ERIC Number: EJ1092400
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1067-1803
EISSN: N/A
In Good Standing: Veteran Educator and Higher Education Accreditor Belle Wheelan Offers Advice for Community College Administrators in Light of Recent Accreditation Challenges
Community College Journal, v84 n2 p33-36 Oct-Nov 2013
It's been a rough year for the City College of San Francisco (CCSF). After working to emerge from strict sanctions leveled by its accrediting board in July 2012, the college was notified earlier this summer that its accreditation would be revoked, effective in 2014. Though community college leaders and state officials vowed to return the 85,000-student institution (California's largest community college) to good standing, the decision prompted rumors of the college's demise. The news grew even bleaker in August when California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice Harris announced that enrollments at the college were down nearly 10 percent year over year--thanks in large part to concerns about its future. Then something curious happened: College officials discovered a loophole in the accreditor's bylaws that could potentially open the door to a fresh appeal of its decision. The news comes as the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, one of six regional accrediting commissions sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Education to oversee the nation's community colleges, faces sanctions of its own, reportedly for failing to meet certain operational guidelines. Coupled with other efforts, these latest developments could well save the college, but the question is: How did it come to this in the first place? CCSF is hardly the only college to face sanctions from its accrediting board. Other colleges are struggling with accreditation and looking for ways to improve the review process and get better results too. Belle Wheelan, recipient of the 2012 American Association of Community Colleges Leadership Award and president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges (a regional accrediting body for colleges in 11 Southern states), talked with "Journal" Managing Editor Corey Murray about these and other issues. Though Wheelan is quick to point out that each accrediting board has different standards, she offers some general rules for community colleges to keep in mind.
Descriptors: Accreditation (Institutions), Community Colleges, Sanctions, Standards, Governing Boards, Educational Finance
American Association of Community Colleges. One Dupont Circle NW Suite 410, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-728-0200; Fax: 202-833-2467; Web site: http://www.aacc.nche.edu/bookstore
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Two Year Colleges; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A