee has been unreasonably harsh for the last few years and that its actions against CCSF are destroying the college's reputation and diverting it from the important work of trying to improve.

"I'one thousand not saying that City College didn't deserve to be looked at carefully," Galatolo said. "I'chiliad not saying that Urban center College doesn't need help and doesn't demand to be picked up by its britches. Simply this wasn't the way to do it."

"Show cause" should be the last resort, Galatolo said. Before imposing that on a college, the accrediting commission should send in a team from model campuses to work with college administrators and faculty to help them get on track and, he said, it should be fabricated very clear to the higher that failure to accept and piece of work with the team will land them in big trouble.

But California Community College Chancellor Brice Harris said colleges aren't beingness asked to run into a set of measures handed downward from outsiders; they're adult at domicile. "I remember it'south actually of import to empathise that the American arrangement of accreditation is a peer review process," Harris said. "So nosotros create the standards that nosotros have to alive upward to. It's not a matter of the commission 'dandy down.' These are the standards you take set for yourself and y'all're meeting them or you're non."

Still, Harris has established a job force on accreditation whose chief charge is to establish more than transparency in the accreditation process and get the ACCJC and colleges to understand each others' challenges. The task strength is scheduled to study dorsum to the chancellor in August.

Before and so, Urban center Higher of San Francisco volition know its fate. The college submitted its last report to the accrediting commission March fifteen, describing what'south fixed and what still needs work. The accrediting committee will send a team to the higher within the next few weeks to brand sure the report matches reality. Higher representatives will accept an opportunity to go before the commission at its June meeting and past July 7, the commission will announce its decision.

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