Whereas, In its January 2014 findings, The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, (NACIQI) and the United States Department of Education concluded under 34 C.F.R. §602.13(a) that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) does not have wide acceptance by educators for whom it serves as the regional accrediting body because “some of its supporting documents constituted letter of gratitude not ‘letters of support’ and almost none of the letters of support were from ‘educators’” and those conclusions were reaffirmed by the United States Department of Education in January 2016[1];
Whereas, Since January 2014 the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), a body recognized by the California Legislature to represent the 56,000 faculty of the California Community Colleges in all academic and professional matters including accreditation processes, has passed resolutions critical of ACCJC, such as Resolution 2.02 S15 which supports the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Task Force recommendations that state, “The structure of accreditation in this region no longer meets the current and anticipated needs of the California Community College system and its member institutions have lost confidence in the ACCJC” and has not seen tangible signs of progress by ACCJC in addressing the issues previously identified in the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Task Force recommendations;
Whereas, Efforts to interact collegially with ACCJC regarding the parameters of the California Community College Baccalaureate Degree Pilot Program, as detailed in an April 13, 2016, letter to the Commission signed by many of the pilot colleges involved in the Baccalaureate Degree Pilot Program, have been disregarded by the Commission, which has resulted in a policy that is significantly more stringent and proscriptive than those of other regional accreditors; and
Whereas, ACCJC, after repeated requests from the task force assembled to provide guidance to colleges involved in the Baccalaureate Degree Pilot Program, has not provided evidence to support its claim that its policy on baccalaureate degree programs is a result of direction from the Department of Education;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges communicate its position to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) and the Department of Education prior to their consideration of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges’ (ACCJC) progress toward compliance with its §602.13(a) and its responsibilities as a regional accreditor.
[1] U.S.D.E Decision of the Secretary Letter, January 4, 2016