Work with Accrediting Commission to Buffer Colleges from Political Pressures and Agendas

Spring
2002
Resolution Number
02.06
 
Contact
Assigned to
Unassigned
Category
Accreditation
Status
Completed
Status Report

The resolution and concerns regarding the educational advisability of the standards were again presented to the Commission at the June 02 public hearing.The Commission has not responded to these concerns.

Whereas, Among the stated goals set out for the accreditation revision in the Project Renewal planning document (http://www.accjc.org) was to import quality assurance methods from business as well as to address inclusion of a wider variety of institutions now in the higher education marketplace; and

Whereas, The representatives of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges have cited pressure from the Department of Education to focus on accountability and to accommodate fiscal constraints associated with reductions of public funding for public higher education, and Commission representatives have cited their role in anticipating and accommodating these pressures and encoding them in the standards;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate request that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges provide more rationale in terms of the educational advisability of recommendations from its Project Renewal document to import quality assurance methods from business, as well as address inclusion of a wider variety of institutions now in the educational market place and that such rationale include evidence of the soundness of such approaches and of enhanced student success in institutions that have adopted such measures; and

Resolved, That the Academic Senate urge the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges to work with the educational community to develop more effective strategies to buffer our colleges from the political forces currently driving the prioritizing of educational productivity and efficiency over educational quality and comprehensiveness.