Accreditation

Day in and day out, City College is taking positive steps toward addressing recommendations to meet accreditation standards.  A glance at the Roadmap reveals measurable outcomes, continual progress, and accountability.  As of today, we have completed 137 of the 350 activities at 100%! Pam Mery, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness, recently gave an update that affirms that we are on the right track with Standard IA and IB.  IA3 relates to a regular cycle of review for our Mission Statement.  We now meet the standard since our BOT and/or Special Trustee will review the Mission Statement annually.  For Items from Standard IB1-4, our planning process are clear and linked to outcomes, the college mission, and strategic objectives.  We have been actively using our integrated planning model.  According to Pam, the key is to get through the next cycle and “close the loop” on Program Review because doing so moves us closer to meeting the standard.

Our SLO Coordinators, Kristina Whalen and Katryn Weise, have been working diligently to lead the College’s outcomes assessment work that help us meet Standard IIA.  They recently gave a presentation to the administration that outlined our SLO processes/resource and the role that administration plays in the outcomes efforts.  They highlighted the webpage on SLOs, department webpages, the annual plan, the SLO handbook, the brownbag lunches on Fridays, the Monday help sessions, and the overall review of Flex Day on September 13th.  The also commented on the many reports that are available, including the SLO scorecard, the semester reports, and a report that just came back from the ACCJC (College Status Report on SLO Implementation) on our progress with SLOs.  We’ve scored very well on virtually every area!  Finally, Kristin and Katryn advised the Deans to continue to support faculty with outcomes assessment (in particular with GE and ILOs), to work with faculty to ensure we are creating quality outcomes, and that the January 2nd deadlines for updates is just around the corner.

Associate Vice Chancellor Star reported that we have made great strides in meeting Standard IIIA2 and Eligibility Requirement 5 and we have almost completed this recent round of administrative hires.  We are also finishing up the required staffing report to comply with Standard IIIA6. 

A recent update from Ron Gerhart, the new Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, reported that of the 192 items on the FCMAT report, 57 are now completed.  He went on to say that these items were related to the 8 year plan for stability, payroll, and roles/responsibilities in Finance.  Areas that still need progress are related to further connecting budget development timelines and planning and fiscal department process.  He mentioned that there is nothing in the report that can’t be accomplished but that the timelines are very tight.

We all have a part to play in responding to the recommendations.  Faculty involvement and leadership in Outcomes Assessment, updating CORs, and Program Review directly relates to progress on Standards IIA1, IIA2, IIA3, and IB1, 2, 3, and 4.  Serving on a hiring committee helps with IIIA2. Participation in any of our participatory governance committees helps with IB and IVA.  Working together to “live the standards” we will be able to continue to move CCSF Forward!